Shawn Brant

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Shawn Brant is a Mohawk activist^[1] from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ontario, Canada. He is colloquially referred to as "the Mandela of Canada" due to similar struggles for land rights and popular sovereignty engaged in by Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s, Brant participated in protests at Oka and Ipperwash. In November 2006, the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga reclaimed a gravel quarry that was licensed to remove over 100,000 tonnes of gravel per year despite ongoing land claims negotiations. The Mohawks claimed that their land was being stolen from them by the Canadian government that was at the same time ostensibly engaged in land claims negotiations. ^[2] Although the Canadian government had formally recognized the quarry as Mohawk land in 2003, private development had continued ever since. ^[3] In January 2007, Brant was arrested for uttering ‘death threats’ to members of the Canadian Military who had been present at the November protest. On April 14th 2008, Brant was acquitted of all charges.

In April 2007 he organized a 30-hour blockade of a CN rail line in eastern Ontario.^[4] After this time the Ontario police guaranteed immunity to the protestors in exchange for ending the protest. The offer was accepted and the protest ended without arrest or injury. On April 25th, Police Commissioner Julian Fantino issued a warrant for Brant’s arrest.

In June 2007, the Mohawks of Tyendinaga blockaded CN lines running through Mohawk land near Deseronto, Ontario. Brant participated as a Mohawk spokesperson as part of the [[Aboriginal Day of Action |National Aboriginal Day of Action]] on June 29, 2007. Brant was charged with 9 counts of mischief and breech of bail conditions. He turned himself in on July 5th and was denied bail. Denied bail again on August 10th, Brant was finally released on August 30th with $50,000 bond and a $50,000 surety. The courts have consistently denied Brant the right the associate with Tyendinaga protests.

On April 25th, Brant was again arrested and detained for assault and weapons charges in relation to a confrontation between two white men from Deseronto – James Lalonde and Mike Lalonde - and several indigenous participants of a peaceful protest. Brant’s wife, Sue Collis, issued a public statement declaring that Shawn’s ‘weapon’ was a fishing spear, and that the violence had come from the Lalonde’s who physically threatened the protestors. ^[5] To date, Brant has been the only person charged.

On May 27th 2008, Brant was put on lock-down for 23 hours a day for 12 days, for misconduct. He was burning sage in his cell as part of a Mohawk religious ceremony.