The Concerns about Annett

[Moma_porcupine]

This is a bit off topic of what usually gets posted in NAFPS , but I wanted to give a bit more information on the contraversy around Kevin Annett , some of which was first mentioned by Barnaby in the discussion about the people promoted in John Lekay's Heyoka magazine .

A lot of Native people seem to think highly of Kevin Annett and at first glance any critism of Annett may seem really unfair . 

http://www.reclamationinfo.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2228&sid=7a376e1330cf56aaa39a2b4d47c94a0f

Then you look a bit more deeply , the situation becomes a lot more complex .

A group of native people were already involved in bringing the atrocities which occurred in the residential schools to light , when it is alleged that Kevin Annett took over this process in a way that was not respectful to the needs of the Native people he was supposed to be working with , and that he did this for his own glory . Annett is now getting the credit for this work , but it is likely what he shows the public would have all come out , if this process had been left in the hands of the Native people who were working on this .

The information in the below links might help people understand some of the contraversy around Annett , and why this exists , when on the face of it Annett seems to have done such a great a service to the Native community through telling the truth about what happened in Canada's resdential schools in his film "Unrepentant ".

http://sisis.nativeweb.org/resschool/sep2898coj.html

http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2001/msg05724.htm

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kUk0EU-nonAJ:www.mail-archive.com/pen-l%40galaxy.csuchico.edu/msg30539.html+%22
Kevin+Annett%22+%22James+Michael+Craven%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ca

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:b_uzNa5T6AsJ:archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2001/msg05720.htm+%22Kevin
+Annett%22+%22James+Michael+Craven%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=ca

http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/2001/msg05718.htm

That something did happen and this is not just weird stuff maliciously posted in cyberspace seems to be confirmed by these next two links , which appear to be reports coming from sources independant of Mr Cravens own collection of emails .

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:7uJS0hH97zwJ:migs.concordia.ca/documents/MacDonaldFirstNationsResidentialSchoolsand
theAmer.doc+%22Kevin+Annett%22+%22James+Craven%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=ca

The website below , which appears to be very much in support of Kevin Annett also acknowledges that *something * did happen ,
which caused Annett to be expeled from the Circle of Justice , though the reasons given as to why, are very different than the reasons alleged by James Craven in the links above .   

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:eSPK5pkLuG4J:canadiangenocide.nativeweb.org/chronology_of_attacks.html+%22Kevin+
Annett%22+%22James+Craven%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=ca

June 12-14, 1998: UN group IHRAAM holds Tribunal into residential schools.

Tribunal judge James Craven and local native woman Kelly White are identified as police informants and provocateurs after the Tribunal.

( Really ? Who identified these people ? It doesn't appear to say . And on what evidence ?)

August 4, 1998: Uhlman and James Craven meet with four members of the Circle of Justice without Kevin present, and offer them money to publicly disassociate themselves from Kevin and expel him from the Circle. The four - Amy Tallio, her husband,and two others -agree.

( How it it known Mr Craven paid people to disasociate themselves from Annett ? I see no sources. Would suvivors of residential schools who were trying to bring what happened to justice really be so easily bought off ? )

August 8, 1998: These four people call a meeting and expel Kevin from the Circle, and demand from him all records and evidence from the Tribunal and his work. When he refuses, they slander Kevin over the internet and (with Craven's help) claim falsely that "Kevin is using survivors' testimonies without their permission and to make money off their suffering." (Amy Tallio and James Craven are subsequently flown by the Canadian government to conferences on residential schools in Nova Scotia and Ontario, and are paid to attack Kevin publicly and ridicule the allegations of murders in residential schools)

This is not something that appears to have been resolved .

