ARCHIVE Video Stream of the First Nations / RCMP standoff in #Rexto... (ning.it)

MEGA VIDEO COLLECTION ! PART 1 - 2

The RCMP is defending its response to an anti-fracking protest in eastern New Brunswick that turned violent on Thursday, saying that police “have no choice but to react” when public safety is compromised.

Cmdr. Roger Brown told reporters Friday that officers seized firearms, as well as improvised explosive devices and “a large amount of ammunition, knives and bear spray” at the scene of the protest, outside the Elsipogtog First Nation reserve near Rexton, N.B.

.ctvnews.ca/

QMI AGENCY

'An act of war': Armed RCMP officers carry out militant action against Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations

There is a picture circulating widely over the Internet of a woman on the front lines of the struggle against SWN Resources, a company which seeks to potentially frack on traditional Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations territory in New Brunswick.

In the photo, she is kneeling in front of a line of armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers, holding an eagle feather.

Eagles are one of the most -- if not the most -- important bird for Indigenous people. It can fly the highest so it is closest to Creator. That is where the eagle and its feathers get their reverence.

So no, she didn't have a gun or a sword.

Perhaps arming yourself with a feather in the face of extreme police repression -- the RCMP had an attachment of snipers in camouflage when they raided the blockade Thursday morning -- seems useless.

But with that eagle feather, she was protecting her people.

The same goes when First Nations activists and their allies carry drums, sing traditional songs and burn traditional medicines like sage and sweetgrass during demonstrations.

To understand the context behind Indigenous uprisings such as the recent uprising in Elsipogtog -- which means "River of Fire" in Mi'kmaq -- and why they came to head after SWN Resources issued the blockades an injunction on Wednesday October 2, 2013, one needs to understand the importance of right spirit and good living.

To walk the Red Road is to defend Mother Earth. This is what anti-fracking activists are doing in New Briunswick with their highway blockade.

The blockade was on Highway 134 and has since been taken down by the police.

As demonstrators were being arrested yesterday at the blockade site near Rexton, New Brunswick -- more than 40 arrests were made, including Chief Aaron Sock -- you could hear the powerful drums and people singing the Mi'kmaq Honour song.

werful drums and people singing the Mi'kmaq Honour song.

rabble.ca