18th October
The RCMP retreat from the Mi’qmak blockade has not stemmed the outrage against the Canadian government’s ruthless attack yesterday on the peaceful Mi’qmak blockade. As Southwestern Energy attempts to extend the injunction against the Mi’qmak, solidarity protests are spreading throughout Turtle Island.
Numerous infrastructure points throughout Canada were snarled by indigenous blockades in the immediate aftermath of the state invasion of the Mi’qmak. At least 30 solidarity protests are also being undertaken according to Idle No More.
According to Santa Cruz Indigenous Solidarity, by 3pm yesterday six peaceful highway and bridge blockades had been errected at Roads in Burnt Church (NB), Tobique (NB), Esgenoopetitj (NB), Hamilton (ON) and Six Nations (ON).
The Listuguj Mi’Gmaq built a tipi on the VanHorne bridge, blocking traffic on the Quebec-New Brunswick border.
In Winnipeg, protestors tied up traffic at the intersection of Portage and Main, burning a Canadian flag to protest against the Crown’s historic betrayal of First Nations treaty rights. Police appeared to be clearing the way for the march, halting traffic at numerous points.
In Montreal, members of the Mohawk nation gathered to show solidarity. During the RCMP crackdown on the Mi’kmaq Blockade, many observers compared the state’s repressive response to the 1990 Oka Crisis, which saw the Mohawk resist development on their lands for months.
New York, Washington, DC, and numerous other cities across the US have also seen solidarity demonstrations.
There is a call for solidarity for today and tomorrow, which happens to be an international day of action against fracking (the #globalfrackdown http://www.globalfrackdown.org/). The day of solidarity will use the hash tag #INDIGENIZE, with organizers sending report backs and media updates to ReclaimTurtleIsland [at] gmail [dot] com.
