'Split em up' Strategy at Sharbot Lake

THE “SPLIT EM UP” STRATEGY AT SHARBOT LAKE –Why we’re wary of outside “help”.
We’ve been burnt before
Mohawk Nation News
Sept. 7, 2007
The Akwesasne tragedy of 1990 when two Mohawk men were killed was a sad learning experience. It showed us how the colonial authorities can destroy people’s good intentions. To mess us up, the outsiders sent in a group and told them to take any side. Then another group was sent in to work with the other side. They did this to get us fighting. In the end two men were killed. Does it surprise you that they were ours?Frontenac Ventures’ idea of what is good for Sharbot and Ardoc Lake Algonquins conflicts with the desires of both the Indigenous people and the settlers in the area. All want to live a healthy lifestyle without uranium contamination.Just because a group calls itself “Christian” does not mean that their motives are altruistic. Some so-called religious groups consciously manipulate people’s emotions with rhetoric and even music.It is possible that the federal government “war room” that used to be in the Indian Affairs “ Tower of Terror ” in Ottawa is coordinating this whole subversive operation against the people of Sharbot Lake. They might even be getting some help from experts in the U.S.The scenario goes something like this. There are “good” cops and “bad” cops. The “Christians” are the “pacifiers”. The Algonquins are the target. The media is the “spin doctor” that formulates the public’s attitude towards the target and the issue.It is one thing to come as allies. It’s another to come and take over the agenda. That is what a lot of these kinds of groups have done in the past. This is how the trouble started at Akwesasne.An organization named after Martin Luther King was set up by New York State . They went to Akwesasne to foment whatever had to be fomented. After a great deal of fear, stress and strain, they managed to play on the emotions of the people. They even got the Mohawks singing and holding hands on the front lines and by the roads. We were in the midst of life and death situations. The media helped to spin the propaganda about a conflict between pro and anti-gamblers. It was really about a difference of opinion between groups of peopleloyal to different historic factions in the community.The Mohawks went through hell. Our movements were curtailed with police and activist roadblocks. People got attacked. Warriors were called down. Lots got hurt.The outsiders worked with the instigators to keep the conflicts and fights going. When one of the pacified Indians got hurt, they praised him for turning the other cheek.The coordinators kept saying they were working toward “curbing the violence”. Some thought it looked more like they were creating the violence. They constantly asked for an infusion of outside police. They emphasized that factions were fighting each other and there was no agreement. All the while they were separating out and in some cases creating the factions in the community. They became aware of who was against whom.The media wanted good footage of some fights. When they couldn’t get any, they stage them. Then these were shown over and over again on the media to demonstrate how violent Indians were and that martial law was needed to control them. After this message went out, the twomen were killed. Then the New York State Police invaded Akwesasne.In Sharbot Lake there are a myriad of potential factions, like those who are against or for the Christians, those who get along well with the settlers and those who don’t, and those who want the police to come in and those who do not. The majority who live there want to settle thislegally under Algonquin law.These coordinators have to create the conditions for violence. It becomes difficult when the Algonquin strategy has always been non-violent. They have to work harder to get them to be suspicious and feel betrayed by each other.The four main “split em up” methods are:1. Infiltration - mainly to discredit, disrupt and undermine trust and scare off supporters. The protesters must be smeared from within as it is more effective.2. Psychological warfare from the outside – this is when false negative media stories are leaked. Watch out for bogus leaflets that are distributed in the name of the targeted groups. Disparaging letters can be forged and anonymously sent out. Strangers can make threatening phone calls to people at the site. Misinformation can be spread about meetings and events. Parents, employers, landlords, officials and others are strong armed not to support the defenders.3. Harassment through the legal system – this is to make them appear to be criminals, like Frontenac suing the Algonquins for $77 million, CN suing Shawn Brant for $108 million and dragging us in and out of colonial courts on trumped up charges.4. Extralegal force and violence – are used by the colonial authorities to threaten, instigate and conduct break-ins, vandalism, assaults and beatings to frighten dissidents and disrupt movements. The police will disrupt or put surveillance on teach-ins, meetings of supporters,alternative newspapers and media. Political assassinations are not uncommon.The Algonquins will be perceived as domestic threats to the established political and social order. This is possible as they don’t have ties to the political and economic elites of the area.At Six Nations, the OPP gave covert aid to the Ku Klux Klan, Brown Shirts, skinheads and other rabble rousers parading as racist vigilantes. They were given funds, information and protection to attack the targeted Indigenous people.The targeting at Sharbot Lake is to disrupt the alliance of the Algonquins and settlers in a common cause. The ruling class has to create fear in the public to lose confidence in the government and in themselves so they can continue to rule by force.These tactics foment violence and create chaos. They subvert democracy and prevent intelligent discussion of public policy and the need for social change.The media exposes, disrupts, misdirects, discredits or otherwise neutralizes specific people and groups. They want to neutralize the Algonquins to force them to make a settlement favorable to Frontenac Venture who want to start uranium mining soon. This is all closely coordinated with police and courts. Other collaborators are businesses, universities, churches and patriotic organizations.Jim Loney of the Christian movement announced that he is going door to door to do “outreach” [what does that mean?] This is what the “Martin Luther King” people did in Akwesasne!Splits are inflamed to shatter alliances, tear groups apart and drive dedicated activist out of the picture. Charismatic orators and dynamic organizers are covertly attacked and neutralized. If possible, the targeted parties will be induced to blame themselves for everything that goeswrong.The stress to force them “to do the right thing” will make the Algonquins look like they have given up their fight to protect the environment.The infiltrators like the Christian groups, cops and others that are being sent in will set up community relations programs using local people with generous funding and technology from the government.Public opinion is honed by university professors, journalists, labor and social program leaders, publishing houses, cultural organizations and philanthropic fronts. At this moment Greenpeace is on their ship, the “Arctic Sunrise ”, in Kingston harbor with all their regular activist performers. They are spouting against uranium mining and supporting the illegalbuilding of windmills on Wolf Island , which is unsurrendered Mohawk land!We are a convenient target for any colonial government agency that needs to create an enemy to provide a reason for its existence. We are still listed in the “insurgency” training manuals of the Department of National Defense. In the Intelligence Report of April 2007 of “G4S Global Risks Ltd.”, we are listed as a global risk. This demonizing strategy was developed by theBritish during their colonial experience in Kenya and Northern Ireland knownas “low intensity warfare and early intervention”.Don’t be pacified. Just keep your cool!Kahentinetha HornMNN Mohawk Nation NewsSee: " Sharbot Lake "http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/news4.php?lang=en&layout=mnn&category=58&srcurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0