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:71Be2HO1OoMJ:lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/a-list/2007-February/065149.html+%22
Kevin+Annett%22+%22James+Craven%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=ca

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:pIF7d_18X74J:https://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/ipsm-l/2007-March/001477.html+%22Kevin
+Annett%22+unrepentant+resist.ca&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

Here is some quotes from a much longer article by Jim / James Craven , the alleged RCMP disrupter .
 
http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?p=5042

I’m a member and Solicitor General of the Blackfoot Nation and I served as a tribal judge. One of my specialties is applying Nuremberg precedents to the residential school situation in Canada and the US. I've worked with UN-connected groups to conduct legal tribunals on genocide, applying the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide and human rights laws and statutes we're all governed by. I also prepare our people who are victims for cross-examination and litigation. Right now, survivors of the residential and boarding schools are launching a hundred lawsuits a month in Canada... (con..)

One of the reasons the churches and government are talking so much about reconciliation and healing is they have more to
fear from cross-examination than any victim has to fear. I've interviewed hundreds of residential school victims and all
you have to do is look in their eyes to see that this isn't being made up. Nobody could make this up. (con...)

You also find people from different bands who never met each other, who went at different periods through the same schools and who name the same abusers, describe being brutalized in the same ways, the same modus operandi. And there's no possible nexus, no collaboration, no conspiracy to rig their testimony. Their stories corroborate each other. (con...)

The reason they don't want to get into specifics is because what went on is genocide.(con...)

They meant to destroy us. There's nothing well-meaning about sexually molesting kids and beating them for speaking their languages or being left-handed. They were not well-meaning. They never brought the message of Jesus to their own children by molesting them and beating them. It was only Indian children they did that to.(con...)

...So we need make sure that we understand exactly what the issues are and to speak from a factual base. Check your facts and recheck them. Once you lose your credibility, you can't get it back. If you repeat rumors without checking them out, you lose your credibility. Sometimes you can check and still turn out to be wrong, but you have to make a good faith effort. And you have to tell the truth, even when it's uncomfortable. All Indians are virtuous and all whites are the devil takes you nowhere. It undermines the cause. People speaking for the cause have to be on top of the game because the cause will be judged by the spokesperson. It takes time and it takes energy to arrive at truth, but nothing less will serve any of us.( con...)

I could be wrong , and I don't have much information independant of what was written and posted by James / Jim Craven , but Mr Craven doesn't sound like someone trying to stop the truth from coming out . He also doesn't seem to be the only Native person to express concerns that too much hyperbole can lead to a loss of credibility in the long run .

http://www.nativevue.org/blog/?p=589

Maybe other people know more than what I have managed to find the links posted here ?

[Barnaby_McEwan]

Thanks again for another detailed post. I had been meaning to look further into Annett's career but I doubt if there's much I can add.

Annett's paranoid propaganda style has made him very popular with conspiracy theorists: John LeKay being a perfect example. This year, Annett is one of the hot topics for tinfoil-hat-wearers: next year he but more importantly residential-school survivors, will be forgotten by these people. Anyone who disagrees with Annett, or his supporter Lekay, must be part of the gigantic plot. Therefore tribal judges and elders who criticise Annett must be RCMP agents or paedophiles or "connected to the Hong Kong Triad mafia", and I must be on the FBI's payroll. Meanwhile in the real world, justice continues to be denied or delayed for the victims of horrific abuse made possible by racist government and church policies.

In his "chronology of the assaults made against me and my work since 1993", Annett mentions a group called IHRAAM, the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities. Annett mentions this group issuing "subpoenas" to a tribunal it held, and calls it a UN group.

This is a misrepresentation of IHRAAM's status with the UN and its legal status. It's a non-governmental organisation, and I'm sure it does vital work, but being non-governmental it cannot force anyone to do anything like testify before a tribunal. IHRAAM is only a UN group in the sense that it has "consultative status". Moreover it is in the lowest category - the "roster" category - along with the European Electronic Mail Association. I'm not slating IHRAAM here, or anyone who took part in the tribunal - I'm pointing out an example of Annett's self-aggrandising style.

To finish here are some links on the United Church of Canada's site regarding Annett, including the decision of the hearing which stripped him of his ministry. It's illuminating when read side by side with his own account of that process.

