| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 2:46 pm Post subject: About Kahnawake |
 |
|
About Kahnawake:
| Quote: | Spoken Here: Journeys Among Threatened Languages
Hardcover
By Mark Abley
...Kahnawa:ke is not a remote place; its 8,000 or so residents are immersed in the life and languages of greater Montreal. Many of them work in the city, and Mohawk students can be found at several of the city's leading private schools and both of its English-language universities.
Kahnawa:ke can seem like a quintessential working-class town. Idealistic German tourists, hoping to meet up with timeless wisdom, have been distressed to learn that this is a community fond of country music and heavy metal, one whose residents tend to be serious about bingo, passionate about wrestling and hockey, increasingly anxious about obesity and diabetes and proud of their numerous war veterans. Don't come here looking for a Green Party vision of indigenous America. (From Spoken here, The Mohawk community of Kahnawa:ke near Montreal takes a page from Quebec's language legislation by Mark Abley at p. 78 of the September/October, 2003 issue of Canadian Geographic, excerpted from Abley's book, Spoken Here: Journeys Among Threatened Languages). |
| Quote: | Canadian Geographic
Magazine
Jingle-dress dancers join the Grand Entry procession at the Kahnawake powwow. Performed by native women all over North America, the jingle-dress dance apparently traces its origin to an Ojibwa village on Ontario's Lake of the Woods soon after the First World War, where a father whose daughter was sick sought a vision to help her. In his vision, he was shown how to make a dress and do a dance. He sewed the garment, put it on his daughter and taught her the dance. She soon recovered. The dress, traditionally bedecked with 365 tin cones, has become a symbol of healing. During the jingle-dress, one foot must remain on the ground to keep the dancer connected to the earth. (Cutline from Rhythm of nations by Drew Hayden Taylor in the July/August, 2004 issue at p. 63). |
| Quote: |
Black Robe
DVD
(The language spoken in
this terrifying journey of a
misguided Catholic missionary
through Frontier Frostland
is not, in fact, Huron but Mohawk).
|
| Quote: | The Eastern Door
Magazine
(The excellent in-house publication
by and about Mohawk Nation).
See excerpts from recent articles below. |
See also back issues of Circles of Light, a very good online publication of Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs Dept. from 2000 through 2002.
Last edited by legal on Sat Jan 29, 2005 1:41 pm; edited 11 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Boundaries within boundaries:
Who determines sovereignty among Canada's First Nations?
(See also Kahnawake Gaming Commission: Is it legal? here).
Great legions of attorneys representing each order of government and anyone else with an interest in aboriginal lands have an ever-expanding interest in the Canadian treasury as they debate this bottomless question. To explore the complexity of land claim negotiation, we begin with a story in the Mohawk's excellent in-house publication, Eastern Door, Vol. 14, No. 4 Feb. 11/05, Akwesasne to Kahnawake: Make Your Own Claim by Jordan Standup, which concerns a recent settlement of Mohawk lands with New York. Count the number of parties to the claim in just the opening paragraphs:
| Quote: | The long-awaited response from Akwesasne about its New York land claim arrived this week and basically told the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake to make its own land claim and that it was not entitled to any part of the recent settlement with New York.
Dated January 28, and before the signing of the settlement with New York, the letter to the MCK responds to the MCK's statement in November that Kahnawake was a party to the Seven Nations and was entitled to 50 per cent of any settlement.
The response states, in part, "In our view, Kahnawake is not entitled to share in, nor impede, Akwesasne's settlement. Instead, Kahnawake may be entitled to its own distinct settlement with New York, which it could pursue separately." |
Even among members of the same community, there may be heated debate and conflict regarding land use. The timeline at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Dates in history after 1980, records the following:
| Quote: | | 1990: The Mohawk Reserve of Akwesasne is the scene of fighting as the community divides over the issue of gambling on the New York side of the reserve. The violence leads almost 500 residents to leave the reserve temporarily until the gambling issue is resolved. |
Occasionally, First Nations have sought resolution from the international community. Most notable, in our view, is the Herculean effort described in Mohawk Delegation Sent to the UN by Kenneith Deer, the lead story in The Eastern Door, Vol. 13, No. 18, May 21/04:
| Quote: | At about 10:25 a.m. Tewatonhawitha Montour read the statement below:
Mr. Chairman,
We bring you greetings from the men, women and children of the Mohawk Nation at Kanehsatake, which lies within the colonial boundaries of Canada.
My name is Tewatonhawitha Montour of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation. I have come to speak about Bill S-24 and the new tripartite policing agreement (see note below), which are being implemented in our community. These agreements are an infringement on our sovereignty. Our community elders and children are suffering because of the conflict that these agreements have caused amongst our people. This has caused divisions within families, our schools, and health services, and in the community in general.
Our people have been banished from our territory by the courts denying them their only means of livelihood. Our people have been wrongfully charged by the courts because of policing issues and the threat of a police invasion into our community by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Surete du Quebec, supported by an Aboriginal police force.
