Plunder of Pompeii: how art police turned tide on tomb raiders

Angela Giuffrida in Rome 

THE GUARDIAN

5/28/2021

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Cesare Abbate/EPA

By day, the tombaroli, or tomb raiders, marked out the spot. They used long, pointed tools to pierce the earth , beneath which there was a passage that would take them to Roman homes replete with treasure in Civita Giuliana, a suburb of ancient Pompeii, about 700 metres north-west of the main archaeological park.

By night, they dug a network of tunnels. Each was about 40 metres long, starting from their home or abandoned buildings in the countryside area close to the site, and connected to the passage, from where they hammered through ancient walls as they made their way into the homes to seize their loot.

For years, their cunning methods were successful, allowing the tombaroli, a father and son team, to steal artefacts from the site and sell them on for huge sums of money to art traffickers around the world. Then, in 2012, they were caught in action – by Italy’s art police.

The special squad had discovered a hole covered by metal sheets, earth and crops leading to an illegal excavation, along with three frescoes destined for exportation overseas. The relics were recently returned to Pompeii’s archaeological park.

© Provided by The Guardian A fragment of a fresco from Villa Arianna in Pompeii, recently returned to the Museo Archeologico Libero D’Orsi, in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy. Photograph: Parco Archeologico di Pompei pre/AFP/Getty

“The tombaroli know their dig can either go well or badly,” said Gen Roberto Riccardi, the chief of Italy’s cultural heritage protection squad. “The tunnels at Civita Giuliana were found thanks to intelligence work. The tombaroli are usually people we know and have significant experience … often there are generations of them. But this is not their only work: they usually have farming or building trade activities.”

Related: ‘We go after them like pitbulls’ – the art detective who hunts stolen Picassos and lost Matisses

Looters have been plundering Italy’s cultural sites for decades, but since 2012 their trade has not been as fruitful, owing to an intensified crackdown by Italy’s art police, of whom there are 302 across the country.

In 2020, the squad found 24 illegal digs, arrested 68 thieves and recuperated 17,503 archaeological artefacts. The unit carries out controls of archaeological sites on the ground or above by helicopter. A scuba-diving team also patrols archaeological sites along the Italian coast.

© Provided by The Guardian A fragment of a fresco from the Villa San Marco in Pompeii. Photograph: Parco Archeologico di Pompei pre/AFP/Getty

Among the items retrieved last year and recently brought back to Pompeii were three other frescoes that had been sliced off the walls of Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco – homes that once belonged to noble families in Stabiae, a historical site close to the archaeological park’s main excavations – in the 1970s. The relics were smuggled overseas and it is known that they were eventually bought by English, American and Swiss antique dealers in the 1990s. The items later returned to Italy, where, with the help of an archaeological expert, police were able to identify them among the private collection of a businessman in Milan. The archaeologist also noted that the frescoes had been tinkered with in order to make them more valuable.

“There is a whole network of people involved, starting from the tombaroli, who are in touch with dealers, who in turn agree a price with international traffickers. When there is a significant value, either artistic or historic, the traffickers act,” said Riccardi.

The criminal merchants then create a fake paper trail to deceive buyers into believing that they are buying items derived legally.

In the past, looted relics have ended up in some of the world’s biggest museums. In 1996, the Getty museum in Los Angeles acquired artefacts, including frescoes stolen from Pompeii, that led to the museum’s curator later going on trial in Rome, accused by the Italian government of conspiring to traffic looted art, though the charges were dropped in 2007. That same year, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art gave back antiques, including statues and vases, that had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of Italy.

© Provided by The Guardian A fragment of a fresco, probably from Villa Arianna in Pompeii. Photograph: Parco Archeologico di Pompei pre/AFP/Getty

Most of the country’s stolen relics end up with buyers in northern European countries and the US, although countries in the far east and Middle East have emerged as prominent markets, too.

Italy’s cultural heritage, including artworks, has an estimated value of €986bn, making it among the preferred prey of traffickers.

The cultural heritage protection squad was established in 1969 on the basis of an article in the country’s postwar constitution stating that the new Republic must protect its landscape as well as historical and artistic heritage. However, the protection and recuperation of the territory’s historical riches dates back much further. In 1816 the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova negotiated with Paris to repatriate artworks stolen by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Duke of Wellington also played a major role in returning items plundered by Napoleon and his army.

The police squad has a database containing about 1.3m files on stolen artworks and archaeological relics.