[coffee_drinker]

Putting aside any personal feelings of what Mr. Arnett did or didn't do,  the concern should be of the children.
Hey it happened here in our country, why wouldn't it happen in another? The Catholic church along with other missions schools
enslaved, tortured, committed horirific crimes against Native people. I myself know several Native women that have been sexually abused by lay people. I know one elder that because of the trauma she went through in the mission school, they sent her to an insylum where she received massive shock treatments. This elder now in her 70's still suffers from it.
Ask the Navaho's how many where slaves in the name of the Catholic church to build all thoses mission.
So the real issue should be not if Mr. Arnett is taking credit for blowing the whistle. It should be about what has gone up there in Canada. And no I'm not some parnoid person that believes this is some kind of conspiracy. This s**$t is real. ( I'm talking about the Native people, not what may or may not have happened to those involved in exposing this)

[Barnaby_McEwan]

So the real issue should be not if Mr. Arnett is taking credit for blowing the whistle. It should be about what has gone up there in Canada.

I agree completely. Part of what has gone on is the story of residential-school survivors' struggle for justice. They deserve the credit for blowing the whistle on the the role of church and state institutions in abuse of Native children, not Annett, who rather than humbly serving his congregation has ridden on their backs to make himself more visible.

And no I'm not some parnoid person that believes this is some kind of conspiracy. This s**$t is real.

The other problem I have with Annett is that he is promoting stories - Native elders providing children for abuse, paedophile rings composed of top politicians & church leaders etc - which sound extremely implausible (except to the paranoid) and lack proof; they are eerily similar to the satanic-ritual-abuse scare stories of the eighties. This is a gift to those anti-Native forces in Canada who want Indians to shut up and go away. Whenever Native people bring up a grievance or demand justice, racists can say "I bet you made that up, just like that residential-school bullshit".

There's a picture of Annett in several places on Lekay's website: it portrays him dressed as a minister, holding a Bible and standing over a grave marked 'Justice'. Apart from its extreme tastelessness, there is another interpretation of the scene that I doubt Annett or the photographer thought of.

[Moma_porcupine]

I don't think anyone is doubting there was widespread abuse and even murder in Canadas residential schools . If Annett published pictures and stories of residential school surviors surviors without their permission , as alleged , that would be further abuse . Just imagine how you would feel if you provided details of the most painful parts of your life to someone , thinking they would help you get justice , and instead you found your picture and the information published in a magazine . If that really happened it is appauling .

It is also mentioned by one of these people who allegedly had their personal information used without their permission , that Annett didn't get all the facts right , and made people who reported their abuse to him , look like a bunch of liars .

If this is true , and Annett has not taken the time to make sure all the facts are right or he has used exaggeration to make his point , he has done a huge diservice to the many Native people who undoubtably DID experience horrendous abuse in Canada's residential schools , because , as Barnaby points out , any incorrect information will be used to try and cast doubts on all the information.   

James Craven sounds like he was working with cultural sensitivity , on behalf of Aboriginal people for jusctice . If Annett's allegations that this person was an RCMP disrupter are not true , attempting to discredit Mr Craven sounds to me like it was Annett doing the disrupting and not Mr Craven . I am still curious what evidence Annett has for his allegations against James Craven .
   
It is a complex situation and a lot to read through,  but anyone who takes the time to do this , will probably understand why there is concerns about what Annett has done .

[educatedindian]

I look upon Annett (and Lekay's support for him) as much like Ward Churchill. Churchill is opposed to the war, opposed to abuse of Native people on all kinds of issues. All of those I agree with. But has Churchill helped or hurt the antiwar cause? Has he helped NDN causes, or is his carelessness and recklessness and grandstanding used all the time to discredit NDN causes?

I don't think Lekay really cares about NDN causes one bit. He just likes that he can find a few bizarre (not BIZZAR) fringe characters who leach off of NDN causes willing to feed his paranoia.

