Jonathan R. Schmidt

Honestly, I don't know how to respond to the Caledonia stand-off involving members of Six Nations. I wish I could go down there and stand alongside the members of Six Nations and say 'Despite all the racism you may be feeling, I'll stand with you.' But the voices gather: 'I'm too busy. I have to go to work. I'm moving in a few days. I'm busy." or "It's not my battle. They can stand on their own, why would they need me?" or "Well, even the elected officials from the Band Council aren't backing the standoff. I don't know enough about the issue to make a stand either way."

I think what infuriates me most is the lack of understanding in the public and even the media to print quotes such as this "However, the Henning brothers told CBC.ca they have clear title to the land." The members from Six Nations ALSO believe they have clear title to the land, hence the standoff. The members from Six Nations don't really care if the Henning brothers think they have clear title to the land. They believe it is a nation to nation issue, that is between Canada and Six Nations. If I stole something and then sold it to someone the person I sold it to would be holding that item illegally, regardless of whether the transaction between him and I was legit. At least that's my infantile understanding of our laws and the issue at stake here. Developers who would like to build and make a profit on land under dispute between the Federal Government and First Nations groups in Canada should be very very cautious. They shouldn't claim 'They simply want to do business and don't want to be political' - a line that reveals their ignorance and desire for only profits. Being a developer in Canada is developing on land that we took,stole,confiscated or otherwise from the Aboriginal people of Canada. It is an inherent political exercise and it always has been. We desperately need greater understanding on the issues. We need to talk more, interact more and listen much much more.

Along that note above, I had a wonderful time touring Stoney Point/Kettle Point F.N. last Friday with Darlene's Western University 'Teaching Aboriginal Students' class. It was very interesting to tour the school and see how the community is developing their young children to be their very best, to be proud of their heritage and to gently balance both the traditional and the modern. I wouldn't be surprised if some amazing Aboriginal leaders come from the Kettle Point education system in the future. Granted, they will have to overcome a hoard of racism and barriers within our larger society. Grab your hammer, let's break down the walls. Or better yet, grab a piece of the floor and sit and listen to an elder for an afternoon.

A recent study has reported that child poverty in Canada is on the rise. This is despite the fact that 15 years ago all parties in the House of Commons declared that they would reduce child poverty. A booming economy has not helped many children in Canada. The study remarks that many of Canada's poor are working poor, families where low wages simply cannot pay for all the necessary needs. The study suggests raising the minimum wage to $10 hour. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, why is 1 child in 6 living in poverty?

Click here to go to the report Child Poverty Report

Well everybody else is writing about the election, so I figured I might as well. The largest question I have coming out of the George W. Bush vistory is: what will happen in the next four years? Will there be more invasions? Will terrorism actually buckle under the defenses put up by the Bush administration, or will the American foreign policy breed more terrorists? Does the Bush administration actually have a plan for maintaining civil liberties while they fight their war on terror? When will the American military pull out of the war in Iraq that has killed up to 100,000 Iraqis and over 1000 Americans? . When will billions of dollars be spent on solving the social ills in America before they are spent on sending weapons to war zones? These questions remain in my mind and only the next four years will answer them. I pray that my worst fears, and many others do not come true. Instead I pray for a mighty flood of justice, a flood of justice like that spoken of in the sacred book, a book where George W and I find a common faith, but a radically different theology.

No it is not Iraq, not Palestine, not Afghanistan, not even Colombia. Sudan has been touted by the United Nations as "the worst humanintarian crisis in the world". What is this crisis that's largely been missing from our media? Read about the ethnic cleansing in Sudan at CBC news .

Last week I read about Saddam's first day in a Baghdad court. He is being charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity including , killing religious figures in 1974, gassing of Kurds in Halabja in 1988, killing the Kurdish Barzani clan in 1983, killing members of political parties, the 1986-88 "Anfal" campaign of displacing Kurds, suppressing the 1991 uprisings by Kurds and Shiites, and invading Kuwait in 1990. The U.S. alleges Saddam's regime killed more than 300,000 Iraqis. It is quite obvious that this man has convinced many people to commit horrible acts against innocent victims over the last few decades. But what should be done with such a man? Many would cite Old Testament law about an eye for an eye, but I believe Jesus taught us another way. But what is Jesus' way? Did not Jesus believe in justice for the oppressed and freedom for the captives? How do we live out Jesus' way while still proposing a way of justice that does not support these horrible acts? These same questions came to us after the second world war and the Nurenburg trials. What morals are acceptable for humanity? What about the approximately 12, 000 (Iraq body count website)Iraqis that the United States has killed? In a world of justice should someone not also be accountable for this tragic loss of life?

Today was the beginning of summer - the summer solstice when the sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees N). The government of Canada decided a number of years ago that the changing seasons would be a good time to have National Aboriginal Day. So today is National Aboriginal Day. Much to my regret I neglected to remember until later on today and by that time I had missed any of the events that were going on in the community. It would have been nice to make it out to the events at Victoria Park in Kitchener but I guess that will just have to wait until next year. Further information on National Aboriginal Day can be found at INAC

In 2003 the world spent 1 trillion dollars on the military. According to a Peace Research Institute in Sweeden this was up 11% from last year. As many of us know the United States is the world's largest military spender but I was surprised that the USA accounted for a whopping 47% of the world military budget in 2003. The ironic part of it all is that the number of conflicts in the world actually dropped from the previous year. If anyone has come across figures surrounding military spending before you'll know military spending far exceeds global spending on health care, education, and other social spending combined. You can check out the article at CBC News.

I recently came across a music video by Martyn Joseph called 'to the end'. When I watched it I was struck by the power and passion in the words and images. After a bit of research I found that the music video was about the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil . This movement is a widespread political movement to revamp the distribution of land in Brazil. Currently over 60% of the land is owned by 3% of the population. The workers movement is actively changing the political landscape of Brazil towards a more just distribution of land
Click here to download the amazing music video (1.6 Mb)

Yesterday I went to a conflict medication conference for the day. The workshop that I attended was on reconciliation in Aboriginal communities. The day was a very refreshing day of reflection and sharing. I came out of the day not with a remedy for solving conflict but rather I came home with a different spirit. A spirit of peace and an energy that I need not be overwhelmed by the large problems, but instead to tackle the small things with a deep passion. The use of story during the day was another welcome difference from my classes this term. Stories have a way of reaching everyone where they are at and not enforcing any sort of agenda. My favourite story was about how a grandson and grandfather went for a walk one day.

Now the grandfather often went out to the bush to gather herbs for medicines and other objects. Naturally the grandson followed along and when the grandfather told him to pick something up he gently gathered the plant and placed it in one of his numerous pockets on his small army jacket. After a long time in the bush the grandson was getting worried because he was running out of pockets to hold all these objects. Soon the two came to a river and by this time the grandson had filled up every one of the pockets he had. At the river the grandfather knelt down and picked up a stone to give to the boy. The boy responded that he had no more room for anything. The grandfather responded "Then you must leave something behind".

Well it looks like I'm staying in Timmins afterall. Yesterday my apartment was swallowed up by a large sinkhole in Timmins. You can check it out at Timmins Times So since all of my life belongings are at the bottom of a sinkhole in Timmins it looks like I'm going to stay to collect them. Currently I'm using the Timmins wireless internet service since I had my laptop in my backpack when it happened. You can also check the Timmins Daily Press report of it at Sinkhole swallows apartment Wow Timmins sure is an exciting place to live, especially the Pine Street Ghetto. Here's some photos of Pine Street when it was beautiful.