“The job is a big challenge,” said Riccardi. “But it’s about reclaiming the history and beauty which our art, in the past and present, has given to Italy.”

Yellowstone National Park is hotter than ever, scientists say

Isabella O'Malley 

THE WEATHER NETWORK

29/5/2021

Yellowstone National Park’s famously harsh environment is once again making headlines, this time for the scorching temperatures that are becoming increasingly common at the park.

A study published in Geophysical Research Letters states that summer temperatures are quickly climbing and the month of August 2016 ranked as one of the hottest summers the park has experienced in the last 1,250 years.

Scientists analyzed tree ring data from Engelmann spruce trees to reconstruct the park’s climate from the years 770–2019, which revealed that 2016 was the single-warmest year on record.

© Provided by The Weather Network

Grand Prismatic Geyser with American Bison passing by in Yellowstone National Park. (Daniel Osterkamp. Moment. Getty Images)

The temperature rise since 2000 has been the most intense period of warming on record and four times more intense than the Medieval Climate Anomaly. This historic warming event occurred from 750 to 1,350 when temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, South America, China, and Australia were up to 1°C higher than those during 1960–1990.

The study says that annual surface air temperatures across the western U.S. have increased by more than 1°C since 1900 and will continue to increase with continued greenhouse gas emissions and other human activities.

The data revealed that a warming trend began around 1450 and continued into the mid 1600s, which was then followed by roughly 250 years of low variability in temperatures. An “intense warming trend” then began in 2000 and the study says it “far exceeds conditions during any other period over the past 1,250 years, particularly during the Medieval Climate Anomaly.”

© Provided by The Weather Network

Buffalo grazing at Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park. 

(Manel Vinuesa. iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Twenty years from 1050 to 1070 featured the most extreme warm event, but the period from 2015–2019 is twice as intense, albeit a shorter duration.

“As 2020 rivaled 2016 for the highest global surface air temperatures on record, current and impending projections of increasing anthropogenic warming, especially for the midlatitudes, suggest that the modern warming will likely soon surpass the Medieval Climate Anomaly,” the researchers hypothesize.

The study says that some of the impacts that Yellowstone National Park could experience as the climate changes include increased fire activity, aridification, extreme drought conditions, and declining biodiversity levels.

© Provided by The Weather Network

The Yellowstone River crashing over the Lower Falls in Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. (MorningDewPhotography. iStock / Getty Images Plus)

“Continued warming will likely lead to increased drought conditions and exacerbated fire regimes (e.g., larger, more severe), threatening to push area ecosystems past a tipping point and leading to a major demographic resetting of the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion,” the researchers conclude.

“During this era of rapid environmental change, there is a dire need for updating tree-ring records that are temperature sensitive. An updated, high-density temperature proxy network would allow for (1) assessing the degree of spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the 21st century warming trend across western North America and (2) disentangling the relationships between long-term temperature variability and broad-scale climate forcing mechanisms.”

Thumbnail credit: Philippe Sainte-Laudy Photography. Moment. Getty Images

A faction of conservatives pushes to build its own climate movement

Alex Seitz-Wald


WASHINGTON — Before he became a climate activist during his freshman year of college, Benji Backer had spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference, written for right-leaning sites such as TownHall and RedState, and made a name for himself as a conservative commentator on television.

© Provided by NBC News

But like many other young people, he worried about climate change and didn’t see a place for himself in either the conservative movement, which mostly ignores or denies climate change, or the environmental movement, in which major institutes like the Sierra Club tend to align with Democrats.

So in 2017, Backer founded the American Conservation Coalition, which next month is hosting what it bills as the first conservative climate rally.

“We want to plant a flagpole in the sand to say, this is an issue conservatives can and should lead on,” he said. “There is absolutely zero path to a zero emissions, climate change-free future without bipartisanship — and anybody who doesn't accept that isn't taking this seriously.”

The group has grown to more than 220 branches, many of which are on college campuses, with thousands of grassroots members and relationships on Capitol Hill.

The June 5 rally in Miami, a city that could wind up underwater if sea levels continue to rise, will feature like-minded Republicans such as Florida's former Rep. Carlos Curbelo and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has integrated climate adaptation into all of the city’s long-term planning.

“It is no longer an issue of the environment versus the economy; the environment is the economy,” Suarez said. “We hope to serve as a model of how conservative policies can protect the environment, invest in the future, and address the challenges of climate change.”

