THE WARRIORS WITHIN
By Brad Lockwood
http://www.nypress.com/19/5/news&columns/feature.cfm
it is a long article so here are some clips to encourage you to read it in full.
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. . . We’re approaching Ganienkeh (“The Land of the People of the Land of Flint”), and I am about to become one of a select few (“Maybe four,” according to Paul) white people ever allowed to enter the ancestral acres that the Mohawk call home, whose thick forests cross the border into Canada. Ganienkeh just might be the last outpost of the Native revolt. Or, as Paul sees it, the first step towards a new revolution.
I ask Paul about rumors of Ganienkeh having a huge cache of weapons.
“That’s a military secret.” . . .
. . . “Every day they would announce over their bullhorns that the Marines were coming in that night,” Paul tells me, smiling. “And we’d yell back, ‘We’ll leave their bodies by the side of the road in the morning.’” . . .
. . . Later that year, John Colemen, a reporter for Soldier of Fortune, would write a story titled “Canada’s Civil War.” Echoing the recent standoff in Salamanca, Colemen’s account of the Mohawk reservation in Canada sent shivers through law enforcement on both sides of the border: “As I studied [the Mohawk warriors],” wrote Colemen, “I couldn’t help but think I was following guerrilla fighters I’d seen in scores of other wars: dressed in camouflage, wearing military load bearing equipment, chest webbing, AK-type weapons with 30-round banana clips.” . . .
. . . Ganienkeh has gone a different route. In place of a casino are acres of soybeans, corn and tomatoes, along with a full herd of “Beeffalo” (cows bred with bison for better eating and greater resistance to the harsh northern winters). Solar panels and satellite dishes speckle the land. Carbon-based pollutants are still strongly discouraged, and a new gymnasium and school line the shores of man-made Miner Lake—formed by a dam that will soon generate clean electricity. A university is in the works. Whites are welcome to play bingo or the handful of slot machines on-site, or to buy untaxed cigarettes and gas. But the rest of Ganienkeh is strictly off-limits. . . .
. . . Perhaps the greatest source of criticism stems from the Warrior Society’s actions against fellow Natives. Across the border in Quebec, in the Kahnawake Mohawk community where Paul was raised, the Society evicted nearly 1,000 people they determined were non-Natives, many of whom were defined as Native by government standards, but still did not meet the strict qualifications of the Society. These evictions led to the first major instance of inter-Native warfare. The Tribal Chiefs balked at the evictions, and when members of the Society laid claim to and occupied one of the vacated homes, the Quebec Provincial Police were called in to force them out. The home was set ablaze, and seven Warriors were arrested. But when over 100 Mohawk came to their aid, the police fled on foot, and the squad-cars left behind were destroyed. A settlement was later reached, but the Society had made their presence known. All too soon, only Warriors occupied the leadership posts on either side of the border. . . .
. . . It’s well-documented that every member of the Warrior Society has a gun, and 100 rounds of ammunition. These are cabins in the wilderness, so a good gun is required, but these aren’t shotguns—military-issue AK-47s are said to be the preferred armament among Warriors. . . .
. . . It may get exciting soon, though. While the Warrior Society isn’t recognized by any government, Warriors are spreading across the country: From the Oneida to the Seneca (a Warrior is ensured to be the next president of the Seneca Nation, as only individuals known to be Warriors are on the ballot) to the Cherokee and the Sioux Nations, unofficial franchises of Native unrest are springing up coast to coast. Even the historically neutral Onondaga Nation has reported the presence of the Warrior Society.
By Brad Lockwood
http://www.nypress.com/19/5/news&columns/feature.cfm
it is a long article so here are some clips to encourage you to read it in full.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . We’re approaching Ganienkeh (“The Land of the People of the Land of Flint”), and I am about to become one of a select few (“Maybe four,” according to Paul) white people ever allowed to enter the ancestral acres that the Mohawk call home, whose thick forests cross the border into Canada. Ganienkeh just might be the last outpost of the Native revolt. Or, as Paul sees it, the first step towards a new revolution.
I ask Paul about rumors of Ganienkeh having a huge cache of weapons.
“That’s a military secret.” . . .
. . . “Every day they would announce over their bullhorns that the Marines were coming in that night,” Paul tells me, smiling. “And we’d yell back, ‘We’ll leave their bodies by the side of the road in the morning.’” . . .
. . . Later that year, John Colemen, a reporter for Soldier of Fortune, would write a story titled “Canada’s Civil War.” Echoing the recent standoff in Salamanca, Colemen’s account of the Mohawk reservation in Canada sent shivers through law enforcement on both sides of the border: “As I studied [the Mohawk warriors],” wrote Colemen, “I couldn’t help but think I was following guerrilla fighters I’d seen in scores of other wars: dressed in camouflage, wearing military load bearing equipment, chest webbing, AK-type weapons with 30-round banana clips.” . . .
. . . Ganienkeh has gone a different route. In place of a casino are acres of soybeans, corn and tomatoes, along with a full herd of “Beeffalo” (cows bred with bison for better eating and greater resistance to the harsh northern winters). Solar panels and satellite dishes speckle the land. Carbon-based pollutants are still strongly discouraged, and a new gymnasium and school line the shores of man-made Miner Lake—formed by a dam that will soon generate clean electricity. A university is in the works. Whites are welcome to play bingo or the handful of slot machines on-site, or to buy untaxed cigarettes and gas. But the rest of Ganienkeh is strictly off-limits. . . .
. . . Perhaps the greatest source of criticism stems from the Warrior Society’s actions against fellow Natives. Across the border in Quebec, in the Kahnawake Mohawk community where Paul was raised, the Society evicted nearly 1,000 people they determined were non-Natives, many of whom were defined as Native by government standards, but still did not meet the strict qualifications of the Society. These evictions led to the first major instance of inter-Native warfare. The Tribal Chiefs balked at the evictions, and when members of the Society laid claim to and occupied one of the vacated homes, the Quebec Provincial Police were called in to force them out. The home was set ablaze, and seven Warriors were arrested. But when over 100 Mohawk came to their aid, the police fled on foot, and the squad-cars left behind were destroyed. A settlement was later reached, but the Society had made their presence known. All too soon, only Warriors occupied the leadership posts on either side of the border. . . .
. . . It’s well-documented that every member of the Warrior Society has a gun, and 100 rounds of ammunition. These are cabins in the wilderness, so a good gun is required, but these aren’t shotguns—military-issue AK-47s are said to be the preferred armament among Warriors. . . .
. . . It may get exciting soon, though. While the Warrior Society isn’t recognized by any government, Warriors are spreading across the country: From the Oneida to the Seneca (a Warrior is ensured to be the next president of the Seneca Nation, as only individuals known to be Warriors are on the ballot) to the Cherokee and the Sioux Nations, unofficial franchises of Native unrest are springing up coast to coast. Even the historically neutral Onondaga Nation has reported the presence of the Warrior Society.