[Ingeborg]

James Craven sounds like he was working with cultural sensitivity , on behalf of Aboriginal people for jusctice . If Annett's allegations that this person was an RCMP disrupter are not true , attempting to discredit Mr Craven sounds to me like it was Annett doing the disrupting and not Mr Craven . I am still curious what evidence Annett has for his allegations against James Craven .

None whatsoever, I presume. We had contacts to Jim Craven at CERTAIN. What I would like to say is that his long lasting political standings do not make it likely he ever was an RCMP disrupter. However, the person trying to smear Craven as a disrupter may have had his very own reasons to cry wolf.

[coffee_drinker]

Has anyone contacted Louie Lawless that filmed the movie, and what his take is on the controversy surrounding Arnett?
Would be curious to know what he has to say on the subject.

[Moma_porcupine]

It might be an idea to contact Lawless . In the thread , " Dupree Part 2",  LBW posted and said Lawless will be making a movie on her too .  Might be good to encourage Lawless to get the opinion of people respected within the Native community and do some investigating first ....

Barnaby McEwen
 Reply #3

The other problem I have with Annett is that he is promoting stories - Native elders providing children for abuse, paedophile  rings composed of top politicians & church leaders etc - which sound extremely implausible (except to the paranoid) and lack  proof; they are eerily similar to the satanic-ritual-abuse scare stories of the eighties. This is a gift to those anti-Native forces in Canada who want Indians to shut up and go away. Whenever Native people bring up a grievance or demand justice, racists can say "I bet you made that up, just like that residential-school bullshit".

In my opinion the difference between being paranoid and telling the truth is simply making sure you got your facts straight .

People who report serious abuse , but don't keep all the facts straight, as some have accused Annett , will tend to be brushed off as being paranoid or exaggerating , , which does a huge disservice to these things being taken seriously and investigated .

The link below has a lot of general information on children being forced into the the sex trade . Though it is so horrendous it's hard to believe , this problem is very real and is often connected to organized crime . Meaning these creeps actually plan their crimes and
conspire to coperate with each other . Many reserves do have a criminal element ,and some tribal councils have been accused of cooperating with this ... So ... anything is possible and unfortunantly not that improbable .   

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:gJTDz4S-4s0J:www.harbour.sfu.ca/freda/articles/crime1.htm+%22Harriet+Nahanee%22+
pedophile&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=ca

It wasn't just Annett who had concerns about a pedophile ring. James Craven, mentions this in the link below , along with a lot of other information . In the past 30 years over 500 Aboriginal women have been murdered or have gone missing in Westren Canada . There is many people who feel the RCMP don't seriously investigate these cases . 

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:Ph3r5c_rZgcJ:itwillbethundering.resist.ca/warrior_publications/violenceandabuseagainst
women.html+%22Harriet+Nahanee%22+pedophile&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ca

These allegations have been echoed by others over the years, including Squamish elder Harriet Nahanee, who has stated that she saw young Native girls being removed from the reserve to serve as prostitutes for wealthy businessmen connected to the Vancouver Club.

James Craven, a Blackfoot & constitutional lawyer, has corroborated this story & stated:

"It has been alleged with considerable supporting evidence, that some of the same forces involved in trafficking young Indian boys & girls for the rich & powerful pedophiles are also involved in key aspects of the BC Treaty Commission as well as being involved in using isolated reserves for the landing & distribution of drugs..." ("Reprisals due to exposure of pedophile ring," Statement by James Craven, August 3, 1998)

In 1998 James Craven expressed concern for the safety of Harriet Nahanee , who was one of the people who made the accusations
of organized crime operating on reserves with he cooperation of both native and non native officials in positions of trust .   

