CPTNet
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG (Grassy Narrows, Ontario) Logging Truck StandOff
by Matt Schaaf
Feb 7, 2003

About 40 members of the Asubpeeschoseewagong community at Grassy Narrows
maintained a peaceful blockade on the Segise Rd., 60 km north of Kenora
from 8:00am, Feb. 6 to 1:00am, Feb. 7. Since Dec. 3, 2002, the community
has allowed hunters and fisherman into the forest north of Hwy. 671 but has
turned back logging equipment. Community spokesperson Steve Fobister Sr.
cites 30 years of failed negotiations as the reason for the residents'
direct action.

At 9:40am on Feb. 6 about 20 Asubpeeschoseewagong residents stopped a
loaded pulpwood truck, two pickups and a tractor drawing a "slasher" on the
Segise Rd. The community has periodically stopped trucks at this location
since December, accompanied by observers from Christian Peacemaker Teams
(CPT).

Local schoolteacher Charles Wagamees said, "We are here to uphold the law
and protect the forest because [the white communities] are unable to keep
their own laws. We, the Anishinaabe who have always lived here, are
standing up for everyone."

CPT worker Scott Albrecht (Waterloo ON) explained his team's presence, "My
treaty rights to live in this land and to clean water, food, and trees have
too often been met by taking the land, water and forest away from my
Anishinaabe neighbours." Treaty #3 guarantees the Anishinaabek access to
forest that is now being clearcut by AbitibiConsolidated.

An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) negotiator facilitated an agreement
between the blockade organizers and the truckers to turn the vehicles
around on the highway and to head back the way they had come. After
turning one of the trucks, the drivers broke the agreement by refusing to
return to the Segise Rd., complaining that a steep hill would make the trip
too dangerous. Community members refused to allow the trucks further south
on the highway, but sanded the hill in question with their own road
maintenance equipment.

Throughout the events loggers, police and Asubpeeschoseewagong residents
remained calm, nonviolent and willing to talk.

At 8:00 pm about 40 community members, accompanied by four members of
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), stood waiting, calm and committed to
their original agreement, while a second negotiator from the Ignace OPP
detachment continued talks between the community and the truckers. At
12:30 am on Feb. 7, the drivers turned their trucks and headed back the way
they had come. The OPP left the scene shortly afterward and a
Asubpeeschoseewagong resident accompanied the logging trucks as far as the
Wabigoon River, verifying their safe departure from the area.

At 1:00 am the high school students, their teachers, and other residents
celebrated around the roadside fire.

CPT has maintained a periodic violence reduction presence at
Asubpeeschoseewagong since May 1999. Current team members include Scott
Albrecht (Waterloo CANADA), Jessica Phillips (Chicago USA), Vern Ridieger
(Toronto CANADA), and Matt Schaaf (Winnipeg CANADA).