And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.I.S.I.S.) writes: NATIVES RENEW CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO GUSTAFSEN LAKE STANDOFF Kamloops Daily News, January 15, 1998 by Marnie Taylor Native rebels who held police at bay for more than a month at Gustafsen Lake in 1995 are renewing demands for an inquiry into the standoff. Jones William Ignace, the ringleader of the group, was granted full parole from Elbow Lake Correctional Facility near Harrison Hot Springs this week. It's expected he will return to his home in Chase next week. Ignace, 67, also known as Wolverine, was sentenced in July 1997 to 4 1/2 years for mischief endangering life. He has been behind bars since September 1995. Now that Ignace is to be released, natives demanded Thursday a full and open public inquiry into the 31 day standoff - the longest in Canadian history between natives and the RCMP. "This is not the end of the struggle. The campaign to free Wolverine has been successful and now there's another battle ahead of us," said Splitting the Sky, head of the Free Wolverine Campaign. Splitting the Sky said the group has information to suggest "the RCMP manufactured lies in an attempt to justify a military presence. "We have the information. It's not just speculation or false statements. In the next few weeks, we'll be coming forward with this bombshell," he said. In the summer of 1998, the Assembly of First Nations demanded a full public inquiry into the handling of the Gustafsen Lake standoff by the provincial and federal governments. Chief Stewart Philip of the Penticton Indian Band moved the resolution and was seconded by Chief Ron Jules of the Adams Lake Indian Band. The 1995 standoff resulted from a dispute between a rancher and a group calling themselves the Defenders of the Shuswap Nation. Ignace and more than a dozen other natives set up a camp near Gustafsen Lake, refusing to leave the James Cattle Company ranch. The standoff ended when the RCMP called in the Canadian Armed Forces and natives began leaving the blockade. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: WE DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ALL ASPECTS OF THE GUSTAFSEN LAKE MATTER To support the inquiry call: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html Contacts: Elder Bill Lightbown, Ts'peten Defence Committee: (604) 251-4949 phone/fax Splitting the Sky, Free Wolverine Campaign: (250) 679-7743 phone/fax "[Gustafsen Lake] shows all the signs of a classic coverup" Canadian Dimension Magazine In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
