On Sunday morning, September 14th, 8 of us walked along remote Highway 25 from Northport, Washington to the border crossing into Canada at Patterson. 5 of us were from the surrounding area, 1 was from south of Colville and 2 came from Curlew, 50 miles to the west. All of us were middle aged. Not a youngster in sight. It was our small effort to display solidarity with those demonstrating in the streets of Cancun, Mexico in opposition to the meeting of the World Trade Organization.

Though many waved and honked in support, only one person stopped his small car to ask why we were walking. I emphasized the corporate destruction of small farmers globally wearing a sign i made inspired by the ritual suicide of Hyoung Hae Lee, "WTO KILLS FARMERS" on the opening day of the Cancun protests September 10th. He seemed not to comprehend repeating, "What about Americans? What about poor Americans?" Then he drove off.

Taking a break about halfway there, we sat down on smooth large logs by the side of the road near a driveway. As we rested talking, snacking, drinking water and taking a few photos, a truck drove by that stopped out of view up the road. I suspected it would turn around to come back. Suddenly the same man who had stopped to talk earlier appeared with a gun yelling at us. He was followed by a woman also carrying a gun with children behind her. The man demanded we hand over our cameras, that we leave and yelling that no one cared what we were doing and to get off his highway. Nuts. He seemed high on something. Just as we began to walk again, the truck drove up with a small American flag flying at the back of the bed. He must have called his neighbor from the house above. As we walked up the hill, we heard many shotgun blasts fired coming from where we had just been.

Our walk was without further incident. The border guard greeted us offering us fresh coffee, as he had when we had walked back during the FTAA in Quebec City. The Border Patrol and Sheriiff soon departed after radioing in that it did not look like we would be causing any trouble.

Tommy Walen sang some relevant tunes he wrote accompanied by his guitar. We had a prayer circle in the grass nearby, then some of us rode back to the park to prepare food above the Columbia River, while others returned to pick up the rest of the walkers. As i heated up the beans i made on my camp stove, Lou Stone drove up to join our potluck. Lou is Sinixt from the Colville reservation. He brought along his "No Bushit" tee shirts that he has been successfully selling at our weekly vigils and wherever he goes. We shared delicious food brought by walkers and stories in the cool afternoon. Life has Meaning played the guitar and sang one of her lovely songs. Tho our action was small, almost unnoticeable, we were able to connect to several people we had not worked with before. Surviving the armed encounter was a bonding experience as well.

The day before i went to the small Northport Library to print out the Cancun reports from an activist listserv. As i was talking to the librarian about our upcoming walk, an older man came up to me saying that the left and right have alot in common. I talked to him for about 15 minutes telling him my experience going to 2nd Ammandment meetings several years ago, talking to militia members and educating myself about the racist right. I told him that it is my belief that corporations have vested interest in pitting the well armed right against the left, that the propaganda from militia groups calls people like me devil worshipers, among other dangerous lies. He agreed that coproations are involved in destroying the lives of people, but he defended Lyndon LaRouche and other right wing perspectives. I told him i am the mother of mixed race children, a feminist and willing to give my life for the right of homosexuals to live in dignity. I said that i am not willing to trade one jack boot for another, one form of fascism for another. He told me to check out right wing radio on short wave. Then he stepped away from me.

Several times we have been approached by extreme right wingers, as we stand at our weekly vigil in front of the army recruiter in Colville, WA, telling us how Jews are taking over. One man always pushes the anti- semtic website, infowars.org and others admire the extreme right New Ager, David Icke. I have noticed that many who listen to Art Bell and his successors tend to also believe the junk coming from those who seek to create alliances with those of us who are supposed to be standing for peace and justice. It has led me to beleive that we urgently need to address this phenomenon.

When i was in Seattle in July i went to the Rolling Thunder event there and displayed photos from my work at Big Mountain, Chiapas and the WTO demos in 1999. I noticed that someone had a table selling David Icke's materials. I have been trying to educate myself about him since the WTO demos in Seattle due to the fact that a friend of mine took a sign with Icke's webiste on it to hold. Something about it bothered me, but she said she trusted her friends who brought that sign and many other signs as well.

