Solidarity & Resistance

The purpose of this project has been to combine academics with activism, to construct a practical and useful tool to promote understanding of First Nations land rights. The land reclamation at Kanonhstaton (Douglas Creek Estates) is often portrayed in terms of overly simplistic binaries that distort the underlying issues. For example, Rule of Law versus Terrorist/lawbreakers has been used in the dominant media and by various citizen groups to oppose Six Nations resistance. This binary is also evident in the injunctions served to the protesters to remove them from the land in question, and by the RCMP siege in which several protesters were arrested and charged. Ironically, what this binary makes invisible is the legal rights of Six Nations who have only leased the land in question, and have never sold it.

By providing the information on this website and links to further and more detailed information regarding these issues, I hope to promote greater understanding and awareness, and to help undo some of the damaging stereotypes depicting native protesters as “dangerous”, and “unlawful insurgents”. The actions of the protesters reflect long standing resistance against colonialism, theft of land, and assimilation. Resistance, like power, is mutable and has many forms. I have discussed only a few of these forms, focusing on direct action, though resistance is taking place in multiple forms and on multiple levels.

In terms of positionality, as human beings our questions, perspectives and interpretations are always shaped by experiences and our own unique positions in the world. Rather than pretending to be “objective”, it is now accepted in anthropology to recognize one’s own subjectivity and incorporate one’s positionality reflexively into research and writings. As an anthropology student, I am situated within my own particular position, and I stand in solidarity with Six Nations Haudenosaunee through my involvement with Hamilton Solidarity.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them on the discussion page. If you have a site relevant to this topic and would like me to include a link, please email me at niki@resistance.1hwy.com. If you know of any upcoming related events, please contact me at the email above and I will add your event to the “News” section of this webpage.