Cecilia Begg Interview-Keep Info from KI Flowing

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/News/389891.html


Begg wants people to focus on issue, not her being jailed
"I'm just taking it a day at a time, trying to get as much information as I can from back home."

By Jon Thompson
Miner and News
Thursday April 03, 2008

As women of the Assembly of First Nations and Anicinawbe Aski Nation participated in a one-day hunger strike in Thunder Bay Wednesday to raise attention to the plight of jailed Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug head councillor Cecilia Begg and as attention to the issue mounts nationally, the only woman in a group being called the KI6 sat defiantly behind the walls of the Kenora prison.
"I'm just taking it a day at a time, trying to get as much information as I can from back home," she said in her first interview since her incarceration. "I haven't been able to speak with the other men (imprisoned in Thunder Bay) until today. We're encouraging each other by knowing we're doing fine. That's all we can do. "
The six community leaders were convicted last month of civil contempt and received six month sentences for disallowing employees of the Platinex mining corporation to enter disputed land near their community. As a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother, Begg reflected on her role as the sole woman.
"Three years ago, I decided that if it came to doing a jail sentence to defend our land, I would. I could have got out of it. When we were first sentenced, I met with (Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief) Stan Beardy and (Assembly of First Nations National Chief) Phil Fontaine. They were concerned that I was the only female serving a jail term and that maybe their lawyers could work towards an appeal process. But since I'm the only female, I felt the importance to go through with it and I wanted to stand by my original decision until such time as we get a positive answer to what we're asking for."

Although she appreciates the actions of the women in Thunder Bay and the support pouring in from around Turtle Island (the Canadian aboriginal community as a whole), she urged those watching her story to focus on the issue.
"I'm in jail fighting for what I believe is ours. It's not about me, it's about the people back home."
She explained that her people have discovered evidence that land is being staked and surveyed north of their community without consultation and called upon the government and the corporation to respect the treaty agreement.
"We need to go back to square one and ensure the proper steps are taken this time. There has to be changes. We have to be properly notified. That has to happen before anything happens."
She was also demanding that the Ontario government rescind the mining licence to Platinex. She stressed the importance of creating a meaningful consultation process for future generations, the process of deciding whether the community wants development may take a generation or more, she conceded. For now, she said, the answer is no.
"It will be up to the future generations and future leaders to allow or not allow development. We're not for or against development but there's too much at stake and we have to get our community ready for that. It will be up to the future generation and we can't foresee what they will need. We're keeping the land for them."