Backer and others say the partisan divide on climate is starting to narrow as people feel the effects of a warming climate and thanks to a rising generation of millennial and Gen Z voters who are far more likely than older Republicans to say human-caused climate change is real and that the government needs to do more about it.

Outside the left, many who care about the environment are turned off by what they view as the hectoring rhetoric of climate activists, Backer said.

“You have all these groups on the left, and then no groups on the right. That's the market gap that we fit,” he said. “We are really the first and only grassroots movement in this space.”

 Before he became a climate activist Benji Backer had spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference,

Focusing on more optimistic messages of innovation and local solutions can bring new people into the fold, he said, pointing to billionaire Elon Musk as an example of someone being rewarded in the market while reducing carbon emissions by popularizing electric vehicles.

In rural America, there’s a long history of conservation among hunters and fishermen, going back to former President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican sportsman who founded the national park system, who now feel alienated by the culture of environmentalism and its often abstract goals.

“There are so many parts of this country that could be brought in if you can just make it about their backyards, something they can have personal buy-in," said Backer, who spent much of last year on a cross-country road trip in a Tesla speaking with local groups. “And with climate change, that's really easy to do that because it's going to affect every community in this country.”

On Capitol Hill, a cohort of mostly young Republican members of Congress are pushing the party from the inside and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, despite some uneasiness on his right, just released his own climate plan.

It focuses more on government carrots than sticks, such funding for clean energy research, and emphasizes nuclear power and carbon capture technologies, which progressive environments view warily.

“This shouldn't be a partisan issue and it should be something that we can find sensible common ground on,” said Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., a 33-year-old who thinks Republicans can champion a free market approach to climate solutions, told NBC News. “But that requires the Democratic Party to not greenwash economic redistribution efforts and it requires the Republican Party to stop denialism.”

The American Conservation Coalition has faced predictable criticisms from the left and the right, but has overlapping membership with both youth conservative groups like Turning Point USA and relationships with less politicized environmental groups, like the Nature Conservancy.

The group chose Miami for its first rally because it views Florida as an example of conservative leadership on climate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a loyalist of former President Donald Trump who is eyeing his own 2024 presidential run, just signed legislation to prepare the state for rising sea levels and more severe storms that won overwhelming support in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

DeSantis notably did not talk much about climate change around the bill, nor does it address carbon emissions, but that may have helped depolarize the issue.

“We can debate all day the whys and how this happens,” Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Republican, said in response to Democratic criticism that it didn’t go far enough, “but if we just do that and we just debated all day, we wouldn’t do anything.”

Severely beaten Cheyenne tribal councilwoman 'will fight for justice,' father says

Antonio Planas 


The father of an elected member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council in Montana who was assaulted and left for dead said Friday that whoever attacked his daughter did not break her will.

© Provided by NBC News

A battered Silver Little Eagle, 24, was found earlier this month in a Billings hotel room.

“She remains strong. She is going to fight for justice,” said her father, Goldstein Little Eagle. “She is pulling through. She is in recovery and she is healing.”

The councilwoman was elected in November to represent the Lame Deer District, her father said.

Silver Little Eagle’s relatives said in a May 20 statement that her injuries were severe.

“Silver Little Eagle was brutally attacked in Billings, Montana, and left for dead,” the statement said. “Had Councilwoman Little Eagle not been found by a family member, it is very likely she would have died from this violent attack.”

While not confirming Silver Little Eagle's identity, Billings police said this week in a statement that a female victim was found in a room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the morning of May 16. Personal property was missing, and her vehicle had been stolen, police said.

Police said they also received a report that a 31-year-old man was "assaulted at the same time and location as the female victim."

Detectives have not found any evidence that Silver Little Eagle's attack was tied to human trafficking or was racially motivated, police said.

No one has been arrested, but police said they wanted to speak to two women, ages 25 and 27, who were identified as “persons of interest.” One of the women apparently knew the man who was assaulted, investigators said.

“There is believed to be a partner family member association between the 31 year old male and the 27 year old female person of interest,” police said in the statement. “Further, it is believed there is some type of association between all parties involved and the crime is not believed to be a random act of violence.”

A department spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday.

Goldstein Little Eagle said he expected police to eventually arrest a suspect or multiple suspects.

“Investigators are working hard, and we are keeping up to date with them,” he said. “They are going to make sure that they have everything they need compiled before the very important next step.”

