injusticebustersblog

Everyone in the whole community of Saskatoon is invited to a Memorial Feast and Rounddance held on:

International Human Rights Day - Friday December 10th at
4pm at First Nations University of Canada (710 Duke St and 7th Avenue)
- Feast at 4pm - Round Dance will follow

Hosted by: The Stonechild Family, Members of the Saskatoon Community, First Nations University of Canada Student Council

November 30th was the 14th anniversary since Neil Stonechild's body was found on the edge of Saskatoon. This Feast and Round Dance is a chance to celebrate his life, honour and give thanks to his family and friends, and to build relations towards justice and healing in the community

There will be a give-away ceremenony during the round dance. As this is a community hosted event it would be great if people who attend could bring a new item that is useful in the household (kitchen utensils, socks, scarves, gloves, tools, bath items, kids stuff, clothing, stationery etc) to contribute to the give away.

It does not have to be a big item.

Please attend, and pass the word on to your friends and family.

Darlene Rose Okemaysim, B.A.
Clerk II, Admin Assistant
Department of Native Studies
University of Saskatchewan
Rm 121 McLean Hall
106 Wiggins Rd
SASKATOON, SK.
S7N 5E6 CANADA
P.(306) 966-6209
F.(306) 966-6242
website

The internet has been great for us. Another great invention is coroplast. Richard, Kari and Ang created a couple dozen of these stand-up signs and they were seen all over the city.

Even after Judge Baynton's judgment we took them around to Calvert's office and other places.

They were created by projecting the text onto the coroplast and tracing the image.

This is just another creative application of new technology to the struggle for our rights.

Someone just made some interesting comments about the River Landing development.

Over the winter we should consider some actions we could take to make sure we innercitty people are not shut out of this. The welfare office is right down there -- some action to get the basic allowance raised might be effective.

We have a whole winter to plan. The blog can really serve to get some ideas going back and forth. (I know that as an activist over the years I have "done my time" in meetings so it would be great if we could find new ways to organize that really work.

Also, don't forget it is the big centennial year . . .

This is the latest picture of my younger sister, Mary and myself. We were at a memorial for a close friend, who was murdered.--Helen

We were burning sage at the Supreme court house in Vancouver, a few years ago. I still had a eye patch on my eye from a very bad car accident. Later on I started to use eye glasses.--Helen

This picture was taken at the Vancouver art gallery, many years ago. This was when I was the only indigenous person, attending rallies along with many white people. I was protesting the illegal treaty process, and educating the public about this illegal treaty. This picture was when I was in top condition, as I was always out riding my bicycle.

Yesterday I received a an e-mail from Helen Michel. It was part of an ongoing story which I had somehow come in on the middle of. I wrote her back and asked her to send some pictures. She did. Here is the e-mail:

This is telquaa's latest update, regarding the violations of our indigenous human rights. November 22, 2004, will be one month since the police beat us up and confiscated our van. This whole month has been pure hell, on our lives and on our bodies.

As without our van, I cannot go anywhere. I feel like I have been imprisoned for being an Indigenous person and a disabled person, who can only get around with an electric wheel chair. 

Without our van, I could not haul around my wheel chair, so I became a prisoner in my own home. Plus, being a human rights defender, I cannot go around and see what is happening to my indigenous friends and families.

So much has happened within this whole month since the police confiscated our van. My son's vehicle was rammed on the side, which made his truck undriveable. My daughter's car was also impounded by the police.

Frank has had to hitchhike between Harrison Hot Springs and Vancouver a few times, during this past month. He has had to meet appointments with doctors, advocates and lawyers and in between, trying to get rides into town to take me to our weekly West Coast family nights at the indian centre. Our only cultural livelyhood.

Life was Hell. The first time Frank was hitchhiking into Vancouver, he caught a ride with an american. The Chilliwack police must have had their eye on him because after he got picked up, the police were immediately onto him. The police pulled over the car, and gave a 75.00 ticket to the driver for picking up a hitchhiker on the free way. Frank was chased out of the car, by the police, and he had to walk most of the day to the older Mission highway, to continue his hike into Vancouver.


Last week when Frank was coming back from Vancouver, on another trip into town, he got another ride from Vancouver. This time it was with a friend, who was an indigenous fisherman, who offered to take Frank back to Harrison. On his way home, they were once again hauled over by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This time the policeman made them get out of the truck, so the police could do their own road test on the truck, to see if the truck was road worthy. Everything on the truck was working right, except for the emergency brake system. Because of this one default, the police once again cofiscated our friend's truck. This left our friend without his only working truck, as this is how he made his living.


The policeman told our friend, that he was travelling with very bad company, referring to Frank. Our friend and Frank were once again left on the highway, in the middle of the night. It took Frank a day and a half to get home as he had to sleep along the roadway. As Frank is my only caretaker, he does my cooking and cleaning, I had to suffer silently at home. No cook, no food to eat and not knowing what is going on with Frank. I was very stressed out, by the time Frank made it home.  