In early 2000, i was able to read the Intelligence Report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. In it was an article by Martin Lee called "Neither Left Nor Right" about the protests at the WTO and the participation by neo fascist groups. It was illustrated by a photo of one of the David Icke signs. I simply could not find any satisfactory information on the guy. His website is wierd talking about reptillian beings who have taken over the eilite who control the world. It bothered me that sensible people would go for that crap. But i still could not find anything firmly connecting him to the racist right until recently.

A few weeks ago i went to Icke's website finding some writing by him denying the Holocaust and supporting Holocaust denier, David Irving, who gained notoriety for being denounced in Britain for his writings in a successful lawsuit. Then i checked out the Political Research Associates website which went into some detail about Icke's anti-semitism, anti-feminism and his involvement with a violent British neonazi group, Combat 18. It simply gave me the creeps that so many activists are so unaware. But when i see how disconnected many are to the issues of ongoing genocide facing Indigenous people, it really isn't all that surprising.

Such misinformation takes hold in isolated communities that are steeped in the fierce defense of the 2nd Ammendment creating a very dangerous and volatile situation. If activists who are supposed to be educating their communities ignore the activities of the extreme right, what good is any thing we are doing? We are simply augmenting the agenda of the oppressor who i believe assures that such philosophies thrive so that our dreams for a successful nonviolent revolution fails. We cannot afford to ignore or minimize the Christian Identity newspaper like the "Spotlight" or "The American Free Press". We cannot afford to ignore the serial murders of Indigenous peoples, People of Color, Immigrants, Prostitutes, Addicts, Homeless, etc. that go on unsolved in this country, Canada and Mexico and how they tie into the actions carried out by graduates of the School of the Americas. Connecting the issues is critical to a healthy effective peace and justice movement.

Postscript

Before our walk, someone in Castlegar, B.C. contacted me about meeting us at the border. Tho i responded, i did not hear from her til yesterday telling me why she did not make it. But she expressed interest in an ongoing contact with us south of the border.

Then i received another email from Covlille Veterans For Peace about an international Peace Day event on Sunday, September 21st in Castlegar. I forwarded it to my friend, Luma, and we were able to go up there.

Most of the 60 or so people present had white hair and were dressed conservatively. Yet, what they had to say reflected my own feelings about George Bush, military aggression and it's impact on the innocents of the earth. A man sang a song he wrote about 9-11 and a group of Russian Dukabour women sang a lovely acapella song in both Russian and English. Then we all sang several peace songs, including Holly Near's "We are a gentle, angry people and we are singing for our lives". At the open mic, i went up to talk about our recent "NO WTO" walk, our vigil in Colville, the imporatnce of being connected across borders and a call for a cross border walk for International Women's Day, March 8th. The response was so inspiring! Several people acknowledged the anti protesters climate in the U.S., thanking us for the courage to vigil as long as we have. Tho i had concerns about being too radical, it was not an issue at all. Only our attire differed.

We went to eat at a local Greek restaurant with 7 of the activists where our conections were solidified. one of the singing Dukabour women, Lucy, told me how she had been watched daily for months by someone in a car parked near where she lives. She decided to ignore them. One day, she got a call saying that she and her family had been observed for a long time and was considered an ideal Canadian family. They asked if she would allow them to observe her family in the home and she said no. Then a Canadian official showed up at her door demanding she allow the in-home observation. She told them if they did that she would take her clothes off. She never heard from them again.

The Dukabours have a long history of resisting repression by the Canadian government after they immigrated from Russia. They are known for entire communities marching naked in protest of repression. Lucy's husband, Andy, said the Dukabours had become anitwar 3 generations ago and destroyed all their guns.

Lucy had been homeschooled, but now children are losing their culture, language and ways to assimilation.

We parted with these lovely people resolving to work together for international peace. Given the few people who respond to calls for action in our region, the activism of these Russian Canadians was truly encouraging.

Perhaps cross border actions will become a regular part of the growing global actions in opposition to corporate fascist take over of our fragile planet and the threat to all of life.