Goldstein Little Eagle said he could not imagine who would want to hurt his daughter, who he described as "a generous soul." Before her election to the tribal council, she provided healing remedies to tribal members sick with Covid-19. She also would often help feed older people, he said.

“She just cares deeply for her Cheyenne people,” he said.

He said his daughter now has a new mission: to empower Native American women who have endured violence.

“There are too many Native women out there that when this stuff happens, it gets thrown under the rug," Goldstein Little Eagle said. "What I see with her story is, it’s going to help someone. It’s going to help others.”

Silver Little Eagle’s assault is “another painful reminder” of the high rate of violence toward Indigenous women in Montana, her family said in its statement.

“We recognize that behind these statistics are real women – sisters, daughters, mothers, and tribal leaders!" it said. "Native women continue to face ongoing violence, and this must stop!”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using 2018 data from the National Vital Statistics System, said homicide was the sixth-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women between the ages of 1 and 44.

The family statement said Silver Little Eagle has been the victim of threats, cyberbullying and defamation since the assault.

Her father said she is no longer online. But she said in a Facebook post before the attack that in times of cruelty and hatred, prayer, compassion and kindness win.

“That just hit me,” her father said, his voice cracking. “She was beaten so badly.”ore the attack that in times of cruelty and hatred, prayer, compassion and kindness win.

“That just hit me,” her father said, his voice cracking. “She was beaten so badly.”

An estimated 2,600 Latinos were killed by police in the past six years, report says

By Nicole Chavez, CNN 

While the true scope of the impact of police brutality is difficult to quantify, a new report indicates that more than 2,600 Latinos were killed by police or died while in custody in recent years.

© Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images Protesters march through Logan Square neighborhood during a rally on April 16, 2021 in Chicago.

The report released Thursday by UnidosUS in partnership with a group of researchers, scholars, activists and family members of Latinos killed by police, indicates that deaths of people of color are severely undercounted and much more needs to be done to produce an accurate database that collects ethnicity information.

As part of its initial effort and awareness of the limitations of its method, the newly formed group, the Raza Database Project, analyzed eight national databases that track police killings and use a combination of news reports and public records. Researchers took a closer look at entries that were identified as "White," "Other," or "Unknown" and compared the names to the surname datasets from the 2010 US Census to spot any individuals who may have been misidentified.

Between 2014 and May 9 of this year, there were a total of 15,085 people who died in police custody or were killed in encounters with officers, according to the report.

After the group's analysis, the number of Latinos increased about 24% from 2,139 to 2,653, the report states.

The number of deaths of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans also increased significantly.

But these findings should not be considered final as its method may lead to both overcounting and undercounting, the report said.

Roberto Rodriguez, the project's director, said that the group's estimates are not comprehensive but they offer a more accurate look, especially because of the gaps in government-level data collection.

The group noted the numbers likely still undercount Latinos and other people of color because they may not have surnames of Hispanic origin.

In recent years, a number of activists and media outlets have taken it upon themselves to collect data of police violence because there is no federal database of information.

But they have found that law enforcement agencies often lump individuals into broader racial categories and not ethnicities.

"There's no standardization of how people are labeled and there's no centralization," said Rodriguez, who is also an author and former associate professor at the University of Arizona. "All of these groups are doing the government's work."

Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS, said the group's findings are a "disturbing" indication that over-policing in communities of color might be more widespread than previously thought.

"The numbers we already knew about are unacceptable; these new numbers are unconscionable," Murguía said in a statement. "This data demands immediate consideration by those in Congress who are working on much-needed law enforcement reform legislation to ensure that their solutions truly reflect the scope of the problem."

Rodriguez said the group plans to expand the findings released Thursday and launch more efforts to delve into the issue of Latinos killed by or while in custody of law enforcement.

The report was released as calls for police accountability among the Hispanic community have increased in recent months following the deaths of Latino boys and men in police encounters.

In Chicago, 13-year-old Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez, 22, were killed by officers at the end of separate foot chases in March.

The two deadly shootings sparked outrage and protests in Chicago, with community members demanding changes to the Chicago Police Department's practices and policies, and prompted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to announce last month the city's police department must implement a foot pursuit policy by the summer.

Meanwhile in California, the family of Mario Gonzalez Arenales seeks justice for the 26-year-old who died on April 19. He died in police custody in Alameda, California, after being restrained for about five minutes at a local park. Officers were answering separate calls about a man who appeared to be intoxicated and a possible theft.