On November 24, 2004, after family night, we decided to camp in Vancouver for the night, as we wanted to attend a First Nations Summit rally, that was taking place the next day. I knew that the sell out treaty chiefs of this only unceded province of Canada, was going to be in attendance at this rally. I wanted to be there, just so I could meet many of the sellout treaty chiefs, face to face.

Many of the faces were men, aboriginal men, who had been in power for over forty years now.

Many of them were falsely dressed up in aboriginal regalia, that were all newly made up as they were passing themselves off as chiefs. Surprisingly there was no women in the lineup, on the stage. Out of all the men, only one woman was allowed to speak, on their stage. That says a lot to me. They came as a "gang", they all left as a "gang".

I confronted my so called "Grand" Chief Edward John about the "gag order" that he imposed onto us, in the Supreme court of British Columbia, in 2002. He outright denied, that he ever put a gag order on us, in front of all of his supporters. He called me a liar. I wonder who is the real liar, Edward John or the Supreme court of British Columbia? As they were making their speeches, I was yelling at my chiefs, from the Wetsuweten nation and the Carrier nation, that I want my lands back, namely Maxan Lake, and No Treatys for B.C. and sell outs. 


While this rally was going on, one of their supporters came over to our little crowd, and told us that we should watch ourselves, and that we were crazy to be yelling around like we were, especially around these so called "treaty chiefs". Their supporter knew that we were strong supporters of John Graham.

He snickered when he told us that John Graham had to once again move from the house he was presently staying at, as his life is being constantly threatened. Apparently, one day after John had to move from that house, one of his close supporters who also lived in that same house, and a close friend of ours, was found hanging. We all knew each other most of our life time, and we know that this close friend, would not hang himself.

I feel he was murdered because he was our friend and John's supporter. How many more people, will be murdered for being our friend  and our supporters?

John Graham's extradition hearing court case is coming close, December 6, 2004 at the Supreme Court house on Smithe Street in Vancouver B.C. I would not be surprised if they decide to kill John Graham, before this gets to trial. 

This is another reason why the police confiscated our van. So we cannot defend our close friends, whose human rights are being violated, as well as our human rights. John Graham's extradition hearing needs international attention and international intervention.

John did not murder Anna May Aquash. The evidence itself should show who really killed Anna May. John Graham is only their "scapegoat" as is Leonard Peltier. Uranium mining on Indigenous sacred lands is the real issue as well as " WATER" issues on Indigenous sacred lands of Turtle Island. On the west coast of B.C. "they" are proposing oil wells on our sacred lands, and as traditionalists and Indigenous sovereign people we do not want oil wells on our traplines and sacred lands. Will our voices ever be heard, I doubt it.

Too many Indigenous people have already died, because of the same kinds of stands we take. Too many Indigenous women have been murdered/missing in this only unceded province alone. I wonder if the missing women issue is the result of the male dominated society? As Indigenous people, our lives are expendable. Indigenous childrens rights is another issue, in itself, especially in this unceded province.  -- Helen Michel

Here are some links: Helen's website

John Graham defence committee  

Ruben wrote the poem, 14 Going on Forever .

He is also the first to comment on the entry below.

Let's take back the 'hood!

Everyday, my memory stays the same
Growing weak, there's no one left to blame
Who can relate to the mother's pain?
14 going on forever
will the answer come?, probably never
A young lifeline tragically severed
Such an ugly storm to try and wether
It's been 14 going on forever
Two men riding through the night
Were they really looking for a fight?
Well they found a boy amongst the twilight
Year by year, accusations come and go
Take your time, make some sense into a flow
Let nothing but courage show
Its 14 going on forever
Watching justice bounce on a tether
We're unbalanced this side of the lever
Let the truth shine in evidence we've gathered
It's been 14 going on forever
Is the family all alone in this?
Are there names, the only on the list??
Where's mama's baby?
the one she loved, the one she used to kiss
Where oh, where can Stella's baby be
Chatting with loved ones by heaven's sea
Someday the Lord will set mama free
To reunite alove that lasts an eternity



-Ruben J. Bignell

Now that his lawsuit has been filed, we can only wish John Hudak well.

His story shold not be forgotten, though. Every time we read any PR about how the RCMP has reformed itself, we should remember Hudak and the recent report that the cop found to have maliciously framed Jason Dix, Gary Steinke, was made chief inspector of Sherwood Park in Janusary, 2005.

The signs were on the lawn, the media was there. It was well organized.

It was colder than most of us had anticipated.

This event was a broad community response to the events following the release of the Stonechild Report.

None of us wants a deepening of the chaos the community is enduring.

It is too bad that the Saskatoon Police Service did not provide someone to speak to us. To their credit they provided protection for the march.

It is great to see the lines blurring between media and event. In the past we were often ignored, dismissed or our actions were under reported because the larger media could control us in this way.

The internet now makes it impossible to ignore our actions.

We really didn't know who to expect at this rally. The organizers had told me there was a positive response from everyone they contacted.

The media was out in force.

And so were independent media. Many cameras and sound recorders.

I told someone that in the old days, anyone with a really good camera was probably working for the R.C.M.P.

It is good things are changing.

It wasn't always easy to spot your mates in the crowd . . .

