Okiijida Society: Alert to Warrior Societies

Okiijida Society

Box 75, Ginew, Manitoba, Canada ROA 2RO
From (Mush-ko-dah-be-shik-eese) Terrance Nelson, Okiijida Society Spokesman and Representative from Canada; National (US) Board of Directors: American Indian Movement

Be on Guard
April 14, 2007

I am first degree Midewiwin, most of our people are very spiritually connected people. Normally, I am very cautious in sending out warnings to warrior societies. The last time I send out a yellow alert was in March 2006 and it was on behalf of the Mohawks at Six Nations on the escalating tensions in Caledonia. Today I am sending out a caution to all of our people to be on guard. Three separate spiritually connected people have told me that the police and army will carry out a massive raid similar to the FLQ War Measures act response that happened in October 1970.

As I said, normally I would dismiss this as simple jitters and people who worry too much but I have experience in dealing with the Conservative Members of Parliament who today run the government of Canada. On January 19th 1993, Roseau River suffered an R.C.M.P. raid, snipers in our fields, Canadian army on standby in Winnipeg and the whole bit. Yes, there was anger and demonstrations but little or no consequences for the white man. Today the Canadian spy agency is run by former Premier Gary Filmon who ordered the raid on Roseau River in 1993 and he is not the only one in the Conservative government who think they can get away with using the Army against Indians.

The First Nations in Canada are organizing a June 29th National Day of Protest that includes some railway blockades and other actions. The Canadian Army in on maneuvers in northern Alberta and the Yukon, a fact that angers a lot of Dene people in those areas. The newly drafted Canadian Army Manual was recently big news because it would have placed Indians in Canada alongside terrorist organizations and the Manual had policies about killing Indians. Even today, every year, over 50% of the people in Canada who are killed by police are First Nation people. That has been our history for a long time.

Since the Oka Crisis of 1990, warrior societies met regularly to plan out action if ever the Canadian army was used to kill Indian people. Our response would be to shut down the Canadian economy. Clearly, that means shutting down every rail line in the country until the government comes to their senses. Although I hope that our spiritual people are wrong on their warning, I do want to remind everyone that Ipperwash, Gustavusen Lake, Burnt Church and many other incidents in Canada since Oka have involved special forces being used against our people. Just be on guard, don’t be naïve, it can happen.

Chief Terrance Nelson