Aboriginal groups plan more protests, chief warns

CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news
Last updated May 23 2006 09:10 AM PDT

[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.]

First Nations groups in the province plan to hold more protests to show solidarity with native protesters occupying a construction site in southern Ontario, the head of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs says.

Stewart Phillip, who is chief of the Penticton Indian Band, said many aboriginal people in British Columbia empathize with the Six Nations members who moved onto the site near Caledonia on Feb. 28 over a land-claims dispute.

They face similiar frustrations in B.C., he said.

Stewart said the coalition of aboriginal groups that disrupted traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver in April to show support for the Six Nations protesters is planning more protests – including more bridge blockades.

"The aboriginal people across this country are glued to their TV sets in their living rooms, watching this appalling and frightening level of violence unfold in Caledonia, and they feel a deep need to do something," he said.

Stewart said he is familiar with the Caledonia dispute and spent two weeks in the region in April.

He blamed the federal government for letting poverty grow in First Nations communities across the country, warning that young people are angry to the point of lashing out.