Next week, the family of Sean Monterrosa will host a series of events to honor his life and raise awareness to the issue of police brutality among Black and brown people. Monterrosa, 22, was shot and killed by an officer in Vallejo, California, last year, just a week after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently announced the state will review Monterrosa's case.

Unusual bobcat tree den found in California fire burn zone

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Biologists studying Southern California bobcats found a mother and three kittens this spring in an unusual den in a cavity up in a tree in an area intensely burned by a huge 2018 wildfire west of Los Angeles, the National Park Service said.

Bobcat “denning” in a tree is unusual, according to biologist Joanne Moriarty.

Their dens are usually found in hollow areas of thick chaparral or coastal sage or in woodrat nests made of piles of sticks and leaves.

Scientists believe the bobcat used the cavity because little vegetation has grown since the Woolsey Fire ravaged the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, the park service said Thursday.

The mother was first captured in the Simi Hills more than a year after the fire. A radio tracking collar was placed on her and she was given the designation B-370 in the study of how bobcats survive in a region where wilderness is fragmented by urban development.

Moriarty suspected B-370 was denning but was having trouble finding her last month.

“Then I look up into this little tiny hole in the tree, and her face is just poking out at me," she said.

Moriarty used a remote camera held on an extension pole to see the kittens.

The Associated Press

Alaska official backs key approval for proposed gold mine

Donlin Gold is owned by subsidiaries of Canada-based NOVAGOLD Resources Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. 


JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A proposed gold mine in western Alaska has won a key approval, with a state official rejecting an administrative law judge's findings that the state Department of Environmental Conservation lacked “reasonable assurance” the project would meet Alaska water quality standards.

Department Commissioner Jason Brune, in a decision Thursday, defended the analyses done by the department's Division of Water and upheld its issuance of a so-called certificate of reasonable assurance for the Donlin Gold project. Brune said the issuance was supported by “a reasonable basis in law and substantial evidence in the record.”

Brune’s decision can be challenged in court.

Olivia Glasscock, an attorney with Earthjustice who is representing the Orutsararmiut Native Council, said Friday that a decision on next steps had not been made. The council had challenged the issuance of the certificate, leading to the findings last month by an administrative law judge.

Brune was not bound by those findings.

Critics of the proposed mine have raised concerns about possible impacts to water and salmon habitat.

Mark Springer, executive director of the Orutsararmiut Native Council, in a statement said the mine "would be a direct threat to water quality, to the many fish that traverse these waters, and to the Kuskokwim way of life.”

Donlin Gold LLC, in a statement, cited the scientific work that’s been done surrounding the project and said it would not operate “without demonstrated compliance with the State’s water quality standards.”

Donlin Gold said it commended the department “for standing up for responsible natural resources development which benefits all Alaskans.”

Donlin Gold has proposed an open-pit, hard-rock gold mine about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northeast of Bethel and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the tiny community of Crooked Creek.

The developer has estimated the project will take three to four years to build once necessary approvals are secured and that the project could produce an average of about 1 million ounces of gold a year during operations, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

Donlin Gold is owned by subsidiaries of Canada-based NOVAGOLD Resources Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. It secured key authorizations in 2018 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press

First Nation laws on First Nation land codes to be enforced by provincial justice mechanism

Two Saskatchewan First Nations will be working with the province to enforce the First Nations' laws on their reserves.

The pilot project involves Whitecap Dakota First Nation and Muskoday First Nation and is expected to get underway this September.

A memorandum of understanding was signed in 2019 in response to the growing frustrations about First Nations having laws that were neither recognized nor enforced on the reserves. Work on the MOU stalled with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

The former chiefs “initiated some discussions with the province trying to find a way to access the provincial justice mechanisms in order to give more teeth to our laws going forward,” said Murray Long, advisor to Whitecap Dakota.

Long was part of a panel on the National Online Conversations on Indigenous Laws held May 25. The webinars promote dialogue between Indigenous governments and the federal government on “how to address the challenges of creating effective and affordable enforcement systems for Indigenous laws.”

The event was hosted by Andrew Beynon, director of land code governance for the First Nations Land Management (FNLM) Resource Centre.

Under the FNLM framework agreement 100 First Nations govern their lands and many have made advances in law making and retaken control over their lands and environment. However, they still face difficulties with the enforcement of their laws.

The pilot project aims to deploy provincially designated Community Safety Officers (CSOs) on reserve with provincial courts having the jurisdiction to adjudicate First Nations laws.

