Support increasing for Tyendinaga protest, activists claim

Belleville – An increased OPP presence and several arrests over the past month in Tyendinaga has led to higher levels of support for Mohawk activists.

Niki Karennenha:wi believes the arrests, which included her brother and parents, were an attempt by the provincial government to "oppress the Mohawk people."

Saturday afternoon, Karennenha:wi and several other Mohawk activists spoke about the arrests during the Day of Indigenous Solidarity held at the Organic Underground.

"Everything they have set out to quash, they have only made stronger," Karennenha:wi said.

In late April, Mohawk spokesperson Shawn Brant was arrested on assault and mischief charges. The OPP then attempted to arrest suspects of an earlier road blockade, leading to two confrontations with Mohawk protesters that resulted in four injured officers and numerous arrests. The OPP and the Mohawks then set up road blockades, which blocked Deseronto traffic over four days.

"They arrested Brant, who they believe is our leader," Karennenha:wi said. "They thought that was our stronghold, our big gun I guess."

Karennenha:wi explained Brant is merely the spokesperson of the Mohawk activists and has never been considered the leader.

"No one is the leader, everything is based on consensus," she said.

Since the events in April, Karennenha:wi's long house has seen attendance jump from 50 to 200 people.

"It has brought people who would otherwise be passive at home to the line," she said. "People who are elders and usually don't get involved."

Many of the reserve's tobacco vendors have also become involved by agreeing to donate $1 per bag of cigarettes sold to the various legal fees accumulated by many of the activists.

"They are doing their part. There are a few that take to the front lines, while others take to the back lines of the fight," Karennenha:wi said.

With possible government crackdowns on the native tobacco trade, the vendors who are not contributing the $1 per bag won't receive help from the Mohawk activists.

"If they are not willing to protect their own community and provide to the struggle then we can't guarantee them amnesty," she said.

During the arrests made in April, the OPP reported a possible sighting of a long gun pointed towards officers in the Thurlow Aggregates quarry.

"There are no weapons in the quarry. We will fight this with our will for as long as it takes," she said. "However, if the OPP turn their guns on us again, and pull a trigger, then we certainly are not going to come to a gun fight with a stick or a knife."

Karennenha:wi explained the use of weapons is discussed frequently among the activists.

"We might have to pick up arms, but we don't want to see it come to that," she said. "It is a reality we may have to face."

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