The issue with Starhawk occurred at the G8 protest in Kananaskis of BC. The Elders considered the activities 'spiritual trespass'. Below is the only article I've been able to find for now. This was wrong. It smacked of white privilege and Starhawk should never have conducted ceremony there without consulting with local Elders before hand. The organizers of the protest, which included Starhawk, knew they were on the land of Traditional people because they had attempted to negotiate setting up their camp on reserve but got all pissy because the tribal council was not coming to a decision quickly enough for them.
"Native elders allege G8 protesters may have upset the spiritual balance of aboriginal lands when they burned leaves and sprinkled water on the main road leading to the G8 Summit.
The ritual -- by witches, wiccans and native protesters from British Columbia -- was conducted on Wednesday evening when a caravan of about 350 G8 protesters tried to drive to the G8 site. Halted at the first security checkpoint, the protesters burned some smelly leaves in the middle of the road.
"I told them what they are doing here is spiritual and cultural trespass," said Peter Wesley, a media spokesman for the Bearspaw Nation, one of three bands from the Stoney Nakoda Nation that regard the Kananaskis region as tribal lands of sacred significance. (National Post)
The 3,700-member Iyarhe Nakoda, or "people of the mountains," live on a 600-square-kilometre reserve on the edge of Kananaskis, which they call Ozade, the mountain area west of Calgary where G8 leaders ended two days of meetings yesterday.
Mr. Wesley said 12 Nakoda holy men conducted a spiritual ceremony at the G8 site on June 6 to sanctify the area for the purpose of keeping it safe for world leaders and to ensure the land remains environmentally pristine.
Now, the holy men may have to go back and have another ceremony to repurify the site and undo the influences of the protester's ritual, Mr. Wesley said.
"I told them [the protesters] we had already done this. They can't bring different religious things there because their idea of sanctifying the land might not be the same as ours."
Although some of the protesters were native, Mr. Wesley described the group as "New Age crystal people." He said he was not sure what kind of leaves or other material the protesters burned. "I suppose it was their own recipe."
Mr. Wesley said the G8 protesters apologized, saying they were unaware their ceremony may have contaminated the earlier Nakoda ritual.
Mr. Wesley said the Nakoda would never conduct their religious ceremonies in another location without permission. "We wouldn't go to Stonehenge to impose our beliefs on them and we wouldn't do our spiritual activity in New York City."
The Iyarhe Nakoda, named the Stoneys by early European settlers, rejected a plan by G8 protesters to set up a Solidarity Village on their land because they were concerned about the size of the village.
Yesterday, a handful of Nakoda demonstrated at the main road leading to the G8 site, saying they were upset that Jean ChrÈtien, the Prime Minister, was pushing African relief at the G8 meetings while they live in squalor.
"We have Third World families right across from where they are meeting. I don't even have running water," said Terry Daniels, whose Nakoda name translates as "Many Colours and Mother Earth."
"We have a lot of grief and pain," Ms. Daniels said. "Our children are killing themselves with suicide because they have no hope."
Ms. Daniels blamed conditions on the reserve on its three chiefs, whom she says do not equally distribute band funds to people outside their own families. She also said natives should be included in the G8 talks.
"It should be the G9. We're a nation, too. We were the first here."
Mr. Wesley disagreed, saying there are other forums for native people to express their grievances. He admitted conditions on the reserve may not be perfect, but argues that conditions in white communities are also less than ideal .
"There are many homeless people in Calgary. There are no homeless people here. Everyone has a roof over their head."
The Nakoda count 20 university graduates among their members and two have earned masters' degrees, he said.
Several years ago, alcohol related problems became so rampant on the reserve that John Reilly, a circuit court judge, refused to hear some cases involving Nakoda people until authorities addressed the cycle of abuse on the reserve, which he said was being run like a "banana republic" by its three chiefs. Judge Reilly successfully fought a move by his superiors to have him transferred to another jurisdiction."
