Harriet Hahanee, Native Rights Advocate, dies

CBC Radio is reporting that Harriet Hahanee has died. In her early life she was a victim of residential schools. At the end of her life she became a victim of the province's ideology of development regardless of the consequences. Perhaps she will be remembered as the first person to die as a result of protesting development around the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In January, Madam Justice Brown sentenced the Squamish elder to fourteen days in jail for asserting her rights under the Constitution as an Indian and refusing to apologize to anybody, including the court, for blockading construction at Eagleridge Bluffs.

Betty Krawczyk, who had been acting in the courtroom as a McKenzie Friend of the court on Harriet's behalf objected to the sentencing. She felt the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre would not be safe for someone in Harriet's condition.

Betty was forcibly ejected from the court room and refused re-entry.

While jailed Nahanee developed pneumonia, was hospitalized and died as a result of complications from that illness.

Labels: 2010, changeeverything.ca, eagleridge bluffs, frist nations, harriet hahannee, highway expansion, olympics, vancouver