Hate literature prompts reward

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A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for a racial letter found at Lethbridge Community College (LCC) declaring "open season on the North American Aboriginal."

he money is being provided by the Alberta Indian Investment Corporation in Edmonton and Windspeaker.

Section 3.18 of the Criminal code says anyone who promotes or advocated genocide is guilty of an indictable offense with a maximum penalty of five years. Genocide is defined as the destruction or killing of a group. The Lethbridge letter suggests Natives should be shot.

The letter, on Alberta Forestry, Lands and Wildlife's letterhead states the rules for hunting season on Indians. The manager of public relations for LCC said the administration and faculty are outraged and "will not tolerate such racism."

"We're upset by it and we've made sure all copies of the letter have been shredded. We've also stepped up security to make sure this doesn't happen again," said Tara Pentney.

Pentney, who describes the college as a "non-racist campus with a 15-year-old tradition of working with the Native community," said the incident was an isolated one. She believes the letter, found by a Native student, originated from outside the college.

Lethbridge police are investigating the origin of the letter and officials at Alberta Forestry Lands and Wildlife are conducting an internal investigation.

Members of the Three Rivers Society, a group which formed in support of southern Alberta's Peigan Lonefighters Society, are shocked "such hate literature" is in their community.

Jim Penton said "there's a great deal of prejudice within certain elements of the student body at LCC."

Penton holds the federal and provincial governments as well as the RCMP and the media responsible for the racist tension in southern Alberta, "where the most intense anti-Native sentiment in Canada is found.

"During a rough socioeconomic period the whole country turns bad but it's worse here. It's nasty. The RCMP, for instance, are damn vicious toward the Lonefighters."

Penton, a retired history professor, said complaints from Natives about their children being harassed have increased dramatically in the past six weeks. He recalls cases of white males following young Native girls and "subjecting them to catcalls."

Mike Chirobokow, also a member of the Three Rivers Society, said "there's a lot of strange people in southern Alberta and this is just the beginning of Native bashing here."

The president of the Metis Association of Alberta said the letter "demonstrates how Canadians think."

"It's nothing new. It's an attitude that's been around for a long time," said Larry Desmeules.

Fil Fraser, chairman of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, said the letter is an indication of a "malaise in the country which comes out of the Meech Lake collapse where Natives proved they can stand up for themselves."

He said Canada is changing too quickly for some people to handle. Fraser also said racial slurs may be the "mooning of the 90s."

"There's smart-alecs who get a kick out of insulting people just like those who would moon people in the 1960s and 70s."

The executive director of the Calgary Native Friendship Center said the letter reflects the misconceptions Canadians hold about Natives."

"I'm mad because I know that's how some people feel. They think Indians are trouble-makers. We've lived with discrimination for a long time," said Laverna McMaster. She said "there's a faction out there that has nothing but hatred for Native people."

McMaster called Lethbridge a "redneck town where people look at you and if you're an Indian, they write you off."