Hidden from History:
The Canadian Holocaust

The Truth Commission is rising again! - Upcoming General Meeting - Please Post and Circulate

Dear friends,

In mid July, a Belgian cabinet minister quoted my report "Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust" to his country's media to point out that not only Belgium inflicted Genocide on indigenous people.

Since April, indigenous Mayan organizations in Guatemala have been pounding on the door of the Canadian embassy with a "denuncia", or formal protest, against the murder and Genocide of Canadian aboriginal people in residential schools.

In "British Columbia", the Haida people have begun to repatriate the physical remains of their ancestors, who were stolen and imprisoned in American and European museums. The Haida are considering extending this repatriation campaign to include retrieving the remains of all of their children who died in church-run residential schools and hospitals, and whose bodies still lie concealed in secret graves across Canada.

And thus is the tide turning in our years-long struggle to expose the legal mass murder of indigenous people in Canada. It is time that once again we gathered our forces, update and educate ourselves, and plan our actions for the coming year.

So, on Wednesday, September 15, at 7 pm, our Truth Commission will be holding its first general meeting for the coming year, in the main floor board room at the Canadian Autoworkers Hall at 326-12th street in New Westminster, BC. (See more instructions below).

I hope that any of you within reach of Vancouver will attend this gathering, which will be the first of many public events planned for the fall.

At the meeting, I'll be giving a report about the native gatherings I have attended across Canada since the spring, and the international solidarity that is increasingly being shown for our work. I'll also be sharing reports from other groups working with us in Manitoba, Ontario and Vancouver Island.

The Haida elder who now co-hosts my radio program with me, Wilf Price, will also be in attendance to discuss our forthcoming joint public lecture series entitled "The Roots and Ongoing Reality of Genocide in Canada".

I have also asked a representative of the Guatemalan Mayan groups which are acting on our behalf to speak at the meeting, to tell us of the actions being held by these groups to force an international inquiry into Genocide in Canada.

We need your renewed presence and participation now, in order to rebuild our forces and place the issue of Genocide on the forefront of the political agenda in Canada.

I look forward to seeing you on Sept. 15. Please post this notice throughout your email lists, and mark the date on your calendar right away.

With thanks and appreciation,

Kevin Annett
pager: 1-888-265-1007
websites: www.hiddenfromhistory.org
http://canadiangenocide.nativeweb.org

Note: Listen for more updates on my radio program "Hidden from History", broadcast on Vancouver Co-op radio, CFRO 102.7 FM, every Monday from 1 - 2:30 pm.

To get to the meeting:

By car: 326-12th street runs north-south in New Westminster, on the west side of town, south of Kingsway.

By bus or skytrain: Take the skytrain to the New Westminster station, then walk west to 12th street and up the hill on that street. The CAW building will be on your left as you face uphill.

A final inducement to attend: At the meeting we will be selling organic Fair Trade coffee from the same Mayan people who are working with us to bring Canada and its churches to justice. We hope to extend the distribution network for this coffee so that the Mayan cooperatives that produce it can be sustained. Lend these brave brothers and sisters a hand!