MIM Notes No. 198, November 15, 1999

First Nation peoples fight for fishing rights
by MC17

First Nation peoples from territory occupied by New Brunswick, 
Canada are battling for their fishing rights in the Atlantic 
Ocean. On September 17th the Supreme Court of Canada, in an 
unusual ruling that backed up First Nation treaty rights, 
concluded that indigenous people could fish year-round without 
limits on their catches.(1) This victory came from the court 
battle over the arrest of a Mi'kmaq man for catching eel out of 
season.(2) This ruling angered the white nation of Canada because 
Kanadians have to abide by catch limits and they believe that they 
have the rights to control the land stolen from the First Nations. 

MIM does not believe that the Supreme Court of any country 
should be dictating the rights of indigenous peoples. In fact, 
neither the courts nor the governments of the white nation have 
any jurisdiction over the First Nations currently occupied by the 
imperialists. Indigenous people have a right to their land and to 
decide their own laws on that land. Supreme courts should be 
keeping white people from violating the treaties of their 
countries with the First Nations.

Members of the Warrior Society have joined local indigenous 
people and set up a blockade on a wharf in Miramichi Bay in 
occupied Canada. The Mi'kmaq First Nation of Burnt Church asked 
the warrior society, a group made up of members of many First 
Nations which is active in defending First Nation land, to help 
after white settlers destroyed hundreds of lobster traps set by 
indigenous people in Miramichi Bay.(1) In typical imperialist 
response to their own kind doing crime, the Royal Canadian Mounted 
Police (RCMP) said that it would be very difficult to charge any 
of the whites who destroyed the lobster traps because they would 
have to identify both the exact owner of the destroyed trap and 
the specific person who destroyed it.(3)

During the stand off three indigenous people were injured when 
their truck was rammed by the white wharf president.(1) Other 
violent attacks by settlers included burning and destroying 
indigenous property.(2)

In solidarity with the First Nation struggle at Miramichi Bay, 
the Passamaquoddy, a First Nation surrounded by imperialist 
occupied Maine, announced that they too would begin fishing closed 
Canadian waters.(4) They are also covered by the 1760 treaty which 
was behind the Supreme Court ruling giving indigenous people the 
right to freely fish the waters off the coast of Canada. A 
spokespersyn for the Canadian Fisheries Department suggested that 
they may try to block the Passamaquoddy from fishing in what the 
Kanadians like to think of as Canadian waters. He said "I guess we 
have to figure out if the border applies to these people."(4)

Edward Bassett, the lieutenant-governor of the Passamquoddy 
Tribe, said that his people will defend their right to fish both 
sides of the artificial border dividing Amerika and Kanada: "It's 
only right. We're under the treaty. The U.S.-Canada border wasn't 
put there by us."(4)

In a predictable settler nation reaction to any assertion of 
indigenous peoples rights, the conservatives in the Kanadian 
government are pushing for legislation to take away the rights 
"granted" by the Supreme Court ruling. Deborah Grey, the deputy 
leader of the Reform party explained the imperialist perspective 
well: "They need to say that we are not going to continue with a 
race-based fishery policy. The minister needs to come out and 
announce temporary restrictions and a moratorium right now."(4)

Conservative whites like Grey share the problem of the liberal 
left: neither group understands that the rights of oppressed 
nations do not come down to a question of race. This distinction 
between racism and national oppression is particularly clear in 
the case of First Nations. Stealing their land and then "granting" 
them limited rights to borrow back a small bit of that land does 
not amount to racial favoritism any more than it is a product of 
the bad attitude of racist whites.

First Nation peoples have been suffering over five hundred 
years of national oppression: white people systematically, as a 
nation, exercising power and control to oppress indigenous 
nations. It is not just about people discriminating against 
individuals because of the color of their skin or the language 
they speak. It is about the oppression of groups of people by 
another group. And this oppression will not be legislated away or 
ruled away by the courts of the oppressors. This oppression can 
only be eliminated when the oppressed nations overthrow 
imperialism and can exercise true self-determination.

On an Internet discussion group of indigenous peoples' issues 
(alt.native) one persyn, calling himself "Another Pissed off 
Indian" responded to a question about whether this standoff was 
going to turn violent by writing: "The greedy whiteman is already 
destroying Native traps and using threats and intimidation, why 
not retaliate in kind? It was the white fisherman that depleted 
the stocks in the first place, now they're all pissed off when a 
couple of Native fisherman want to feed their families. I say sink 
the white bastards boats, maybe it is time to go to war. I don't 
want to, but what will be left for my son when he grows up? Will 
the police help the Native fisherman, will they prosecute the 
assholes that are destroying private property? I think not. So we 
will need to look after ourselves, start forming armed details to 
protect our rights. There are a million Native men in Canada (a 
low estimate) but only thirty thousand soldiers, why don't we just 
take over?"

MIM agrees with the sentiments behind this statement. It has 
been a violent struggle for more than five hundred years. Whenever 
the First Nation peoples have shown restraint and responded to the 
white man's violence with pacifism they have had land stolen, 
people killed, and property destroyed. The violence of imperialism 
will only be stopped with force. For the First Nation peoples and 
other oppressed nations around the world this is a matter of life 
or death.

Notes:
1. Reuters, 6 October 1999.
2. Mohawk Nation News. Kahnawake of Mohawk Territory. 5 October 
1999.
3. Toronto Star, 5 October 1999.
4. Ish's Native News.