From Chief Terrence Nelson:
We took down the original version of the video because it had some errors and we had to finish it up. The first version was a rush job and after we were able to complete the video, it was much better. Even this latest version has about 90 seconds of footage missing because we were not able to purchase the $10,000 worth of footage that we originally wanted to put in the first version. only the "not for broadcast" version of the video, (the one we mail out) has the other 90 seconds of dramatic footage, even more so then the broadcast version that you see on you tube.
In order to broadcast the video and ensure that we didn't get sued for using someone else's footage without permission, we were forced to air this shorter version. So far about 3,500 people have viewed the video on you tube. There is some interest south of the border and we continue to work on getting this out there. We have yet to send the video to American media, US Senators and the embassies in Canada but we will get this done soon. There is still a long campaign ahead to ensure that we continue to pressure the government to make real commitments and carry out the ones that they have made.
Your help to get these new links out to more people is really appreciated. At some point some of the US media may get interested. I know New York Times had an article on the June 29 Day of Action.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/world/americas/30canada.html
Even I didn't know that if you search for Roseau River on You Tube, there is some of our other videos there.
Also on www.aimovement.org, there is a longer version of our Not So Gentle Neighbor video, one of our first attempts at presenting a video on how our people are treated in Canada.
Chief Nelson
Here are the links to the new updated video.
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybq4yDrbB1A
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ahS2ZxwVV8
If this link does not work, punch in Long Train of Abuses on the You Tube site.
-----Original Message-----
From: spiritdancer44@aol.com [mailto:spiritdancer44@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:54 AM
To: chieftnelson@rrafn.com
Subject: Re: A Long Train of Abuse
Aani Chief Nelson,
when I tried to view the videos on u tube, it said they had been removed by the user.
please advise?
miigwetich
Patti ~ SpiritDancer
www.pattispiritdancer.blogspot.com
Blockades are only one option and Shawn Brant was courgeous in his actions, however the fight must be on a lot of fronts if we are to succeed in ending the violations of indigenous people's rights. The issue is always land and who should benefit from the resources of our lands.
An article in the National Post recently stated that 100 Billion dollars of raw resources were being shipped out of Canada, that is raw logs and unprocessed oil. The article was important for the amount of jobs it cost the Canadian economy for outsourcing the processing of Canadian raw resources. Not as dramatic as a railway blockades, but critically important, if you want to know why June 29th was heard in places of power.
Why I disagree with blocking highways is that for me the average Joe, the average Canadian has very little power.
I have talked to American lawyers who feel that they can take on Exxon and Imperial Oil in American courts. From what they stated, they feel that under NAFTA, the big oil companies are liable under US law, (resulting from clauses in the NAFTA agreement) for environmental damages in Canada. that to me is interesting, because now we are talking real economic impact, not a poor Indian story but something the powers that be are really interested in.
The only reason June 29th was heard was because of blockades and the potential cost of an economic crisis. In two weeks of a labour dispute in B.C., it cost the port of Vancouver one billion dollars before the unions were ordered back to work by parliament.
The GDP in 2006 was $1.15 Trillion US dollars. Of that 60% was dependant upon resources being shipped out of Canada. The per capita GDP was $35,494. Of that $35,494, close to $20,000 depends upon resource sales. What that means is that every Canadian (every man, woman and child) is subsidized by $20,000 a year from resource sales. That doesn't mean directly being subsidized, it means, up to 60% of our income depends upon resource sales. If those resource sales were impacted by a national railway blockade, the cost would be enormous.
The stupid right wing press tries to say that the indigenous people get 11 billion dollars of taxpayer money. That is plain bullshit, it a myth that makes every white taxpayer feel important and burdened by the indigenous people. In Halifax, next week, several of the Chiefs will be stating that we don't want your money, keep your taxpayer money and shove it, we want our money, a share of hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, you steal from us every year from the sale of our resource wealth.
We are beginning a fight to get a share of our resource wealth and this time we can get it done, if our people understand our strengths and keep on a planned clear path. watch what happens at the AFN summit in Halifax next week. June 29th was just the beginning. Keep posted.