“It’s your own law written on your land code that’s going to be enforced, not a provincial law that’s going to be enforced or brought down on your community… (and it’s) being recognized through the provincial court system and adjudicated through the provincial court system,” said Dean Bear, land governance director at Muskoday First Nation.

Although the federal government has been kept informed of the progress on the MOU, Bear pointed out that the RCMP were reluctant to recognize First Nations laws written on the land code and the Court of Queen’s Bench was also reluctant to recognize the authority of First Nations that had signed the FNLM framework agreement.

“The next thing you do, you look to an alternative (and it) has to be through the provincial courts,” said Bear.

Long admits that the relationship between First Nations and Saskatchewan has often been one of “distrust and a struggle” and Bear adds that many First Nations are “leery” about using the provincial system, but both men stressed that this is what works right now.

“This is really a symbiotic relationship where each needs the other to make this work particularly in an expedient context,” said Dale Tesarowski, an executive director with Saskatchewan Justice.

“It’s not that we’re taking jurisdiction. We’re sharing jurisdiction. We’re taking First Nations laws and applying provincial process to them to ensure that they are enforced and followed.”

To that end, CSOs will be recruited from the First Nations communities so they will have a connection to community members and leadership. They will undertake provincial training through an existing program and the province will pick up the price tag. However, the operational costs will be carried by the bands.

“Largely with this pilot you’re trying to utilize each others strengths to a certain degree and the CSO program provides a lot of the infrastructure the First Nation may need,” said Dusty Ernewein, legal counsel with the Saskatchewan law firm McKercher.

Once CSOs complete their training, they will be designated under the Police Act as special constables and have the status of peace officers under Saskatchewan law, said Tesarowski.

“The community will create expectations through their laws and CSOs will be the first mechanism for ensuring that people do so,” he said. “It puts them at the forefront in terms of enforcing First Nations laws.”

As for the provincial courts, Beynon noted that the Land Advisory Board Research Council had suggested that the courts inform new court registrars, private sector lawyers and prosecutors of the new standing of First Nations laws.

Tesarowski said he could not compel the courts to do anything.

“If things role out they way I would like them to, all of the different (judicial) players … will be fully aware of what’s going on anyway. They’ll know that there are First Nations laws. They’ll know what First Nations laws actually say. They’ll know that the enforcement of those First Nations laws by CSOs, for the most part, is authorized, and that those CSOs will be protected through provincial designation,” he said.

Tesarowski is hoping that it will eventually go a step further with people from First Nations communities being the ones hearing the case.

“We want … (that) there be perhaps some kind of joint appointment for justices of the peace, either through the Land Management Act or the Indian Act or through a provincial appointment process,” he said.

The general agreement for the pilot project is targeted for Sept. 30.

“How that agreement takes effect may be in some cases may be just going out and starting to do the stuff,” said Long. “We will figure that out as we go, but the idea is to be practical and not get into a long, detailed agreement that everyone fights over.”

He added that the province may need to make some legislative changes.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

CANADA

Elder brings fight to human rights commission

Tears filled the eyes of Cheryl Scott as she spoke about the mistreatment her husband, Kanehsata’kehró:non Winston Nelson, was subjected to while in the care of the St. Eustache Hospital.

“They cannot treat a human that way,” Scott said. “There are too many things that have happened at that hospital – no Indigenous person or anybody else deserves that kind of treatment from a hospital.”

Among other things, Nelson's wife claimed that her husband was called “Mohawk,” “dog” and “idiot.” She also recounted hearing nurses at the establishment mimicking stereotypical Indigenous war chants outside her husband's room.

It was during a press conference on Thursday, with the assistance of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), that the two community members announced they were moving forward with filing a civil rights violation complaint against the hospital for systemic racism in health care.

The decision to move forward with the complaint to the Quebec Human Rights Commission in part pertains to their discontent surrounding the result of an internal investigation into a distressing event that occurred earlier this year.

When 71-year-old Nelson was sent home from the St. Eustache Hospital in frigid January wearing nothing but a hospital gown, Scott said this was the last indignity she and her husband would suffer at the hand of the establishment.

“My husband has been dealing with the racism from this hospital for too long,” she expressed. “I am going to the highest court of Canada if I have to, to get his dignity, his respect and everything else that they took from him.”

