For a number of months now, natives have been blockcading the main entrance into Caledonia and postponing a suburban development project due to a land claim dated back to 1835. Chances are — given recent land claims history — that the natives are fully in the right here. See Sketchy Thoughts for more detailed coverage of the events.
I have no political points to make and little analysis to offer, but I was struck by what David Peterson said in an interview with the Toronto Star following the collapse of negotiations to remove the barricades. Most specifically,
The former Liberal premier said as a result there was a “mob scene with mob rules and people screaming about politicians, the media and at each other.”
“This is the worst I have ever seen by quite a large measure,” he said.
“This fragile entente was shattered by thoughtless thuggist behaviour by a few … I can’t imagine why someone would be so stupid.”
Peterson said he was not giving up finding a resolution, although he conceded it has not been easy “because no one speaks for anyone.
“No one speaks for Caledonia and no one person speaks for the Six Nations… It can be frustrating.”
Obviously, my interest is in the difficulty Peterson has in imagining an organization — a mob, he calls it — that does not condense itself into a single figure acting as representative.
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As it happens, I’ve just started watching the interview with Taiaiake Alfred on CTheory. He’s particularly critical of First Nations Government.
That is certainly interesting stuff. Unfortunately, new sources seem to have dried up since the main blockade went down. OCAP is having a gig tonight (http://ocap.ca/firstnations/sixnations/celebrate) to update what is going on. A street walk I’m on tonight will probably pass by the OISE building. So I may drop in for 10-15 minutes.
Also, don’t know how interested you are in Karl Barth, though as a German writing at approximately the same time as your main figures, I suspect at least tangential intrigue. In any event, he writes for a bit about ‘the modern leader-concept’ which enthrones one man as a representative of all people. You can find that stuff in the Church Dogmatics vol. II.2 p. 311-312. This volume is Barth’s most important, and I think you’d find a lot of the surrounding stuff at least passingly of interest.
The “mob scene with mob rules” and “thuggish behaviour” and “the worst I’ve ever seen ”
I hope it’s clear that Peterson was refering to the the people of Caledonia who shoved him back across the police line and said “Go back to your teepee.”
The Haudenosaunee were 100 yards away, and not involved in the “mob scene” that Peterson experienced.
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