December 08, 2010

Apology for calling Mohawks insurgents

A much delayed response to Canadian Manual:  "Radical" Native Organizations = Insurgents, which I covered in my Stereotype of the Month contest:

Military to apologize for Mohawk inclusion in counter-insurgency manual

By Greg HornThe Canadian military is expected to formally apologize for including the Mohawk Warrior Society in a draft version of its counter-insurgency manual. The apology is expected to come in January or February.

A 2006 draft version of the military’s counter-insurgency manual was released publicly in March 2007. This manual included a reference to the Mohawk Warrior Society in a section that described different types of insurgencies. The offensing section was entitled “Overview of Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies.”

Native people across Canada immediately decried the inclusion, saying it was comparing Native groups--such as the Mohawk Warrior Society--with terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and the Taliban.
Comment:  For more on the subject, see Aboriginal Youths on the Warpath? and Natives = "Pirates" and "Outlaws."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!

Rob said...

Canada's National Post disagrees with the government's decision to apologize:

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/12/23/national-post-editorial-board-no-apology-for-the-mohawk-warrior-society/

National Post editorial board:  No apology for the Mohawk Warrior Society