After being admitted on December 30, 2020, due to persisting heart issues, Nelson was released less than a week later when doctors presumably deemed his condition to be terminal. Having been in a wheelchair since 2013 and with Scott unable to drive, she arranged for a taxi to pick him up on January 5, so he could be brought home safely.

“I was told that the girl who took the blanket off of my husband, when she brought him downstairs, didn’t know better because it was her first day,” explained Scott.

The Centre integre de sante et de services sociaux (CISSS) des Laurentides that supervises the St. Eustache facility carried out an internal investigation into the circumstances that led to the unsettling situation.

In a response to The Eastern Door, CISSS spokesperson Dominique Gauthier said that although the inquest determined that the support offered during this event was inadequate and lacked sensitivity, the findings in no way pointed to any form of discrimination.

In light of this response, the executive director of CRARR, Fo Niemi, said the case rather appears to be the latest strike in a series of incidents Nelson was subjected to due to his Mohawk identity.

“We have clearly started to see a compilation of incidents that point to certain racial bias and outcome with the way he was treated that day, when he was sent home in such a vulnerable and degrading state,” said Niemi.

The civil rights organization director explained that CRARR has been mandated by the family to file a complaint to the Commission against the hospital.

“With systemic racism, the complaint is basically to look at the totality of the way he was treated,” said Niemi. “Any kind of differential treatment, both intentional or not, could essentially jeopardize his right to equality, dignity and the security of the person.”

While the inquest into the death of Joyce Echaquan is ongoing, Niemi expressed that this case. along with the findings of the Viens Commission on access to public services by Indigenous Peoples, set a precedent for Nelson and other victims to seek legal action.

“We believe that we need to launch a complaint, so as to have a formal investigation conducted by the Human Rights Commission into systemic racism to measure to what extent – not only in this case but in all the cases of health care, how systemic racism against Indigenous people manifests itself when a person goes to a hospital to seek care,” he explained.

Along with this complaint, the CRARR director said he hopes the family’s decision to take this avenue will encourage more Onkwehón:we to push back against health institutions that still foster discriminatory and unsafe climates for marginalized groups.

“We need to break this glass ceiling because there’s a general distrust in the Quebec justice system and the Quebec human rights system,” he said. “We need to overcome that – this is the only way things will change.”

As efforts across the country are underway to achieve fair treatment in public services for Indigenous Peoples, Scott adamantly joined this fight.

“I have been fighting and fighting and fighting for years,” she said. “I just hope that the truth comes out and I am just praying that this can be done before he is gone.”

laurence.b.dubreuil@gmail.com

Laurence Brisson Dubreuil, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door

Fight for Mohawk land continues

The sounds of cars honking, supportive words, rhythmic drums and lively singing echoed far and wide in Kanehsatake on Saturday, where a car convoy took place to raise awareness.

The matter at the heart of the protest is once again the concerns which persist over the protection of territories subject to historic land claims.

There were almost 100 people, including Kanehsata’kehró:non land defenders and allies from across the region, present to demonstrate their support in the ongoing efforts to protect the Kanien’kehá:ka territory of Kanehsatake.

The rally was organized as a reminder that this issue is not going away on its own.

“We are trying to keep the pressure up,” said outspoken land rights activist Al Harrington. “It means a lot to see everybody that showed up today – it really restores the faith in people's commitment.”

At the initial meeting point off of Route 344, pines towered over the heads of community members; a conspicuous reminder of what is at stake in this ongoing fight.

When the clock struck 11 a.m., Kanehsata’kehró:non were the ones to lead the trail of cars down the road, past the ferry dock in the municipality of Oka, and towards the final rallying point.

The bright colours of the Ieweras Gray, Warrior, and Haudenosaunee Confederacy flags stood out as the convoy lasted close to an hour, before cars arrived at a residential development site located next to the Pines.

“This has been a long journey for many generations to try and stop the land theft that you see here surrounding this development site,” said Onkwehón:we rights activist and representative of the People of the Longhouse, Ellen Gabriel. “Once again, we are forced to protest and continue our fight to protect one of the last few traces of our homeland from encroachment and outright land fraud.”

Organizers and protesters were adamant on their intention to end any new building on Kanehsatake ancestral lands, which include the development site that borders the forest at the centre of the so-called 1990 Oka Crisis.

“We have tried the peaceful methods to bring resolution to our land conflict, but our voices incessantly fall upon deaf ears,” said Kanehsata’kehró:non Wanda Gabriel, who, along with Ellen, served as a liaison person throughout the summer of 1990. “The economy trumps the inherent human rights of Indigenous people.”

