The Syilx Okanagan Nation Chief Executive Council is seeking swift action over what it says is an ugly turn in the messaging of the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters as they “advance their racist and bigoted agenda”.
The council made up of the chiefs of six regional Indian Bands of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, warn that these protests “exhibit the evidence of white extreme supremacy followings in our own backyard.”
In an open letter, the Chiefs of the Syilx Okanagan Nation are calling for an urgent meeting with officials from the Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP, local, federal, and provincial governments to ensure the safety of its Nation members after an alleged incident involving a female member of the Nation.
Attacks like those suffered by its Syilx nation member on February 5 “are beyond intolerable,” the letter states.
“We are calling on authorities at all levels to take immediate action to reject this Freedom convoy protest that obviously has breached or violated all citizen’s principles of our democracy.”
These participants or supporters “have gone far beyond their actions of letting their governments know of their position on vaccination mandates, to rather that of promoting violence and hate speech,” the Council states.
In their letter, they say that a woman of the Syilx Nation was “verbally assaulted and intimidated by a group of white ‘Freedom Convoy’ protestors at the Osoyoos border crossing” at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 5.
The Council says it also received reports of a series of racially motivated violent crimes coming out of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ movement on Syilx territory and throughout Turtle Island.
Reference was also made to the anti-mandate, anti-mask protester who hurled offensive and racist language at high school students in Oliver on Feb. 11.
These are just two incidents that have been brought directly to the Council’s attention they said, adding “numerous others have undoubtedly went unreported, and have been amplified through the Freedom Convoy movement.”
In the case of the border incident, the letter states the victim reported that protesters “screamed racial slurs and derogatory statements” as she was making her way to go through the border crossing.
It’s believed the perpetrators singled out the victim out based on the visible Indian Residential School decals on her vehicle, as her vehicle and others inched slowly towards the border crossing.
“They would have also seen spiritual objects like her eagle feather hanging on the rearview mirror,” the letter relates.
The Council says that these actions and the “barrage of racism” witnessed by the victim constitute “hate crimes”.
“As a visible Indigenous person, we are once again all reminded of the pervasive and brutal intolerance inherent in this movement, but also brings to light the normalization of violence that Syilx people endure on a daily basis.”
It also serves to illustrate the specific violence directed to Indigenous women throughout Canada, as witnessed by the continued issues around the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIWG) crisis, they highlight.
The Council also notes that the Feb. 11 SSOS incident was witnessed by several Syilx youth.
“We do not want to lose sight of the racist incident on Friday in front of SOSS nor this incident. These incidents are traumatic for the victim and all our youth that witness such acts,” said Sil-teekin y̓il̓mixʷm Chief Greg Gabriel of the Penticton Indian Band.
“They will have this racist and bigoted memory for life. School grounds and school children are to be off limits’ from any protesting racist adults. We are extremely concerned for the safety of our women, youth and are calling for an appropriate response”.
The Chiefs want those that committed these hate crimes investigated by the proper authorities and those that incited these acts of violence held responsible.
“On behalf of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and for the courage of the women who reported these two incidents, we stand in solidarity for all People of Color,” the Council added.
The Syilx Okanagan Nation is governed by the Chiefs Executive Council (CEC), made up of the Okanagan Indian Band (y̓il̓mixʷm Byron Louis), Upper Nicola Band (y̓il̓mixʷm Harvey McLeod), Westbank First Nation (y̓il̓mixʷm Christopher Derickson), Penticton Indian Band, (Sil-teekin y̓il̓mixʷm Greg Gabriel), Osoyoos Indian Band: (ki law na – y̓il̓mixʷm Clarence Louie), Lower Similkameen Indian Band (kalʔlùpaɋʹn – y̓il̓mixʷm Keith Crow).
