From ‘Reality Now’, Winter 1988 – Spring 1989, Toronto, Dish With One Spoon Territory
Since the last issue of Reality Now, the struggle of the Lubicon Lake Band has taken many major turns and is still going strong. The Lubicon Nation’s struggle spans almost 50 years; they have been fighting for their right to their traditional land base, which is situated about 100 km East of Peace River in Northern Alberta. The area is over-run by oil companies, leased the land by the Provincial government, who have all but destroyed the Band’s traditional way of life by driving out the animals in the area. Now 95% of the Band is on welfare and the deterioration of their culture is increasing, rapidly.
Two of us from Reality Now went to their Little Buffalo settlement last September (1987). Only a few weeks before we were to arrive, we were shocked to hear that people had contracted tuberculosis. The fight against tuberculosis took (and is still taking) a severe toll on the Band; it also illustrated the severity of the damage being done to the community and the lengths to which their enemies will go to get them out of the way for oil development. The tuberculosis, caused by poor diet, bad sanitation, overcrowding etc, was a direct result of the impoverished state and the decay of their traditional, time-tested ways caused by oil development.
Our time there was both enlightening and frightening. The sight of huge pump-jacks raping the land, of large tracts of land laid to waste by fires deliberately left to burn by the Province, and of numerous roads bulldozed through the area by oil companies, all these were frightening and they made us furious. Contrasting this was the beauty of the unspoiled areas, the friendliness of the people, and especially the strength and spirit of this community at war. Despite the enormous pressures on them, the people were helpful and always willing to talk about their struggle, which is a daily fact of life for them. For this we are very grateful … we feel that these people are our friends and will support them as much as we can.
In the months after our visit, the boycott of the winter “Oilympics” organized by the Band took centre stage in the Canadian media. Petro-Canada, one of the major oil companies in the Band’s area, started an Olympic torch relay across the country to build up patriotic spirit before the Games. This relay was greeted by supporters of the Band in demonstrations across the country. In Toronto we greeted the Torch with drumming, banners and signs and leaflets about the situation. Many of these demonstrations were simply ‘blacked out’ by the major media who suffered from a patriotic and corporate bias, yet the events were too much to ignore entirely. The Band’s case became an international issue.
The amazing amount of support in Europe managed to sink the highly publicized Glenbow Museum exhibit “The Spirit Sings”. The exhibit, known as the flagship of the Olympic arts festival, was to feature hundreds of Native artifacts from private and museum collections. It was met with a boycott by almost 30 museums because its exclusive corporate sponsor was Shell Oil, who play a big role on Lubicon land. The museum’s (& Olympic’s) directors also had their hands dirtied in that area. The boycott was also coupled with an exhibit put on by Native artists in support of the Lubicon Cree.
With the Olympics on the doorstep, the Canadian government initiated all sorts of propaganda campaigns and fake moves to settle, all of which were designed not to settle this overdue land claim, but to ease public pressure on them. All of these moves (and threats) brought forward did nothing to change the situation and with the Olympics gone the media lost interest and left everything right back where it started … though not for long.
Indian Affairs Minister Bill “Butt-face” McKnight then announced that the Daishowa paper company of Japan had been given rights to build a pulp mill near the Band’s traditional area. The trees to supply this mill would be stripped from the Lubicon lands. This plan has drawn great public outrage from Native leaders and the Band itself, all of whom called for McKnight’s resignation on conflict of interest charges. “Buttface” claimed he didn’t realize where the trees would be stripped from before he gave the company a $9.5 million federal grant.
McKnight has further stalled settlement since then. Bernard Ominayak, the Band’s chief, met with Alberta’s Premier Getty to discuss the situation. This turned out to be a surprising turnaround in the Province’s policy; Getty asked what would satisfy the Band in terms of negotiations. Bernard kept to the Band’s demand of bilateral negotiations with the feds, having E. Davie Fulton, author of a government inquiry into the situation, as an independent observer reporting to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs.
Getty suggested that a three person team be set up, consisting of Fulton, a federal appointed person, and one more picked by those two. This was approved by the Band and was a glimmer of hope in any kind of negotiated settlement. However McKnight refused to agree to it, and instead put pressure on the Province to accept his deal, which is to give the Band a small amount of land, deal with basic “municipal” issues like roads and housing, and then negotiate for more land. This is unacceptable to the Band, as McKnight will only grant land rights or even negotiate with only half of the Band — the rest he won’t even recognize as Band members, due to his use of outdated and illegal definitions of “status” Indians.