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:OB9AN97-eTIJ:sisis.nativeweb.org/resschool/aug1398tri.html+%22Harriet+Nahanee%22+
walking+Craven&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ca

written by James Michael Craven
Thursday, August 13, 1998

Following the Tribunal, Harriet, who works with Elders of the Squamish has lost her work. Consistent with her duties as a Pacheedaht Elder and descendant of Hereditary Chiefs, she has been going around schools to teach Pacheedaht Culture. Recently portions of her talks have been showing up on the internet; she does not own or know how to use a computer. Further, a few weeks ago she filed a formal complaint with the RCMP alleging that RCMP came on the Squamish Reserve and twice tried to run over her pregnant granddaughter--witnessed by her son Jeff Nahanee and others. The RCMP asked if an apology would be enough--it was not.

Having been made destitute Harriet walks everywhere. Three days ago she received a phone call and a male voice said "now we have you walking which is where we want you; soon we will be seeing you."

This hero refused to break; she is some fighter who has suffered so much and continues to suffer. There are nexuses--increasingly apparent and threatening to some of the powers-that-be and their interests--between the Residential School Abuses, potential Treaties and composition of the Treaty Commission, present-day forms of sexual and physical abuses of children and rings that facilitate them, intra-Tribal corruption, RCMP machinations, threats by ultra-rightists and their allies etc.

I urge all people of conscience to write vigorous letters of protest to the Canadian Government and bring Harriet's story to their attention and demand full investigation of these matters and all necessary resources for her protection.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:sMV4n4vx0DMJ:intercontinentalcry.org/harriet-nahanee-public-inquiry-being-sought/+%22
Harriet+Nahanee%22+died+jail+others+released&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=ca

On February 24, 2007 Aboriginal Elder Harriet Nahanee passed away, exactly one month after she was sent to jail on January 24, 2007. Madame Justice Brenda Brown sentenced Mrs. Nahanee, age 71, to fourteen days incarceration for contempt of court
in disobeying the Eagle Ridge Bluff injunction. While in jail under unacceptable conditions at Surrey Pre-Trial to racist treatment, Harriet Nahanee contracted pneumonia. She was hospitalized within a week of her release from custody  and passed away within a week of that.

A public inquiry will have to determine why Madame Justice Brown refused to hear Mrs. Nahanee's Aboriginal sovereignty defence and incarcerated her, whereas all non-Aboriginal defenders of Eagle Ridge Bluff charged with the same offence were given either fines or community service.

The link below has a brief summery of this contraversy .

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:8f2U03gnGtQJ:web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi%3Fpaper%3D117%26cat%3D
44%26id%3D1000926%26more%3D0+%22Harriet+Nahanee%22+died+jail+Craven&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

Only the cached link still works , so I am quoting some parts of this article before it disappears entirely . 

Refusing to Repent

By Amanda Farrell

Jun 07 2007

“This story needs to get to a wider scope of people,??? says Annett, who has also written two books on the subject. “[Film] is  a more powerful medium when you can see people’s faces and look into their eyes. It’s more meaningful than reading it in a book.

-------

But the film has been subjected to some harsh criticisms—and not just because of its controversial subject matter. Doug Goodwin, the Executive Secretary of the United Church of Canada’s B.C. Conference, says Annett was not fired from his post in Port Alberni, but resigned—and they have the letter to prove it. “He claims he’s been fired and we have his written letter of resignation in our hands, so he can say what he likes,??? says Goodwin. “He ran into difficulty in his congregation, that happens. When that happens, the church starts investigating. Once that started happening, he simply resigned.

Goodwin also says the process where Annett was placed on the discontinued service list was well documented and fair, a claim
Annett disputes at length in the film. Annett says the church is trying to discredit him to cover up what happened in the residential schools.

-----------

Goodwin says the United Church has admitted to its role in Canadian residential schools and is doing its best to mend its bridges. “We’ve recognized for many years that the United Church was involved in a system that was unjust and sometimes cruel and was one we regret taking part in,??? he says. “It’s quite well known in the church itself, but it’s not well known to the public so it might seem there is a secret here that is finally being exposed, but that’s not the case . . . the problem with Kevin’s stuff is the alarmist nature of it, that this is new and being covered up and he’s the only one doing anything about it, when that’s not true.