Bill S-24 will make Mohawk Territory into a municipality and erode our ancestral rights and use of our land. This is a violation of our basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Canadian Government's use of referendums to force its legislation on our lands is against our traditional method of governance by consensus. Our traditional method of reaching consensus avoids conflict and avoids the confrontation that now exists and threatens our women and children.
I would like to invite the members of the Permanent Forum to visit our community and see first-hand the situation that we live in. Do not judge our situation by what you read in the mainstream press or by statements made by the Canadian or Quebec Governments.
Mediation is the correct process to defuse the tension in Kanehsatake. Force of arms on either side will not bring peace. The mandate of the United Nations is to find peaceful resolutions to disputes. As part of the United Nations, we ask the Members Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to use their good offices to intervene and help settle this dispute and help bring peace to our community.
On behalf of the men, women and children of the Mohawk Nation at Kanehsatake, I thank you for listening.
- Tewatonhawitha Montour
Note: Compare the federal government's description of the agreement here with WHRnet's November, 2004 article, Kanehsatake Mohawk Warriors face Canadian-style colonialism, by Justin Podur. |
Further reading:
See also Wanted for Crimes Against Mohawk Sovereignty posted at Centre for Media Alternatives Quebec (CMAQ Dec. 26/04, Colonialism and Kanehsatake - Mohawk Sovereignty at Stake, published Aug. 25/04 by Kim Petersen at the Turtle Island Native Network, In the Pines of Kanehsatake by Aimee van Drimmelen at The Link June 8/04, which describes the ferocity and occasional violence over land governance, and the still more virulent Anti-Capitalist Convergence, calling for supporters to rally at the Pines:
| Quote: | For the past 6 months, since January 12th, 2004, the peoples of Kanehsatake have successfully resisted a federally sponsored, politically motivated, militarized invasion of their community. They have put their lives and freedom on the line in order to stop the formation of a police state headed by Grand Chief James Gabriel, whose leadership itself was imposed through a federal court injunction. Twenty-four Kanehsatake community members face charges of participation in a riot and forcible confinement of police officers.
Resistance on the part of community members has meant, in part, camping out, night after night over the past three months, in the Pines of Kanehsatake. Community and outsider presence in this pivotal geographic area is necessary if bloodshed in the community is to be prevented and federal and provincial sponsored aggression is to be stopped. The task of maintaining guard is exhausting, and community members continue to request and appreciate the physical presence of people from outside of the area in the Pines alongside them. |
Politics today:
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement (IPSM) Delegation to Minister of Public Security, posted Jan. 10/05 at Friends of Grassy Narrows, describes a recent initiative to negotiate, this time with the province of Quebec:
| Quote: | On Thursday January 6th, 2005, at approximately 13h00, seven members of the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement (IPSM) made a surprise visit to the office of Quebec'sMinister of Public Security, Jacques Chagnon, to present him with a letter (below) and to arrange a meeting in person. The delegation's demand was to ensure the Sureté du Québec (SQ) cease its interventions into the sovereign, internal affairs of the Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) Nation and the community of Kanehsatake.
January 9th marks the beginning of a six-week campaign period leading up to Kanehsatake elections unilaterally called by the ex-Grand Chief James Gabriel for February 19, 2005 (Note: Election postponed to March 19. See the full story by IPSM here). Gabriel has publicly stated he will bring in his politically-aligned Kanesatake Mohawk Police (KMP) to "ensure his safety" for campaigning. |
We'll continue to monitor the upcoming election and land governance issues affecting the Mohawk Nation, especially as they pertain to e-gaming. Please check back soon for updates. Please send any questions, comments or leads to legal@pokerpulse.com. We'd love to hear from you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 5:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Even today:
A new play opens on Broadway
We couldn't help noticing this item listed in the Feb. 28/05 issue of The New Yorker under The Theatre Openings and Previews at p. 12:
| Quote: | THE CONTROVERSY OF VALLADOLID
A new work by the French playwright Jean-Claude Carriere explores the debate in the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century on the question of whether the indigenous peoples of the Americas were human (emphasis ours). Translated by Richard Nelson and directed by David Jones. Opens Feb. 27 at 7. (Public, 425 Lafayette St. 212-239-6200). |
The Great White Way indeed. We can't wait for John Lahr's review. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Radio debate at Kahnawake between Grand Chief election opponents
Many thanks to our visitor who sent us the link to The Great Debate by Dan Rosenburg in Le Soleil online Mar. 5/05. Here are a few excerpts:
| Quote: | Hats off to K103 radio in Kahnawake for taking the initiative to air an hour-long English-language debate between Kanehsatake Grand Chief election opponents James Gabriel and Steven Bonspille last Tuesday...
Bonspille accused Gabriel of being "autocratic, with an obsession for law and order." So what's wrong with a little law and order? Bonspille said that Gabriel is out to destroy the booming tobacco trade, but Gabriel reiterated that this is only when the cigarette vendors persist in selling drugs as well.
Gabriel blamed Kanehsatake's dismal financial situation on Bonspille, saying that the lion's share of the debt was incurred while the latter was serving as "interim Grand Chief." But Bonspille noted that the community's finances under Gabriel were already a shambles when he, Bonspille, inherited the throne.
