By Mike Cocker

A Native American filled television screens in hundreds of homes across Alberta, Canada. Framed by a thick, black square-cut mane that touched wide, heavy shoulders, Stygian brown eyes glared at his viewers with intensity. He wore a denim vest over his brawny torso, frayed blue-jean shorts, and a pair of hiking boots hugging just below his muscular calves. His presence seemed to stalk the screen even though he did not move. He had the bearing of a wolf.

"War is waging in this country but most Canadians have no idea where the lines of battle are drawn," the Indian began, his voice very soft.

"There's a patch of land in Alberta that’s considered one of the most valuable on the planet. So, it should come as no surprise then that the Canadian government allows Anbu-Jigyoukai International, a powerful Japanese multi-national resource corporation, to push for resource development there. AJI’s sweeping through the area, clear-cutting trees for pulp and paper, mining for fossil fuels, all the while ravaging the fertile soils. Now I hear diamond exploration may soon commence in the area. And the only obstruction to full-scale "development" is a small nation of Indigenous people -- the Lubicon Lake Cree.

"The Lubicon face constant pressure from the Canadian government as well as big businesses that want to exploit the resource-rich area. While AJI alone extracts billions of dollars worth of natural resources from the land, the Lubicon themselves suffer extreme poverty.

"The Lubicon -- who've been segregated in their boreal forest compounds -- were self-sufficient in their traditional hunting, fishing, and trapping way of life. But even these simple means of a livelihood are severely being compromised. The moose population -- the prominent staple of the Lubicon diet -- has quickly depleted as a result of industrial pollution.

"Environmental pollution caused by these companies has had dire effects on the people's health as well. The people suffer from asthma, skin rashes, various cancers and other medical concerns produced by corporate pollution. Health problems have even surfaced in surrounding areas. In Peace River, located 600 kilometers north of Edmonton, west of the Lubicon Lake, the pollution has had brutal effects on pregnancies. Although the infant mortality rate has declined, the Cree still encounter an uncommonly high number of still-births, spontaneous abortions, miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects compared to the average Canadian community.

"The Lubicon Nation issued a cry for help in 1988 and has since received little international support. It was at that time AJI made an agreement with the Lubicon not to clear cut on their traditional land until a land settlement could be reached between the band and the Canadian government -- an agreement AJI broke in 1990 when they sent contractors to start harvesting on Lubicon land.

"In November of last year, representatives of the Lubicon violently protested against these unlawful actions. Now 13 members have been charged with Possession of Explosives, Arson, Disguise with Intent, and Mischief. These charges stem from the destruction of AJI logging equipment contracted to log in the Sovereign Lubicon lands. What kind of country is this when the Indigenous people get charged for protecting their homes from power-hungry corporations that have no regard for the well-being of Lubicon territory, wildlife, and people? What kind of democratic country supports such a hypocritical justice system. These double standards are killing the Indigenous people both figuratively and literally. The Lubicon should be rewarded for their proud actions. Instead the 13 Lubicon representatives will face up to 50 years in prison.

"The clear message to the Lubicon by the Canadian government, and their cronies from the resource exploitation companies, is the Cree have no rights to their traditional territory and that the government will allow big businesses to do what they please whether the Lubicon like it or not." The Indian paused, his brow furrowed.

"I, Totem," he continued, his voice was now hard, "can no longer stand in the midst of so many complacent citizens of this supposedly democratic nation. I won’t tolerate such disregard from hate-mongering governments and natural resource companies. And I’ve come to Alberta to prevent the extinction of this small embattled Indigenous society.

"Just yesterday, an AJI logging site beside Lubicon Lake nearly met the Creator's wrath." The camera loosened up, zooming out just a little to reveal something. Suddenly, Totem became faded as if out of focus. His limbs contorted, bending like malleable clay.  He began to reshape.  Bones snapped, shifted, stitched back into a humanoid shape. He appeared like some horror out of myth. He was aflame from head to waist. His arms were stone collumns, thick and crudely hewn. His lower body was an ebbing obscurity of wind-swept mist.

Behind the billowing flames of his face, Totem’s blazing eyes narrowed. "Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and firestorms will continue to wreak havoc at Anbu-Jigyoukai job sites until the 13 members of the Lubicon are released from their wrongful incarceration. These natural disasters will also continue unless drastic measures are taken to save the Lubicon from corporate annihilation."

Totem’s form flickered and instantly reverted back to his original Native American appearance. He seemed undisturbed by his recent metamorphosis into a spectral monstrosity, a stoic, fearful calmness washed over him.

"My brothers and sisters of the Lubicon Lake Cree want a land base with full compensation from the ignorant governments that permit corporations to exploit their resources," he extended. "They want to be self-sufficient, to have their dignity restored and to be freed from the enslaving handouts of the White Man’s welfare system. They want to give their children and grandchildren and the ones to come a future. This is little to ask for considering the years of persecution the Lubicon have suffered from the government of this country."

"I, Totem, demand the Alberta government as well as AJI to heed my words. Give the Lubicon Lake Cree what is rightfully theirs. To contend with these demands is fruitless. Paramilitary or superhuman intervention of any kind, will only prolong the Creator's fury.

"The day of reckoning is imminent."

Totem disappeared from the multitude of television screens, which now erupted with an alarmed frenzy of news coverage.