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Windspeaker Publication

Windspeaker Publication

Established in 1983 to serve the needs of northern Alberta, Windspeaker became a national newspaper on its 10th anniversary in 1993.

  • December 16, 2001
  • Everett Lambert, Windspeaker Correspondent, Edmonton

Page 3

The gates are open and they're off and running to win leadership positions in the Metis Association of Alberta.

It's a ritual that takes place every three years.

The main prize is three years in the president's seat with some $60,000 a year plus expenses to go along with it. Tallies up that's about $200,000.

That's the main story. But behind the scenes the…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Jackie Red Crow, Windspeaker Correspondent, Peigan Nation Alta.

Page 1

The Lone Fighters Society vows to continue work to divert water from the Oldman River in an attempt to stop construction of the controversial $350-milliom Oldman River Dam.

At a news conference Tuesday Peigan Chief Leonard Bastien broke his silence to tell reporters the Lone Fighters don't have the backing of the council, which planned to meet with federal and provincial…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Wayne Courchene, Windspeaker Correspondent, Siksika Nation Alta.

Page 1

Over 35 young marathon runners from the Okanagan Indian First Nation in Oliver, British Columbia are running the length of the Trans-Canada Highway to emphasize the need for a peaceful solution to the Quebec standoff.

Stopping at Indian reserves on their odyssey, the peace runners hope to reach Oka, Quebec by Sept. 4 with a peace feather they're carrying. On the return…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Wayne Courchene, Windspeaker Correspondent, Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Alta.

Page 20

Two peoples, continents apart, were involved in a unique exchange ceremony at Head Smashed -In Buffalo Jump Interpretation Center that will bond two aboriginal people forever.

A tipi-yurt swap July 21 between the Peigan Nation and the Khasahks from Inner Mongolia, China concluded a two-year cultural exchange project, said Kevin Taft, president of Ex Terra Foundation.…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer , Oka Quebec

Page 18

Oka resident Georges Peerillard will long remember the police assault on the Kanesatake blockade of Highway 344.

He saw everything from his vantage point at the bottom of the hill, where he lives.

But he paid a price for seeing Canadian history in the making.

Perillard said he, another Oka man and a police officer were accidentally teargassed during the…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Oka Quebec

Page 18

The message from Kahnawake Mohawks is unwavering and loud.

They will not buckle under to pressure from the provincial or federal governments or the residents of nearby Chateauguay, who have been particularly inconvenienced by the blockade of the Mercier Bridge.

The Mohawks blocked the bridge July 11 in support of Mohawks at Kanesatake near Oka after a failed…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Oka Quebec

Page 17

Clutching a cloth in his hands, Elijah Harper chose his words carefully.

A young woman fanned him with a feather to help him endure the sweltering heat at Paul-Sauve Park just outside Oka.

"I', very honored to be here in the land of the Mohawks," he said, urging Indian people to unite behind the Kanesatake Mohawks.

The outcome of their fight with the federal…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Kanesatake Territory Quebec

Page 17

A moth fought for space under the solitary streetlight just outside the two overturned police vans while just a few feet away three Indian drummers were bathed in its light.

It was now a friend but just a few days before Warriors - for security reasons - had unsuccessfully tried to break it with a crowbar.

It was midnight on the barricades at Kanesatake. For an…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Oka Quebec

Page 17

There's an explosion in the background but the two Warriors don't even turn to look.

They just shrug.

"It's "probably" target practice, says one. "There's always maneuvers going on in here. Never a dull moment," he smiles, probably reading the reporter's mind.

There are four AR-15 semi-automatic rifles lying around, one on a cooler to the right while two…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Oka Quebec

Page 16

Kanesatacke Mohawk Harvey Nicholas reacts angrily and swiftly to criticism of his people. He takes criticism of Warriors personally.

"Do I look like a murderer? Do I look like some kind of an animal? I don't think so. I'm fighting for my land. I'm protecting what I've got. We have to stand up for our rights.

A senior Indian affairs official, Harry Swain, said…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Chateauguay Quebec

Page 13

The standoff in Chateauguay between Kahnawake Mohawks and Quebec police officers brought out the worst in some Chateauguay residents.

The well-to-do city, 9 km south of Montreal, on the banks of the tranquil river, which gave the city of 38,000 people its name, seemed to develop a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality.

By day people in Chateauguay, a bedroom…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Oka Quebec

Page 12

Christina Montour runs a business on Oka's main street, but her mind and her heart is often behind the Mohawk blockade just down the road.

She has a daughter, Natalie, 22 and two nieces at Kanesatake.

"I feel as though I have a nightmare and I can't get over it. I don't sleep good not knowing what goes on behind the barricades during the night. It could get violent…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Dana Wagg, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Quebec

Page 11

Visiting Quebec in the middle of the standoff with Mohawk Indians brought to the surface images of the Southern United States in the 1960s and Quebec in the 1970s.

It was like stepping back in time to a less civilized age when either the mob or the army called the shots.

At Chateauguay crowds burned effigies of Mohawk Indians not unlike the planting of crosses on…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Bert Crowfoot, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Siksika Nation Alta.

Page 8

On July 21, 1990, Jim Many Bears of the Siksika Nation passed away at Strathmore Hospital due to a heart attack. He was born on July 1, 1910 on the north side of the Elbow River by Fort Calgary and had just celebrated his 80th birthday.

Jim is survived by his wife Alice, three sons Al, Julius, and Francis; and two daughters Clara Many Bears and Teresa Knowlton. Jim also…

  • December 16, 2001
  • Rudy Haugeneder, Windspeaker Correspondent, Campbell River B.C.

Page 7

This small town of 17,000 threatens to become the next Oka.

The mayor has threatened to use every means possible to keep area Indians from blockading the highway just north of this town halfway up Vancouver Island.

The Laich-Kwil-Tach Indians blockaded the Island Highway to out-of-province tourist traffic as a way of drawing attention to their land claims.