Bonspille claimed it was "unacceptable" for the Grand Chief to take on the duties of police chief and form his own police force. But Gabriel retorted that he had little choice, since the police chief in place was perceived to be "soft" on crime in the community.
Bonspille noted that said police chief had sued the Band Council as a result of Gabriel's actions. But Gabriel parried that by pointing out that the ousted police chief had lost his case in court last Dec. 23. |
The story did not confirm an election date. We'll continue to monitor news sources for updates. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
See the story, Charges considered after $34M spent to police tiny Quebec band, posted at cbc.ca/news Oct. 17/06.
Here's an excerpt:
| Quote: | The federal public security minister (Stockwell Day) says criminal charges could be laid in the policing scandal that has surfaced in the Mohawk territory of Kanesatake near Montreal...James Gabriel, while still Kanesatake's grand chief, alleged that the reserve police force had been corrupted by organized crime and received government money to form a second force. The preliminary report alleges that Ottawa and Quebec spent about $34 million between 2003 and 2005 to provide security on the reserve, which has fewer than 1,300 residents. The report alleges a misuse of government funds given to the band council led by then grand chief James Gabriel in January 2004 to recruit 67 officers to form a second police force.
Gabriel got backing for the force by arguing that organized crime was taking control of his community while the Kanesatake police turned a blind eye — but the federal report questioned much of the spending, on items such as year-long hotel room rentals and gun silencers.
...The current grand chief of Kanesatake, Steven Bonspille, also lashed out at the Liberals for allowing unfettered security spending by the band council that preceded him. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
legal
Site Admin
Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forbes
Magazine Subscription
Feds Hound Bodog
By Janet Novack and William P. Barrett
July 30/08
| Quote: | The U.S. government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts linked to Bodog, the giant, illegal-under-U.S.-law Internet gaming operation founded by Canadian tycoon Calvin Ayre.
Federal filings make very clear that a serious criminal investigation of the Bodog enterprise is ongoing. At a minimum, word of the seizures is likely to rattle the confidence of U.S.-based online gamblers that they will receive their winnings, not only from Bodog but from the industry's other remaining participants.
Detailed in court filings in a Baltimore federal court, the Bodog-related seizures from such well-known institutions as Wachovia (nyse: WB - news - people ), Bank of America (nyse: BAC - news - people ), SunTrust Banks (nyse: STI - news - people ) and Regions Bank, a unit of Regions Financial (nyse: RF - news - people ), increase the possibility of criminal action against Ayre himself. There already has been published speculation in his native Canada that he is under secret indictment somewhere in the U.S. The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore, which launched the two lawsuits to take the $24 million, did not respond to a request for comment.
The flamboyant Ayre--media reports often call him a "playboy"--is now believed to be in Antigua and Barbuda, a country in the eastern Caribbean. He has denied being on the lam. A request on Wednesday for comment from Ayre, sent through the Web site of his Antigua-based Calvin Ayre Foundation, was not immediately returned. Nor were call and e-mail messages sent to public relations contacts listed on Bodog's Web site.
In early 2006 Ayre rocketed to international prominence--and the cover of Forbes magazine' annual issue on the world's billionaires--for his stewardship from Costa Rica of Bodog Entertainment Group and his open flouting of authorities in the U.S., his major market. The story headline: Catch Me If You Can. The operation was said at the time to be handling $7.3 billion yearly in poker, casino and sports event wagers.
But since then, Ayre has been the subject of law-enforcement raids abroad and growing regulatory scrutiny, especially in the U.S. In late 2006 President Bush signed a law strengthening the prohibition on online gambling. Ayre fell off the Forbes worldwide billionaires list after just one year, amid a decline in his industry's fortunes. ...
Ayre has been trying to put legal distance between himself and the operation he founded in the 1990s. For years its business was run through Internet servers belonging to Mohawk Internet Technologies, located on the Kahnawake Reserve Indian reservation in Quebec, Canada.
In September 2007 Bodog said its North American operations would be licensed to Morris Mohawk Group, also located on the reservation and run by tribal chief Alwyn Morris. Three months ago, Ayre, now 47, said he had transferred ownership of Bodog itself to Morris Mohawk Group. "It's true; I'm packing it in," Ayre wrote on a Web site. ... (emphasis added)
According to Carrow's detailed sworn statements, the IRS's Criminal Investigation Division started looking at Bodog in 2003 and opened a formal probe in 2006. ...
Even before the advent of Bodog, Ayre carried considerable baggage. Close family members were convicted of drug trafficking. (Ayer himself was never charged.) In 1996 Ayre was banned for 20 years from the British Columbia securities industry for stock market offenses. By that time, he was already moving into online gaming. "One of the things that drives me is the excitement that I could fail," he told Forbes in 2006. "What better buzz can you get?" |
Link to this entry
http://pokerpulse.com/legal/viewtopic.php?p=574#574 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ 
Search 
Memberlist 
Usergroups
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
