OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada – Last week the Algonquin Nation issued a joint statement regarding the use of First Nation ceremonies being co-opted and used without permission by protesters in the truckers convoy. Chief Wendy Jocko, of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, acting Grand Chief Savannah McGregor for the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, and Chief Dylan Whiteduck of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg all signed the statement.
The following day the Tungasuvvingat Inuit (TI) and the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition both released a statement supporting the Algonquin Nation.
The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) in Winnipeg issued a strongly worded statement in support of the Algonquin Nation and in condemnation of protesters.
“The use of our symbols is not only inappropriate, but also unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Algonquin people, on whose land the City of Ottawa was built. We support their call for a resolution and end to the protest on their traditional lands.”
The protests by cross-border truckers over vaccine mandates began on January 29 and have continued to disrupt traffic and impact the neighborhoods surrounding parliament in Ottawa. What started out as a mostly peaceful demonstration has devolved into an increasingly contentious and noisy blockade of the capital with protesters honking their horns throughout the days and nights, harassing residents for wearing masks, and displaying swastikas and confederate flags.
Today, the city of Ottawa declared a state of emergency over the growing number of truckers and protesters. Ottawa Mayor, Jim Watson explained, “We’re in the midst of a serious emergency, the most serious emergency our city has ever faced, and we need to cut the red tape to get these supplies available to our police officers and to our public works staff.”
“We don’t know who these people are,” said Claudette Commanda, an Algonquin elder from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.
Commanda pointed out the disrespect displayed by First Nations people who aren’t from the region to conduct ceremonies on their territory without following proper protocols. It is important to note that Ottawa is located on the traditional, and unceded territory of the Algonquin.
“We never provided any permission for anyone to use any portion of our unsurrendered, unceded homeland for any of this kind of rally, gathering, protest or even ceremonies.” Commanda continued, “We never go into anyone’s territory and assert ourselves, unlike these people who have come here and have asserted themselves by claiming either A, they’re Algonquin or B, they’re hereditary or C, that they are medicine men and women.”
Similar protests were attempted over the weekend in other Canadian cities like Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Quebéc City but were derailed by local officials who tailored their swift responses to potential protests after watching the situation develop in Ottawa.
In Alberta, where truckers are blocking the border with the U.S., a protest turned violent when protesters attempted to run down Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.
Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation highlighted the differences in how police have chosen to respond to the truckers vs their usual response to Indigenous protests in a released statement, “If this blockade was being organized by Indigenous people, we have no doubt that authorities would respond quickly to remove the blockade and utilize the law that has been created to do so.”
The statement went on to say, “If peaceful protests of critical infrastructure at Coutts is allowed, then we expect the same to be true in the future should Indigenous people engage in similar forms of protest.”
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) — which represents 70 First Nations in Saskatchewan — released a statement as reported by Indian Country Today voicing their condemnation of the protesters’ behavior.
“[FSIN] opposes the actions and tactics of the Freedom convoy protesters, some of whom have been openly sharing ignorant acts of cultural appropriation of First Nations culture and spirituality publicly and online. The FSIN condemns such open acts of racism and ignorance which are being committed across our traditional treaty territories.”
Over the weekend police in Ottawa issued a combined total of over 550 tickets, most for violations that included excessive noise, use of fireworks, driving on the sidewalk, red-light violations, stunt driving, and suspended licenses. Since the protest began police have fielded over 650 complaints that ranged in severity from simple mischief to property damage and theft to hate crimes. To date, they have opened 97 criminal investigations. The hotline that handles hate-motivated crimes has received over 200 calls so far.
Protesters in both Ottawa and Alberta say they refuse to leave until all COVID-19 mandates are lifted. As of today, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau has indicated that the use of the military is not being considered.
♠ ♠ ♠
COLUMBIA, South Carolina – Cherry Hill Seminary issued a statement in support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and places of worship after numerous learning institutions received threats of violence last week.
Cherry Hill Seminary decries the bomb threats made to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), churches and synagogues in recent weeks, particularly as they have occurred at the beginning of this country’s annual Black History Month. We support our communities of color around the country and call on all connected with the Seminary to do the same.
Executive Director Holli Emore took part in a national call on Tuesday which the FBI held with higher education and religious leaders. She said, “The FBI is providing special support to schools and religious congregations to both counter such threats and to help with prevention measures. While Cherry Hill Seminary operates from a digital-only campus, our values of embracing diversity and serving communities compel us to speak out on behalf of freedom and justice.”
The mission of Cherry Hill Seminary is to empower spiritual leadership, scholarship, and ethics through theological and pastoral education to nurture interfaith engagement in a diverse society.
Last Tuesday, the first day of Black History month saw an unprecedented number of bomb threats to HBCUs across the U.S. At least 14 colleges and universities received bomb threats with six other HBCUs reporting they had received threats on Monday, the day before.
The universities that received threats on Tuesday:
In the D.C. area: the University of the District of Columbia, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Coppin State University in Baltimore.
In Georgia: Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, and Spelman College in Atlanta.
Mississippi HBCUs saw the highest number of threats: Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Rust College in Holly Springs, Jackson State University in Jackson, and Tougaloo College in Tougaloo.
Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky; Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans; and Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida also reported receiving bomb threats.
The threats resulted in campuses being locked down and classes shifting to online formats, leaving students, teachers, and staff dealing with the fallout and a miasma of worry and fear.
A press release issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated, “The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces are leading the investigation into the nationwide series of bomb threats to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and houses of worship. This investigation is of the highest priority for the Bureau and involves more than 20 FBI field offices across the country. These threats are being investigated as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes. We are working closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners; coordinating with the targeted institutions; and meeting with academia and faith leaders to share information.”
The FBI also noted, “Although at this time no explosive devices have been found at any of the locations, the FBI takes all threats with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to thoroughly and aggressively investigating these threats.”
The FBI declined to provide any further information at that time citing the ongoing investigation.
According to reporting by NBC News, “A law enforcement official says the FBI has identified six persons of interest around the country, all juveniles, who are suspected of making the threats. The official says they appear to be ‘tech-savvy,’ using sophisticated methods to try to disguise the source of the threats, which appear to have a racist motivation.”
Members of the House Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting a briefing on the investigation last Thursday.
So far no arrests have been reported as being made in the case.
Announcements:
-
- Cherry Hill Seminary announced that Kim or “She Who Sees Between The Worlds” (a name given to her by a former teacher) and Serenity Carlyle were both awarded Community Ministry Certificates. Kim is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who has worked in mental health services for nearly twenty years, and Carlyle is an acupuncturist and founder of Roc City Pagans. CHS also announced Dana Alvara Doerksen, M.L.I.S., as the new CHS librarian. Doerksen earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia and her Bachelor of Arts and Certificate of Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University.
-
- Circle Sanctuary announced that its 2022 printed calendar is still available and can be purchased online via their website.
-
- EarthSpirit’s online midwinter celebration, A Feast of Lights, is scheduled for February 11-13. Presenters include Ojibwe elder Mary Lyons, Orion Foxwood, Andras Corban Arthen, and Abbi Spinner McBride. Information on registration and the entire weekend is schedule is available on their website.
In other news:
-
- Two human heads were stolen from above-ground mausoleums in the Footscray General Cemetery in Melbourne. Initially, investigators incorrectly believed the heads were taken as part of some sort of ritual due to the items left at the gravesites–candles, crucifixes, and even a letter to Satan. Police now believe the items were staged as a distraction and the graves were disturbed by what they are labeling as “thrill-seekers.” The human remains were taken several days apart but investigators are unsure if the two thefts are connected. The cemetery has also seen a number of cases of vandalization and another mausoleum was broken into but nothing was taken since it was empty. CCTV cameras are being put in place to monitor the site and hopefully deter further harm to the memorials and burial sites.
-
- A construction worker claimed that the deity and folk saint, Santa Muerte told him to shoot and kill the co-worker he was sharing a hotel room within Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to police, David Mendez, 45, of San Bernardino, California told investigators that Santa Muerte encouraged him to kill 26-year-old Juan Reyes Lugos. “It is due to some type of spiritual reason as to why he felt that he needed to kill the individual that he was in the room with,” BRPD spokesperson L’Jean McKneely said. “They met while working on a project here in Baton Rouge, and they were all hanging out last night. And this morning, he received a message—a spiritual message—that encouraged him to kill a victim.” Mendez surrendered to police with no resistance and is being held on second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon charges.
-
- The Traveller Movement has started an online petition requesting Netflix ask comedian Jimmy Carr apologize for a “joke” he made about the Holocaust, and that Netflix remove that segment from his special “His Dark Material.” In the segment, Carr said that when teaching about the Holocaust the murder of Romani and Sinti persons is ignored because people don’t want to “focus on the positives.” The statement was greeted with laughter and clapping by Carr’s audience. Carr responded to the criticism saying “There is an educational quality. Like everyone in the room knows 6 million Jewish people lost their lives to the Nazis during the second world war. But a lot of people don’t know, because it’s not really taught in our schools, that the Nazis also killed, in their thousands, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people and Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The Traveller Movement said Carr’s comment was not educational. It is estimated that between 25-50% of Europe’s Romani and Sinti populations were murdered in the Holocaust. The Traveller Movement is a “national civil society organisation comprised of ethnic Romany Gypsies, Irish Travellers, Roma and members of the majority population working in partnership” to address inequality, exclusion, and discrimination and promoting their rights.
-
Two weeks ago Faun dropped another video cut from its pending album “Pagan,” due out in April of 2022. This latest video features the song titled “Baldur” and is full of the sights of spring in the far northern reaches of the hemisphere. Faun describes the track as “our hymn to the holiness of the sun and to the most radiant of the Nordic gods: BALDUR.”
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: African-American Tarot, by Jamal R., artwork by Thomas Davis, published by Lo Scarabeo.Card: Knight of Wands – Tsui Goab (South African God of wizardry and metamorphosis)
The week ahead may require the ability to think on one’s feet and to respond swiftly to arising situations. Decisive action will likely be required.
Conversely, the potential for old issues and problems falsely believed to have been settled or resolved may experience a resurgence.
Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.
The Wild Hunt is not responsible for links to external content.
To join a conversation on this post:
Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.