Greg Sparklingeyes’ Post

WILLIAMS TREATIES (1923) On October 31st & November 15 1923, the Chippewa'ag communities of Rama, Georgina Island, Beausoleil, , and the Michi Saagiig communities of Alderville, Oshkigomog (Curve Lake), Pamitaashkodeyong (Hiawatha First Nation, and Scugog Island entered into what is known as the Williams Treaties. These treaties were formulated by the Canadian government and the province of Ontario, marking the first time a Canadian province was at the 'treaty making' table. The Williams Treaties were designed ahead of time by both sections of the settler-state of Canada and pushed on to the communities mentioned as a way to solidify and forcibly 'surrender' territory that turned out to not have been surrendered properly/technically. Witnesses from these communities were not fully listened to (it is shown in the minutes from said interviews) and once the Williams Treaties were ratified they claimed that the said communities also surrendered their hunting and fishing rights - a claim all communities and those with proper knowledge from within them, disputed over the decades. Following the Calder Case, 1973, various individuals from some of these communities took to the Canadian courts (R v. Taylor and Williams, 1981; R v. Howard, 1985; Alderville Band et al v. Her Majesty the Queen et al, 1992) before eventually turning into the Williams Treaties Land Claim (which was officially 'settled' in 2018). The Williams Treaties are important to Canadian and Turtle Island histories for it highlighted the disregard of our knowledge holders; the unilateral push of a treaty process (it being developed prior to consultation and negotiations), as well as was a stepping stone to a push for provincial voices at the table of treaty negotiations - it was a stepping stone to the 'Modern' (Neoliberal) Treaty process that Canada continues to use since the 1970s. Today, I am here in Rama First Nation with many of those who are descendants of our communities... learning more about these treaties, their importance, and how we move forward on the right path, together and within our communities and territories … As we prepare to recognize the 100 year anniversary of these problematic, but important, documents, their history, and contemporary existence.

In Alaska, a group of Tribes with ancestral homelands along BC’s transboundary rivers are seeking to be consulted on multiple risky and under-regulated gold mines that threaten the rivers, fish and the people in the region and their ways of life. In Washington, the Lummi Nation is asserting their transboundary rights to consult on a massive port expansion of the BC Roberts Bank Terminal that would harm Chinook salmon, Southern Resident orca whales and the Lummi people. According to the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2021 decision in R. v. Desautel, Indigenous peoples in the U.S. whose ancestral lands were taken and divided by the U.S.-Canada border may assert rights as aboriginal peoples of Canada and engage in meaningful government-to-government consultation on projects affecting them. However, BC’s Environmental Assessment Office recently notified the 15 member Tribes of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) and the Lummi Nation that their rights will be “distinct” and “differentiated” from those of First Nations in BC. Both SEITC and Lummi have asked Canada for recognition as a Participating Indigenous Nation to protect aboriginal and treaty rights and natural resources from reckless development projects. #rbt2 #eskaycreek #britishcolumbia #humanrights #undrip #dripa

Pelagic fishermen urge Coastal States to focus on more equitable quota shares https://lnkd.in/dVTSku9W #scottishfishingnews #shetlandfishingnews #scottishpelagicfishingindustry #fishingnews #dailyfishingnews #fishingnewsScotland #fishingnewsShetland #NEAtlanticCoastalStates

Three States

This case in the USA triggered me to reflect on the persecution of eagles in Australia. In 2018, a man was jailed for 14 days(!) and fined AU$2,500(!) for poisoning 406(!) wedge-tailed eagles at three remote properties in Victoria's east. The maximum penalty for killing so many eagles was more than AU$350,000 or six months' jail. This only came to light because the man stopped working at the farm due to an argument with his boss. After this he provided investigators with two diaries detailing the methods used to kill the eagles and a hand-drawn map showing where the eagle carcasses were hidden and where the chemicals were stored: https://lnkd.in/g4gQ9tCW This is not an isolated incident in Victoria and eagles are also targeted in other states. For example, 2021 research found high levels of poison in wedge tailed eagles in Tasmania. Samples from eagle carcasses collected around Tasmania showed that 74 per cent contained residues of poisons. It isn't only Australia's federal environment laws that are unfit for purpose and lack the budget needed for 'boots on the ground' monitoring and regulation. There has been no shift in tackling the persecution of wildlife in Australia, in fact it has got worse. What these 'slaps on the wrist' show is the 'consequences of having no consequences'. Bad behaviour becomes entrenched when it is tolerated, and, while undoubtedly some people care very deeply about such issues, too many Australians tolerate bad behaviour towards the environment and wildlife. This is why it is so easy for governments to put off, indefinitely, enacting any useful environments laws: https://lnkd.in/gm878UKG #Biodiversity #Collapse #Regulation

Coast of England

What do you think is today's greatest challenge for Black land owners (current or prospective)? Share your thoughts in the comments, and remember there are no wrong answers here! #Blacklandback #whereismyland #reparationsnow #reparativejustice #restorativejustice

After the Emancipation, Black Landowners acquired land and "passed" down the rights to the land to their heir as a means to building generational wealth. Essentially, this was not done through a formal judicial process and, today, we identify this as Heirs' Property (HP). HP is not only the leading cause of Black land loss but is also for other low-wealth groups such as Appalachian landowners. Come with us down memory lane and listen to some historical #lowcountry community members who've experienced the struggle with having Heirs' Property. https://lnkd.in/ecnHju_J #heirsproperty #landjustice