Some of the more disturbing allegations against Unrepentant comes from first nations people themselves. Jim Craven is a member of the Blackfoot nation who served as a judge at a 1998 tribunal into residential school abuses. Craven, who teaches economics at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, and also goes by his Blackfoot name Omahkohkiaayo i’poyi, appears briefly in the film when footage from the tribunal is shown. He says he never gave permission to Annett to use his likeness and several others—including 71-year-old Harriet Nahanee, an elder who as arrested earlier this year during the Eagleridge Bluffs protests in Squamish and died shortly after spending 14 days in jail—didn’t either.

“What he does is what he’s always done, and that is to use native people and their cause as stage props for his own narcissism. He’s using people who have already been horribly abused, marginalized and taken advantage of and using them as stage props,??? says Craven, adding that Annett has called him a RCMP and FBI agent—an allegation he says could get him killed in certain circles. “What percentage of the minutes are about poor Kevin, and how many talk about native issues and native people in their own voice?

------

Craven says he’s far from an apologist for the residential school system, and has “accused the Canadian government of genocide to their faces. He’s not disputing the factual content of the documentary.

“My own mother is one of the victims, my own mother committed suicide. I’ve interviewed over 400 victims in preparation for liitigation, and this is why I take serious exception, because it is a sacred cause,??? he says. “It is true, but because he stretches things and he can’t be trusted, because he’s an apparent pathological liar, now a sacred cause is tainted with his  baggage.

Both Craven and Goodwin say they know of no first nations group that stands behind Annett’s work, but Annett says he has the support of the majority of first nations groups that “aren’t tied into government money. He also says he has been granted permission by residential school survivors to use their testimonies. The issue of not having permission was raised in a bogus manner, he says, during the 1998 tribunal.

“One native woman on the payroll of the government called a press conference and said I didn’t get permission to use the footage,??? says Annett.

It is a very complicated and horrendous situation and reading through it all can be a bit overwhelming ....

[Barnaby_McEwan]

I'm grateful to you again, Moma P. I had only read Annett's allegations about "paedophile rings" before. I didn't believe him and maybe that illustrates what I was trying to say. Annett presents sensational allegations and I don't believe him because I know a lot of Indian people say he betrayed them. When I hear similar but less luridly presented statements from Native people themselves it becomes credible - but how many Canadians are going to hear those Native voices? It'll be Annett grabbing the few column inches and evening news interviews devoted to this ongoing scandal, versus pundits saying things like "This is over and done with. The band governments got all that money and our government said sorry. This guy's just trying to make a name for himself." And they'd only be right about one of those things.

With regard to Lawless, Coffee Drinker, I wonder whether survivors' organisations might have contacted him with their concerns.

I've found these two pages regarding Kevin Annett and Harriet Nahanee on mytwobeadsworth.com. The oldest is a eulogy written by Annett:

Remembering Harriett Nahanee - Reclaiming our Sacred Space, and Holding the Criminals Accountable

Reading it, you'd think they were still on good terms, and perhaps not notice that's it's as much about Kevin Annett as anyone else: don't friends and colleagues write eulogies?

A week later another page was put up

What Kevin Annett has done to Harriet Nahanee

containing three statements submitted by Jim Craven - including one by Harriet Nahanee - condemning Annett's vanity and bungling, with an account of her life and passing, and a call for political action conspicuously missing from the Fearless Investigator's missive. At the end of his piece there's just a plug for his movie, radio show and website.

[debbieredbear]

I was going to post that Jim Craven was the one who had told me to stay clear of Annett. I trust him. He is respectable.

[Sparks]

I ran into a discussion about Kevin D. Annett elsewhere, and found this article illuminating:

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/International_Tribunal_into_Crimes_of_Church_and_State

[Note: "(Redirected from Kevin D. Annett)".]