As the pair stood in front of a series of Land Back banners, they reiterated that issues that pertain to land conflict in the community are far from recent.

“This is not a new issue, it is a three-centuries old conflict that persists because of systemic racism, ignorance and the cruelty of colonization,” expressed Ellen.

As a means to achieve concrete measures to protect the land, organizers called upon all levels of governments to intervene.

“We call upon prime minister Trudeau to declare a moratorium upon all development, and to sit down with Rotinonhsión:ni of the Longhouse: the traditional government upon which the women are not only vested as the title holders of our homelands, but also as an obligation to protect the land,” said Wanda.

In addition to this call to action, a demand was also made for governments to permanently stop residential developer Grégoire Gollin from selling any additional land situated on the traditional territory, which they say was fraudulently purchased.

Continuing land conflicts

For his part, Gollin doubled down on his word not to build on the lots he purchased in the early 2000s.

“I have no intention to start a development project on my lots in the Pines,” he expressed. “I do not know where this rumour about me having a project to build there started, but it is nothing short of fake news.”

Gollin evoked that the claims surrounding his intentions are the result of nothing more than a misunderstanding, which he speculates may have come from his intention to meet with the municipality after a rezoning of the area was done without his consultation.

He explained that Oka recently rezoned the sector where the properties in question are located from a residential one to a conservation one.

“All the current conservation zoning put forth by the city have also made the object of a heritage quoting, meaning that it’s impossible to even obtain a permit to build,” pointed out the developer.

In addition to this, Gollin expressed that he had met with the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) in the past, namely to consult them about the purchased land. He further stated his continued intention to donate 60 hectares of the Pines which are under his name, through a federal “ecological gift” program – a project which was brought to a halt when Oka opposed the initiative with a by-law to declare the Pines a heritage site.

“The municipality zoned the section as a patrimonial site and I see this as badly-intentioned and provocative,” said Gollin, adding that he believes Oka’s decision to rezone the area was possibly a retaliation to his refusal to donate the land to the municipality.

While the local developer has sold land in recent years to allow the construction of houses in Oka’s Domaine des Collines, he assured the community that no real estate development will take place inside the forest, which he acknowledges is at the core of land claims and holds sacred significance.

“I simply blame the city for not having respected my right as a property owner and not wanting to sit with me to find a proper solution,” he said.

Kanesatake grand chief Serge Otsi Simon also questioned the validity of the claims surrounding Gollin’s development projects.

“They say that we have to stop Mr. Gollin, but stop him from what? He has no intention of developing in the Pines and he made that clear in the agreement he made with us,” said the MCK grand chief.

While he emphasized his support with the right of community members to protest, Simon said he believes the feelings aimed at Gollin should be redirected toward other actors.

“Everyone is forgetting about the real culprit in all of this,” he expressed. “The ones sitting up there in Ottawa, watching the whole show and not doing a damn thing about it.”

Solidarity with Palestinians

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reignited in recent weeks, Ellen Gabriel said that many land defenders see this conflict as an Indigenous issue and that they are committed to showing solidarity with the community overseas.

“We declare our support for the Palestinian relatives whose struggle with land disposition like ours continues,” said Ellen. “We hope for peace on their lands, for all human beings – no matter what their affiliation, so that everyone can join a movement of change.”

Taking part in the convoy was Norma Rantisi and Tasnim Rekik, two Palestinian protesters who explained the significance of extending their support by attending Saturday’s event.

“As a Palestinian, I too am subject to settler-colonial practices, but I also owe responsibility as a settler here to fight against the ongoing land dispossession,” said Rantisi. “The struggles for liberation, while different, are inextricably linked. These are global struggles, and we have to work together,” she said.

Rekik also expressed that what community members are witnessing is ultimately part of a widespread global issue impacting all Indigenous Peoples.

“What is happening in Sheikh Jarrah is happening here in Kanehsatake, and to so many more Indigenous people around the world,” said Rekik.

It is with a focus of continuing to apply pressure on the actors involved with the decisions impacting the land conflict in Kanehsatake that organizers also pleaded upon allies to take action by boycotting Oka National Park and seeking answers from government officials.

“We are here to ask you to help us get a meeting with the government of Canada and to have a friendly relationship with the people in Oka,” expressed Ellen. “All we are asking for is peace and our land back.”

laurence.b.dubreuil@gmail.com

Laurence Brisson Dubreuil, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door