Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Special to ICT
Around the world: Canadian community honors First Nations veterans, Kenyan government destroys Ogiek property in Mau Forest, and the US Montagnards rally against oppression in Vietnam
CANADA: Legion honors its First Nations founders
The Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community is paying tribute to the pioneering World War II veterans who founded Canada’s sole First Nations Royal Canadian Legion in Quebec, CBC News reported on Nov. 8.
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The community is featuring a hometown heroes banner initiative that displays the names and photographs of the 15 original charter members who founded the Mohawk Legion Branch 219 legion in Kahnawà:ke more than 70 years ago.
It was the first and remains the only First Nations-operated legion situated with an Indigenous community in Quebec.
Canada celebrates Nov. 11, which is Veterans Day in the U.S., as Remembrance Day.
Among those commemorated is Joseph Horne, the inaugural president of Branch 219. He served as a bombardier in the U.S. Navy, patrolling the eastern shore of the United States during World War II.
“His banner is right in front of the Catholic Church, almost across from the Cenotaph, so every morning I say, ‘Oh, good morning, Daddy,’” his daughter, Arlene Teiohserahte Horne, told CBC News.
The group of veterans founded, near Montreal, after returning home and realizing they didn’t have a place to congregate, she told CBC News.
More than 3,000 First Nations soldiers, sailors and air crews had actively contributed to the effort by the war’s conclusion in 1945 — including 178 men and women from Kahnawà:ke who served in the Canadian and American armed forces. Many were unjustly denied access to full veteran benefits and support programs, CBC News reported.
One of the community’s veterans, Matthew Diabo, enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17 and returned home with a Purple Heart, a distinguished medal recognizing those wounded in action. But he did not get a hero’s welcome.
“He never really went into a lot of detail about how they were treated, but it’s a well-known fact, especially for the First Nations war veterans that came home, they received no recognition, no benefits, no nothing,” his son, David Diabo, told CBC News.
David Diabo said he is honored at the recognition.
“It means a lot to me,” he told CBC News. “It is a piece of history for the legion itself to grant this branch to a First Nations community. At the time, racism was rampant and still very much alive, and probably still at its peak.”
KENYA: Government burns Ogiek homes, property
The Kenyan government has begun widespread destruction of homes and property of Indigenous Ogiek people living in Mau Forest, despite a 2017 legal victor acknowledging ancestral land rights, Mongabay reported on Nov. 8.
The demolitions began Nov. 2 after the Kenya Forest Service concluded the legal ruling did not permit agricultural activities or housing construction with the forest.
“It is a humanitarian crisis,” said Daniel Kobei, executive director of the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program, which safeguards Ogiek land rights, preserves their cultural identity, and promotes environmental conservation.
“They have been burning houses and food stores, which is really frustrating, especially during such a rainy season,” Kobei said.
The Maasai Mau Forest Reserve is situated within the expansive Mau Forest Complex, one of East Africa’s largest forests, and is home to the indigenous Ogiek community.
Alex Lemarkoko, chief conservator of forests, refuted allegations that the Ogiek’s had been targeted, saying the forest service was taking actions against unlawful settlers.
“We are dealing with people who have encroached into the forest and started farming and building structures. We are not, however, targeting the Ogiek community,” Lemarkoko said, according to Mongabay.
About 700 families from the Ogiek community in the Sasimwani area of Narok County, Kenya, faced forced evictions last week, initiated by the Kenya Forest Service. Starting on Nov. 2, forest service officers began demolishing houses and set some homes and granaries on fire.
This is not the first time the Ogiek have endured such displacement. In 2009, the Kenya Forestry Service issued the first eviction order.
In 2017, after years of legal battles supported by organizations like the Centre for Minority Rights Development and Minority Rights Group International, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that the Kenyan government had violated Ogiek rights to life, natural resources, development, and culture.
Despite the ruling, evictions recurred, with Ogiek communities facing forced removal again in July 2020. In June 2022, the African Court issued another landmark ruling, ordering the Kenyan government to allow the Ogiek to return to their land, emphasizing that conservation goals should not justify their eviction.
“They are treating us like animals,” said resident Judith Nguliso, according to Mongabay. “Children are suffering and don’t have shelter in this rainy season. If the government who should be taking care of us are against us, then who will?”
VIETNAM: Montagnards rally against oppression
More than 100 Dega, Cham, and Khmer ethnic demonstrators protested in Washington, D.C. against the Vietnamese government’s treatment of Indigenous populations, Radio Free Asia reported on Nov. 5.
The demonstrators took to the streets on Friday, Nov. 3, marching to both the White House and the Vietnamese Embassy to ensure their voices were heard.
The Vietnamese Montagnards, as they are known, hailing from a diverse group of 30 distinct tribes located in the country’s Central Highlands, have consistently found themselves in confrontation with the government, Radio Free Asia reported.
Their grievances revolve around a range of issues, including disputes over land rights and religious freedom.
“After many years, from 1975 to 2023, 48 years, we realize that the situation of human rights and religion in Vietnam in general and with the highlanders in the Central Highlands in particular, has not changed at all,” Rong Nay, director of the Human Rights Organization of the Montagnards in North Carolina told Radio Free Asia.
Pastor Y’Hin Nie, another participant in the protest, told Radio Free Asia that the Hanoi government refuses to acknowledge the Protestant Christian churches in the Central Highlands and persists in subjecting their members to ongoing harassment.
“[We are] representing the voices of all ethnic groups in Vietnam who have been oppressed for a long time,” the pastor said, “calling on all of us to move towards freedom, no matter what, everyone must have freedom.”
On June 11, two separate groups of about 40 people armed with guns and knives carried out attacks on the People’s Committee headquarters in Ea Tieu and Eatur, located within Dak Lak’s Cu Kuin district.
Nine people were killed — four police officers, two local government officials, and three residents.
The Ministry of Public Security has also begun investigations into 92 people on charges related to terrorism against the government, failure to report crimes, concealing criminal activities, and facilitating illegal entry, exit, or residence in Vietnam.
In August, Vietnam addressed the United Nations and various international organizations with a statement rejecting allegations of religious and ethnic discrimination. They argued that the term “Montagnard,” originally coined by French colonialists, is obsolete in their country as there are no longer Montagnards residing there.
My final thoughts
My final thoughts turn to Nov. 2, when the Kenyan government embarked on a campaign of house and property destruction against the Indigenous Ogiek community living in Mau Forest. This action is in direct contradiction to a legal victory in 2017 that recognized their ancestral land rights.
Nevertheless, the Kenya Forest Service argues that the court ruling did not grant permission for agricultural activities or the construction of housing within the forest.
I strongly denounce the Kenyan government’s actions, which not only disregard the legitimate rights of the Ogiek people but also contradict their own legal recognition of these rights in 2017.
It is imperative that the government respects and upholds the ancestral land rights of Indigenous communities and seeks a fair and equitable resolution to this situation.
I urge the Kenyan government to halt the house demolitions and property destruction, engage in dialogue with the Ogiek community, and find a mutually beneficial solution that preserves both the forest and the rights of its Indigenous inhabitants.
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