Post by ocelot on Jun 22, 2007 7:52:10 GMT -5
Aboriginal day marred for Que. community after white supremacist vandalism
21 Jun, 10:23 PM
KITIGAN ZIBI ANISHNABEG ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION, Que. (CP) - On a day intended for celebrating aboriginal culture, festivities in one First Nations community in Quebec were marred by swastikas and racist graffiti spray-painted on their local cultural centre.
The residents of Kitigan Zibi, about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa, woke Thursday to find the building covered with Nazi symbols and hateful messages spray-painted in black, and they now are having to explain to their children the meaning of "white power."
Picnic tables and tents outside the centre - set up for children's face painting, crafts and other National Aboriginal Day activities - were also vandalized.
"Certainly it's not a coincidence" that the vandalism occurred on such a significant day for aboriginals, said Kitigan Zibi police Chief Gordon McGregor.
"It was meant to send a message to the community here, and it's not a message that was well received."
Anita Tenasco, the director of education at the cultural centre, said this was an attack on her community as well as First Nations in general.
"The elders are upset, community members are upset because we take pride in our community," she said.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said in a statement he was "deeply saddened, shocked and gravely concerned that such a heinous hate crime could be committed against the people of the Kitigan Zibi First Nation."
The community had poured a good deal of money into the construction of the cultural centre, which features stucco siding on the exterior.
Tenasco said she fears the cost of repairing the damage will run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
"We're not even fully funded for cultural programming as it is, so I'm really going to have to ... meet with the band council and discuss the whole problem and where we would acquire the funds for repair," she said.
McGregor said police are looking into the possibility the culprit or culprits are from the neighbouring town of Maniwaki.
There have been past incidents of racially motivated violence between aboriginal and non-aboriginal youths in the two communities, he said, but added there has never been an incident of this magnitude.
"The people were caught, they were awestruck, dumbfounded," McGregor said. "It was just something that we did not expect. We have good relations with the town of Maniwaki."
The town's mayor, Robert Coulombe, also said there have never been problems.
"There's no tension between the two communities," he said. "To say that it was people from Maniwaki, you'd have to wait for the investigation to continue."
But Tenasco told a different story, describing relations between the two communities as "strained."
Aside from the youth incidents, she said a recent land claim was a source of contention. Last fall, the Kitigan Zibi First Nation was successful in a land claim for a piece of property in the heart of Maniwaki, Tenasco said.
"I don't think the town of Maniwaki was very happy that this took place," she said. "They were fighting against the community attaining this land back as reserve status."
The piece of land was home to a handful of residential and commercial buildings, Tenasco said, and now will be turned into a park honouring the community's first chief.
As for the cultural centre, all they can do is pick up the pieces and move forward, she said.
"I could arrange for this building to be painted tomorrow, but will the person or the group of people come back the next day and write it again? Or whose house is next? Or what building is next? We're not going to live in fear, that's for certain."
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress said the Jewish community understands the aboriginal community's pain.
"We are standing literally arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder with the native community," said Farber, chief executive officer of the Jewish organization.
"We understand this pain. We feel this pain."
21 Jun, 10:23 PM
KITIGAN ZIBI ANISHNABEG ALGONQUIN FIRST NATION, Que. (CP) - On a day intended for celebrating aboriginal culture, festivities in one First Nations community in Quebec were marred by swastikas and racist graffiti spray-painted on their local cultural centre.
The residents of Kitigan Zibi, about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa, woke Thursday to find the building covered with Nazi symbols and hateful messages spray-painted in black, and they now are having to explain to their children the meaning of "white power."
Picnic tables and tents outside the centre - set up for children's face painting, crafts and other National Aboriginal Day activities - were also vandalized.
"Certainly it's not a coincidence" that the vandalism occurred on such a significant day for aboriginals, said Kitigan Zibi police Chief Gordon McGregor.
"It was meant to send a message to the community here, and it's not a message that was well received."
Anita Tenasco, the director of education at the cultural centre, said this was an attack on her community as well as First Nations in general.
"The elders are upset, community members are upset because we take pride in our community," she said.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said in a statement he was "deeply saddened, shocked and gravely concerned that such a heinous hate crime could be committed against the people of the Kitigan Zibi First Nation."
The community had poured a good deal of money into the construction of the cultural centre, which features stucco siding on the exterior.
Tenasco said she fears the cost of repairing the damage will run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
"We're not even fully funded for cultural programming as it is, so I'm really going to have to ... meet with the band council and discuss the whole problem and where we would acquire the funds for repair," she said.
McGregor said police are looking into the possibility the culprit or culprits are from the neighbouring town of Maniwaki.
There have been past incidents of racially motivated violence between aboriginal and non-aboriginal youths in the two communities, he said, but added there has never been an incident of this magnitude.
"The people were caught, they were awestruck, dumbfounded," McGregor said. "It was just something that we did not expect. We have good relations with the town of Maniwaki."
The town's mayor, Robert Coulombe, also said there have never been problems.
"There's no tension between the two communities," he said. "To say that it was people from Maniwaki, you'd have to wait for the investigation to continue."
But Tenasco told a different story, describing relations between the two communities as "strained."
Aside from the youth incidents, she said a recent land claim was a source of contention. Last fall, the Kitigan Zibi First Nation was successful in a land claim for a piece of property in the heart of Maniwaki, Tenasco said.
"I don't think the town of Maniwaki was very happy that this took place," she said. "They were fighting against the community attaining this land back as reserve status."
The piece of land was home to a handful of residential and commercial buildings, Tenasco said, and now will be turned into a park honouring the community's first chief.
As for the cultural centre, all they can do is pick up the pieces and move forward, she said.
"I could arrange for this building to be painted tomorrow, but will the person or the group of people come back the next day and write it again? Or whose house is next? Or what building is next? We're not going to live in fear, that's for certain."
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress said the Jewish community understands the aboriginal community's pain.
"We are standing literally arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder with the native community," said Farber, chief executive officer of the Jewish organization.
"We understand this pain. We feel this pain."