Found at:
http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint/Racist_attack_hits_Kitigan_Zibi_First_Nation.html
Racist attack
hits Kitigan Zibi First Nation
(The
following article is from
the July 1-31,
2007
issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles
can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in
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ON, L8P 2H3.)
By Kimball
Cariou
On June 21,
residents of Kitigan
Zibi, a First Nations community 130 kilometers north of Ottawa, awoke
to find their cherished cultural centre defaced with swastikas and
racist graffiti. Police think the crime may have been committed by
residents of the nearby town of Maniwaki, Quebec. A recent successful
land claim resulted in restoring a piece of property in Maniwaki to the
Kitigan Zibi First Nation. The land is to be made into a park honouring
the community's first chief.
In an urgent
public message,
Claudette D. Commanda said: "On this day when we are to celebration the
great and rich heritage and culture of the aboriginal peoples, we, the
members of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Algonquin First Nations, have
become victims of a hate crime. I am deeply sadden by this - I have no
words to describe the sorrow that my spirit and heart are carrying at
this moment. My heart is wounded, but my spirit is not broken. I appeal
to you for help.
"As a
community member, as a
mother, as a grandmother, to you my brothers and sisters in culture and
spirit, I am seeking your help - sometime during the night, my
community, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg has become the victim of a hate
crime, our Cultural Centre has been vandalized, with huge black paint
swastika signs and with the wording `White Power' written completely
around the entire building, furthermore, picnic tables and tents have
been destroyed. Just as our community was preparing for its aboriginal
day celebration today, there is no celebration, our community is in
tears, and I must say that this heinous crime also raises the issue of
our safety and security of our people, our community.
"Please, I am
asking you as
brothers and sisters, to get this message out to media, to the
public... I thank you for your attention to this message and for any
help you can provide."
Meeting in
Toronto over the June
23-24 weekend, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada
voted to condemn this racist action, one of a growing number of attacks
directed at aboriginal peoples, Muslims, and other minority groups.
CPC leader
Miguel Figueroa said,
"The Communist Party has warned repeatedly that the so-called `war on
terror' is aimed at whipping up hatred and divisions, to promote
Canadian involvement in imperialist wars and to attack democratic
rights and civil liberties by the Canadian state. The listing of
indigenous groups as `terrorists' in an armed forces training manual,
and the warnings of state attacks against the aboriginal National Day
of Action, are ominous warnings that the struggle by aboriginal peoples
for justice is regarded as a threat by the Harper Conservatives and
other reactionary forces. Like the attempts to incite violence against
the Six Nations at Caledonia, the hate crime at Kitigan Zibi shows that
racist and fascist elements are being stirred into action. We urge all
labour and democratic movements to condemn this rise in racist and
fascist activity, and to stand in solidarity with the aboriginal
peoples and other minority groups."