He then took Alberta & the Band to Court to force them to accept his package, a package which would entail the federal government deciding the fate of the Band and their lands without any involvement of Band members, an unacceptable deal. It is also an attempt to force the revelation of a Joint Band/Province genealogical study tracing the roots of Band members.
This study, until now unavailable, could be subpoenaed as evidence. The use of such a study, never before required of any Band, would tum the whole proceedings into a game of numbers and futile attempts to check the ancestry of 457 people, delaying a settlement by years (thus ensuring more profits for the companies), and also would be successful in muddling the issue in the minds of a public assaulted by number games — rather than getting right to the point, which is that the federal government has a responsibility to cede to the Band, who have never given away their land in treaty or in war, full control over their land and their lives.
The federal and Provincial governments have initiated a propaganda campaign which includes taking out full page ads in major papers, writing deceitful letters to the editors, and submitting documents to the papers to be published as is, without some nosy reporter checking the facts and exposing the truth.
This follows the pattern of the SWAT (Special Words And Tactics — seriously!) strategy developed by a public relations firm for the government during the James Bay struggle which entails using the tactics described and others to bring the public around to the government’s point of view. It is a campaign designed to con the people into accepting the most hideous of government proposals. Officials deny its use but their actions show that it’s in full gear.
On October 8, the Band officially withdrew from all cases before the Canadian courts. Declaring themselves an autonomous nation, the people adopted their own constitution in a general assembly of the community. All Band laws must be approved by such general assemblies before they are accepted.
Now, having renounced all outside government control over their community, they proceeded to assert their own jurisdiction over their full traditional territory. On October 15, roadblocks were erected on the main roads accessing their land, through which no police, oil companies or others were allowed without a Band-issued permit.
Getty’s response was to make generous offers of land if the Band would take down its barricades. Then, on October 20, despite a Lubicon offer to temporarily take down its barricades in order to discuss a proposal to give them 90 square miles, the checkpoints were attacked by RCMP armed with chainsaws. 27 people were arrested on “contempt” changes due to their refusal to follow a court injunction forbidding their blockades.
Getty immediately phoned the Band and said ‘now we саn talk’. All people were released that night under the condition that they obey the injunction (which, coming from a Canadian court, has no authority on Lubicon land or people anyways). The following day the oil companies entered the Lubicon Nation under force of arms. Reporters described the land as an armed camp due to the huge amount of police. As we go to press, October 23, Bernard and Getty have met to negotiate and it looks as though they’ve reached a settlement.
The agreement gives the band 79 square miles with complete mineral rights, and Alberta is willing to sell the feds the mineral rights to a further 16 square miles for future band use. This settlement still must be negotiated with Ottawa.
So the Lubicon may have gained a settlement through their use of direct action. After a 48 year struggle, persistent treachery, thieving, lying and violence from governments, the destruction of their traditional culture and land base, they may indeed be near the end of the tunnel; we can only hope they get what they desire.
Also
Letter to Reality Now about the West Bank Prisoner Hunger Strike, by Ahmad Samih Abou-Ali (1984)
The Environment is a Class Issue, by Reality Now (1988)
Insurrection and Informal Organization, edited by Reality Now (1988)
Last Stand of the Lubicon Cree, by John Goddard (1991)
Logging Company Fled [Lubicon Territory] After Equipment Torched, by Amy Santoro (1991)
Lubicon Arson Case a Mistrial: Judge Rules Evidence Heard Was Inadmissible, by D. B. Smith (1993)
“… Alberta Justice, in February 1995, quietly obtained a stay of proceedings on arson charges against 13 members of the band… The stay, sought because of a lack of evidence, came as Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak and then-minister of Indian Affairs, Ron Irwin, met to set the stage for a new round of negotiations on the treaty entitlement claim.”
– Jack Danylchuk, Edmonton Journal (1997)
Only a Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology, edited by Allan Antliff (2004)
Lubicon Say Alberta Ignoring Oil Spill Health Concerns, by Mark Blackburn (2011)
Awaiting Justice: The Ceaseless Struggle of the Lubicon Cree, by Melina Laboucan-Massimo (2012)
Lubicon Lake Nation Appeals Protest-Ending Court Injunction, by CBC News (2014)
Lubicon Supporters – Settlers in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
