This Day. Foundation of America

Illustration in Prensa Latina

In Cuba, according to Christopher Columbus, there were mermaids with men’s faces and rooster feathers.

In Guiana, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, there were people with eyes on their shoulders and their mouths on their chests.

This day. Day of indigenous rebellion for their land and nature

Illustration in Prensa Latina

By Marta Denis Valle, Prensa Latina 

Havana (Prensa Latina) More than 500 years after the controversial discovery of the so-called New World, descendants of the original peoples of the American continent maintain their sense of rebellion, in defence of their land and nature.

The arrival of the first expedition of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón, 1451-1506), on October 12, 1492, to the island of Guanahaní, in the Lucayas or Bahamas, is an event celebrated for decades as a national holiday of Spain, with the qualification of Columbus Day, an ambiguous term.

This Day. ‘Discovery’ of New Found Land and Cape Breton: Who was Caboto and what was his claim on Canada?

The Venetian navigator Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), commissioned by Henry VII of England, landed in Newfoundland, on June 24, 1497 believing it to be an island off the coast of Asia and named it New Found Land. [1] Under the commission of this king to “conquer, occupy, and possess” the lands of “heathens and infidels”, Caboto reconnoitred the Newfoundland coast and also landed on the northern shore of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. [2]

He returned to England on August 6 and took three Mi’kmaq with him, thereby introducing slavery into North America. This may be responsible for his disappearance when he returned to Newfoundland with five ships in 1498. When his ships arrived in northern Cape Breton Island, the Mí’kmaq attacked. Only one ship returned to England, the other four, with Caboto as Captain, never returned.

Ending colonial relations with Indigenous peoples must be a central demand

Two-Row Wampum leads the march against Bill C-51, Parliament Hill, May 30, 2015. Participants affirm nation-to-nation relations with Indigenous peoples as the basis of unity in action in defence of the rights of all.

• Government’s agenda for First Nations sidesteps crucial issue of where sovereignty lies – Philip Fernandez
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report underscores need to end colonial relations with Indigenous peoples
• Highlights of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report
• First Nations and Allies demand full participation in National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
• Profound opposition in Quebec to police abuse of Indigenous women – Diane Johnston

Government’s agenda for First Nations sidesteps crucial issue of where sovereignty lies

By PHILIP FERNANDEZ

On December 8, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the annual Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Among various pledges he made there, he called for a “renewed nation-to-nation” relationship with First Nations based on “respect, co-operation, and partnership,” guided by “the spirit and intent of the original treaty relationship; one that respects inherent rights, treaties and jurisdictions, and the decisions of our courts.”

Trudeau’s speech was received with optimism at the AFN Special Chiefs’ Assembly, surely because his words promise an improvement over the Harper government’s abysmal relationship with First Nations. But what the Trudeau government claims will be a “renewed nation-to-nation” relationship has as yet to be fully revealed.

In Memoriam – Reginald Maloney

June 6, 1941 – December 3, 2013 | Photo by April Maloney

A Reflection by Tony Seed

On Tuesday, December 3, 2013, Keptin Saqamow Reginald Maloney, 72, left us forever when he passed away in Colchester East Hants Health Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia, surrounded by family and close friends.

A respected Elder, political leader, Chief, proud Mi’kmaq warrior, an ally and a friend, Chief Maloney was a leader in the epochal battle of the Mi’kmaq nation in defence of their hereditary rights and to affirm their right-to-be.

Eurocentric discovery doctrine denounced

On July 2, 2013 the Halifax Chronicle Herald published a Canadian Press item in its Today in History section entitled “In 1578, Martin Frobisher discovered the Hudson Strait.” In response, Mi’kmaw Elder and historian, (Dr.) Daniel N. Paul, C.M., O.N.S. wrote to associate publisher Ian Thompson to protest the use of such inaccurate and Eurocentric propaganda: