Image courtesy of Mostly Water
Communique from the Native Warrior Society:
March 7th, 2007
Coast Salish Territory [Vancouver, Canada]
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 6th, 2007, we removed the Olympic Flag from its flag-pole at Vancouver City Hall. We pried open the access panel on the pole with a crowbar, using a bolt-cutter, cut the metal cable/halyard inside, causing the flag to fall to the ground.
We claim this action in honor of Harriet Nahanee, our elder-warrior, who was given a death sentence by the BC courts for her courageous stand in defending Mother Earth.
We stand in solidarity with those fighting against th destruction caused by the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
No Olympics on Stolen Land!
Native Warrior Society
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Click here and here to find out more about Harriet Nahanee.
Harriet Nahanne image courtesy of www.firstnations.de
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Native warriors admit to flag theft Society stole Olympic flag from city hall to ‘honour’ protester Harriet Nahanee
Suzanne Fournier
The Vancouver Province Newspaper
Published: Friday, March 09, 2007
VANCOUVER - The Native Warrior Society took credit yesterday for cutting down the Olympic flag at Vancouver City Hall “in honour” of elder Harriet Nahanee.
Three figures wearing black balaclavas are shown in front of what appears to be the flag that hung at city hall, in a photo and statement e-mailed from “hunter killer” and signed by the society. They are holding a red Mohawk flag and a photo of Nahanee, who they describe in their statement as “our elder-warrior who was given a death sentence by the B.C. courts for her courageous stand in defence of Mother Earth.”
Nahanee, 71, died at St. Paul’s Hospital on Feb. 24, a month after she was sentenced to 14 days in jail for protesting against the destruction of the Eagleridge Bluffs for an Olympics-related project, the expansion of the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
Friends of Nahanee warned B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown when Nahanee was sentenced on Jan. 24 that she was ill with flu and had severe asthma.
Nahanee, who said in court that she considered the bluffs to be unceded native land, served nine days at the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre, where lawyer Lyn Crompton says she suffered “racist” and rough treatment.
Nahanee’s death provoked widespread outrage, from West Vancouver matrons who protested with her to young native activists, some of whom wore combat boots and camouflage gear while fighting tears at her funeral. The Native Warrior Society statement says that early on Tuesday “we pried open the access panel on the pole with a crowbar and, using a bolt-cutter, cut the metal cable/halyard inside, causing the flag to fall to the ground.”
“We stand in solidarity with all those fighting the destruction caused by the 2010 Olympic Games,” says the statement, concluding with the slogan “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land.” Const. Tim Fanning said “the photo and the statement will be part of the ongoing investigation.”
Members of the society were seen with black face paint and a similar Mohawk flag at a recent melee with Vancouver police, leading to several arrests, when the Olympic countdown clock was unveiled downtown.
In August 2005, two Native Warrior Society leaders were arrested in Vancouver in connection with a gun seizure. No charges were laid and the guns were found to have been legally obtained.
Tewanee Joseph, executive-director and CEO of the Four Host First Nations Secretariat, said his group respects the individual’s right to protest “but to do it peacefully and respectfully is very important as well.”
International Olympic Committee official Rene Fasel, in Vancouver for meetings with Olympic organizers, said he was disappointed by the theft of the flag. “It’s totally illegal,” he said.
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Click here for A Globe and Mail article on the flag theft which took place during an International Olympic Committee inspection visit
