Gustafsen Lake update

From Ernie Yacub, 29 August 1995

The tide is turning at the Sacred Sundance Grounds in Shuswap (Secwepemc) territory. The siege at Gustafsen Lake, now into its 6th day, is beginning to crack.

At the beginning, there was every indication that the police were going to invade the camp as soon as the 24 members of the ERT (or SWAT team), replete with killing machines, were deployed around the camp. It was isolated, difficult for media to cover, and the police could control the flow of information just like the US Army did in the Gulf.

Only two days ago, the police assault squad was ready, as was the police force and the government. There would be no olive branch, no suggestion that even one casualty on either side was unacceptable. The men and women at the Sundance camp heard the same words that the Japanese heard before Hiroshima and Nagasaki: unconditional surrender.

Ujjal Dosanjh, the BC Attorney General, said, "There is no point in more meetings (there had been none), i will not negotiate with renegades. There is only one issue here: law and order. There will be no deals, no talk about land ownership. It is not about land. They can give themselves up to the police for protection or face the consequences. The police will use whatever force is necessary to dislodge them."

The assault was imminent. The B.C. Premier, the Attorney General, and the RCMP were prepared to reenact the bloody, genocidal history of the Holy Terror. The Colonial power was not about to let a bunch of uppity indians defy its law and order.

Today, Tuesday August 29, the tension has eased considerably, due to the resolve of the defenders, and the sudden focussing of attention of the world on this tiny little lake in the middle of an 18000 acre ranch owned by an American, Lyle James. It looks like Dr. Bruce Clark, counsel for the defenders, will meet with the defenders at their camp on Wednesday. Until today, he had been prevented from communicating with his clients.

Keep the letters, faxes, phone calls, emails, and media stories coming. Now is the time to push even harder. The issue is Sovereignty for all. We are all in this together, and there is no time to lose. All creatures, great and small, require our most immediate attention.

ernie yacub

august 29, 1995