[OPIRG-EVENTS] Charlie "Wolf" Smoke: Challenging Colonialism – past and present

[Darren <darrenp@riseup.net>]

[sorry this is such short notice, I tried to send it a few days ago, but it 
didnt go through - if you can make it on short notice on Wednesday, this is 
likely to be a fantastic, thought provoking event! - Darren ]



Charlie "Wolf" Smoke: Challenging Colonialism – past and present 

6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
Carleton University Room 210 Tory Building 
wheelchair accessible

Speaker:  Sundmanitu tanka isnala Najin / Charlie "Wolf" Smoke 

Come hear a first hand account of one man's struggle for self-identity as an 
Indigenous person and the continuing struggle against the Canadian government's 
colonial practices.  Come out and support Sundmanitu tanka isnala Najin. 

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Who is Charlie "Wolf" Smoke?

Sunkmanitu tanka Isnala Najin (Charlie "Wolf" Smoke) is of Lakota, Mohawk, and 
Seneca ancestry, and currently lives in Regina, Saskatchewan. He has been 
harassed and targeted by both Canadian and American authorities for his adamant 
refusal to be defined as either "American" or "Canadian". In his words, "I am 
an aboriginal member of Turtle Island. Both "Pre-American" & "Pre-Canadian". An 
Indigenous person from the Western Hemisphere." 

Smoke is again showing the colonialist government of Canada that they have no 
authority over First Nations people.  Mr. Smoke has been struggling against the 
government's attempt to deport him and to charge him with fraud.  He has been 
harassed by various government departments as he does not have a social 
insurance number or birth certificate.  Mr. Smoke maintains that he is of 
Mohawk, Lakota and Seneca heritage and as such does not need the Canadian 
government's permission to live or work in Canada.

The Canadian government's harassment of Mr. Smoke is a continuation of colonial 
practices that have robbed Indigenous people's of their self-determination by 
usurping the land of diverse Indigenous peoples, destroying Indigenous people's 
livelihoods and denying Indigenous peoples their self-identity.

Canada has been found guilty of all of these practices by Indigenous peoples, 
historians, social scientists and even by many legal bodies both nationally and 
internationally. Indeed, the Canadian government's own recent report from the 
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples found all of this to be true. In that 
voluminous report, the Canadian government was pressed to recognize that 
diverse Indigenous peoples have their own, self-determined forms of recognizing 
and maintaining community membership and that the Canadian government cannot 
simply make these invalid because it suits its purposes.

By demanding that Mr. Smoke 'prove' to the Canadian government his right to be 
in Canada, by demanding that Mr. Smoke provide the government with a Canadian 
passport and other forms of Canadian government issued identification, Canada 
is again imposing the government's oppressive and colonial views of membership 
upon Indigenous peoples.

Come and hear about Mr. Smoke's fight first hand!

For recent articles on his situation from Aboriginal media, go to:
http://charlie_smoke.tripod.com/indigenousawakening/id13.html

For recent articles on his situtation from Canadian newspapers, go to:
http://charlie_smoke.tripod.com/indigenousawakening/id11.html


For two recent radio interviews on CKUT Montreal, go to:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=5153 

http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=5601


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For more information call: 237-0730 extension 3

This event is brought to you by:
Anti-Capitalist Community Action (ACA)
Ontario Public Interest Research Group



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