Protester 'born into this fight'

Randy Richmond
London Free Press
Saturday, April 22, 2006

[SISIS note: The following mainstream news article is provided for reference only, as an example of how mainstream media treats indigenous resistance to genocide. Mainstream media often presents biased and distorted information, lacking pertinent facts and/or context. Inclusion of this article on our site should not be considered an endorsement by SISIS.]

The lone native protester waving a red and gold flag on the Mill Road overpass on Highway 401 refuses to give his name and talks in analogies.

"They're opening the book," he says of drivers honking in support.

"This is my book," he says, pointing to the flag. "You can't judge a book by its cover. Open the book and read it."

Take his photograph. Sure. Get the words -- Oneida Special Forces, front and centre on his T-shirt -- down correctly in a notebook.

His name, though, is not important.

"I'm not out for myself," he says.

He arrived early yesterday morning, the flag tied to a stick, and began waving at motorists on Canada's busiest highway two hours away from Caledonia.

The flag shows a native man surrounded by points in many directions, like a sun crown.

"The flag doesn't mean warriors. It is our unity flag. All these points symbolize the directions of our unity," says the highway protester.

"I am supporting my brothers in Caledonia."

Natives did not and do not seek violence in their protests over their rights, he says.

"You guys came to Canada to our open arms, not crossed arms."

But, he says, the natives cannot keep letting their land drift away into housing subdivisions and playgrounds for whites.

Of Caledonia, he says, "We are going after one little piece of land. "

There was a deal to sell the land back in the 1840s, he is reminded.

There could not have been a deal, he replies. "Our people are not allowed to sell the land. We can't sell it. We can't own it ourselves."

He agrees the situation in Caledonia, the situation between natives and the rest of Canada in general, is complex and messy. What is the answer? he is asked.

He touches his chest with one hand, then spreads it out toward the interviewer.

"Just like this. Just you and me talking. We are not fighting."

His protest -- this battle in Caledonia -- is not an isolated flareup that will fade away.

"I was born into this fight because I was born on a reserve. I will spend the rest of my life doing this. My son, he is 12. He will have to continue the fight."