January 29, 2019
Dear Friends,
Your donation to the Supporters of Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt is greatly appreciated and we thank you
very much. Ours is a movement of peace work and because of the support of so many in our community, we
were able to carry out a program of decolonizing education and meaningful community building. We would
like to provide an overview of our accomplishments during the 2018 annual Haudenosaunee deer harvest:
Educational Reach
The 2018 workshop program was based on a general call-out to the community. We are delighted that 20 individuals rose to this call and presented a fantastic program attended by over a hundred people. Our closing event, which was a film screening of Angry Inuk, was attended by 57 people including many Indigenous Education teachers in Niagara who were new to this important local, social justice issue.
We also had exceptional reach with our on-line activities. During the course of November 2018, our Facebook
posts reached approximately 16, 500 people and 5,854 people engaged in some way (sharing, liking, and
commenting) with our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sixnationsrighttohunt
It is so exciting that our local educational initiatives are spreading outside of our community. People from
across the country are engaging and learning about the issues at Short Hills and about Indigenous-settler
partnerships in responding to those opposing Indigenous Rights.
We have received a fantastic amount of corporate and organizational support, including letters of solidarity which are posted on our website. Most noteworthy are statements of support from Brock Students for Animal Liberation and from Halton Hamilton Animal Liberation Team https://sixnationsrighttohunt.com/support/. It is wonderful to see the ways that folks in the animal movement are working to decolonize animal liberation.
We continue to be grateful for the support of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an international human
rights organization which builds partnerships to transform violence and oppression across the globe. CPT
seeks to enlist faith groups, settlers, and other non-Indigenous groups in the work of Indigenous solidarity.
Their presence at Short Hills, and participation in our workshops, links our work with resistance and solidarity
work around the world.
Media Coverage
We have seen a significant change in public perception about the harvest. Media coverage is more positive than previous years and there is a friendlier reception from elected officials. Please take a look at media coverage posted on our website. https://sixnationsrighttohunt.com/coverage/
Additionally, financial contributions this year allowed us to place a print ad in Niagara This Week as well as purchase a 30 second radio ad on Country 89.9 and CFBU 103.7. Our ad was designed to raise awareness
about treaties and Indigenous hunting rights. It was also a response to misinformation presented in a radio ad by the Animal Alliance of Canada, a leading anti-hunt organization. Our radio ad is posted on our website. https://sixnationsrighttohunt.com/media-releases/
Petition
On November 27, 2018 we presented a petition with over 1,500 signatures to the Niagara Regional Police Services Board. Our goal is the total and complete end to any stalls of Haudenosaunee harvesters as they enter and exit Short Hills Provincial Park.
We acknowledge the right to protest but that right does not extend to the harassment and stalls that the
harvesters of the Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat Authority have endured since the beginning of the
Short Hills deer harvest in 2013. We are not proud to live in the only region where an illegal anti-hunt settler
protest against the Haudenosaunee takes place! However, we are very proud of the ways that Indigenous-
settler alliances have been formed to respond to this colonial act of violence.
Moving Forward
We hope that in the future the Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat Authority can carry out their harvest at Short Hills without settler disruption. We are pleased to report that each year, fewer and fewer protesters come to the park to block harvesters from directly entering and exiting the park. This too is an accomplishment! We continue to believe that education and peace work is the way forward toward peaceful resolution.
We invite you to attend one of our upcoming workshops. The City of St.Catharines hosted the Supporters of Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt at the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre on Friday Jan 11th 2019. Our panel discussion opened the reception to the exhibition of works by contemporary Indigenous Artist, Carl Beam. We also offer workshops at Brock University hosted by OPIRG on Monday Feb 4th from 1-2pm, Wednesday Feb 13 from 2-3pm, Wednesday Mar 6 from 2-3pm and Thursday Mar 14 from 1-2pm.
Thank-you again for your important support. Through financial and in-kind donations, we were also able to have food for the peace food table, firewood for the social fire, as well as a canopy for the rain. None of this would be possible without the donations of time, energy, food and finances from Niagara community members such as yourselves! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at sixnationsrighttohunt@gmail.com.
Thank you, Nya:weh Kowa!
Jodielynn Harrison and Celeste Smith
Co-founders of the Supporters of Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt
Supporters of Haudenosaunee Right to Hunt 