NYM Workshop in Oakland this Tuesday: DECOLONIZATION & INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE

To All Our Relations:


Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

In the Spirit of Resistance we would like to invite you to a workshop that will be held at Eastside Arts Alliance this Tuesday the 20th with the Native Youth Movement (NYM) delegation of the northwest region of what is known as Canada. NYM has been traveling through out Mexico and Guatemala making presentations as well as building alliances with various native organizations. This trip has been funded solely by the people and therefore we are asking for a donation for attending the workshop. We know that it is a hard economical time for us all so we are working with a sliding scale between $7-$15 or more if possible to help the northern delegation continue on their mission.

The time for Decolonization is now.

Who: Representatives of Native Youth Movement

What: Come and hear a presentation on modern Indigenous resistance presented by members of an Indigenous Warrior Society from the colonial territories known as Canada.

Where: Eastside Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd. Oakland, CA
For more info call: 510.219.7714

When: Tuesday, January 20, 2009. 6:30 PM

Why: NYM looks forward to meeting and building in Oakland so we hope to see you there.

Speakers:

Sakej Ward is from the Mi'kmaq Nation located on the northeast coast of Canada. His community is Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church First Nation, New Brunswick). He is of the Wolf Clan and a Metanagkewinu (Mi'maw warrior). Sakej served in both the Canadian and American militaries. Having left military service, he reconnected with his people and traditional ways of life. He now instructs Indigenous Warrior Societies throughout Canada and the US. Sakej also has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations and a Master's degree in Indigenous Governance.

Kiko Montilla is from the Taino Nation of Borique (occupied US territory of Puerto Rico). He is a member of NYM – Native Youth Movement – an organization that is presently defending unceded Indigenous territories. NYM is fighting to protect Indigenous ways of life, i.e. hunting, fishing, and gathering of herbs and fruits that self-sustains the natives in those communities. Additionally, NYM defends the rights of native peoples to practice their traditional ceremonies that have existed for thousands of years. At this point in time, NYM is conducting an all-out boycott and sensitization campaign against the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia, Canada, because of the detrimental effects to the environment of the land, as well as the possible threat of destroying the natives' ways of self-subsistence.


Decolonization and Indigenous Resistance

Preface

Since 1492, Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been viciously subjected to the European colonial agenda of conquest. Indigenous nation after Indigenous nation have fought back in one form or another to hold back the horrors of colonial genocide.

What has happened to that resistance? Were the Indigenous peoples completely conquered? Has resistance become nothing more than a historical afterthought? Is there still an Indigenous resistance hidden in the shadows, secretly fighting a 500 year-old colonial war?