We've all changed and Saskatchewan must, also.

One of the fun things about photographing these events is looking through the crowd pictures to see if you are in them.

Whether you find yourself or not, or even if you were not there, please go ahead and add comments to any of the posts.

Shucks, we could keep this rally going for a long time!

People, a bicycle, a drum . . .

We were all interested in having the truth told -- about ourselves and the events we were probing.

Just how close will this camera focus?

Ang and I were both taking stills and video for injusticebusters and whoever wants to make a film of this event

Most of the time people were too busy to realize how cold it was.

People who forgot to wear gloves were wishing they had . . .

Words, meaning, action -- conduct becoming of human beings.

That is what we all want.

They had a wide banner . . .

And some brought their own . . .

Getting ready to march off the campus . . .

Chief Sabo has met resistance from inside the police and from parts of the business community.

When he was hired, Jim Maddin was Mayor and Leanne Bellegarde Daniels was head of the Board of Police Commissioners.

Trust was beginning to build in the community but it was fragile.

Mayor Maddin was defeated by Don Atchison. He came third. A person characterized by many people as racist, Jim Pankiw, received more votes than Maddin.

The truck will be our platform 90 minutes from now when we get to the police station.

We start moving toward College Street

Past the grey stone walls . . .

. . . through the campus

A brisk pace is set . . .

Leaving the campus . . .

along the route

. . . at the police station

People were cold from the march but everyone stayed to hear the speakers.

Saskatoon cannot hide its racism. There are many poor non-Natives who blame their situations on Natives or immigrants.

They don't know any better and the education they receive isn't good enough.

These posters were defaced on campus.

Seen silhouetted against the Sturdy Stone building, Joseph expressed his appreciation to the crowd assembled and reiterated the FSIN position that the Wright recommendations must be taken seriously and Chief Sabo must keep moving forward.

Yvonne didn't bother to get up on the truck but her voice was heard loudly and clearly as she continued the theme of the community's need to heal and rallies like this as helpful.

Rachel Fiddler can be seen behind her on the truck.

Injusticebusters were invited to speak.

Richard Klassen spoke first. He said injustices affect the entire community and that coming together in events such as these are necessary for a community which needs to heal.

injusticebusters was one of the first media to keep this story in the public eye. Jason Roy was in touch with us early on.

I also spoke on behalf of Injusticebusters.

I said the police were operating within a social policy which must change before there is any meaningful change. Specifically drugs and alcohol addiction must be seen as public health issues which are addressed by the health system rather than a tiny brief detox center, and Social Services must give people on welfare an amount they can live on so they can reach out of the cycle of poverty and crime.

Jason spoke briefly to the crowd and made a point of thanking each of us individually.

Respect characterized the entire gathering, from assembling at the bowl throughout the march and listening to the speeches.

The images tell the story.

We huddled in front of the police station to her speeches from the back of a truck.

For two hours we had withstood a chilly wind and most of us were eager to get home and regain our body heat.

It was not far from anyone's mind that the chill of a November Friday was nothing compared to what Neil Stonechild endured the night he froze to death.

When Prisceilla Settee held up posters where Neil's image had been defaced and racist remarks written -- that was the most chilling moment of all.

This is one of the pictures I found as I was going through the files today. There are many things I like about it. It is full of colour and vitality which has been draining out of this city despite some movement on city council to develop south downtown.

Behind Richard and his bullhorn is a railroad bridge over 19th Street. This area is all included in the plan for new development. This photo is from the summer of 2003, after we had our camp-out on the legislature lawn in Regina, after we had our two day Living Museum in Bessborough Park.

The informational pickets, postering and messafes on the bullhorn had been received with good humour and sometimes gleeful enthusiasm.

The enthusiasm came frm the Native community. John Melenchuk can be seen on the left, with his colourful headgear and sign.

The Saskatoon Police and the Regina Crown Prosecutor's office could not tolerate this activity. There were arrests and court appearances. For a while Richard was forbidden from going within two blocks of either of the city's police stations.

At this time the cops and the Crown knew they were going to have to go to civil trial. They still had a faint hope that Richard would not be able to survive what turned into a seven week trial. They did everything in their power to keep us from surviving.

The province is not going to be able to keep us from raising embarrassing truths during the 2005 Centennial celebration which Premier Calvert has announced will have as its theme "100 years of heart."

A comment on an earlier post gives a website with links to police scanners. Saskatoon is on it and I have them tuned in right now. I tried to get to the template and add a link to this but I couldn't get in.

And I would like to thank my son, Kevin Steele for the work he has done to clean up the aesthetics of this blog. We're still working on making it as easy to use as we can.

Let us know any features you would like to see and we'll see if they can be incorporated.

I have spent the last couple days uploading Photos to Flickr. During the spring and summer of 2003, we created more photos than I could handle on the website.

I came across this picture (which I think is an official photo) showing the Executive team of the Saskatoon Police. There is Dueck, second from the left. At the head of the table is Chief Sabo, presiding over a group which it is clear to us today was not to hold together.

Please add any comments you feel would be appropriate.