Kevin Annett Doesn’t Only Steal Survivor’s Stories (He steals their signatures too…)

Justice is about to be served for Kevin Annett's victims...

Justice is about to be served for Kevin Annett’s victims…

Kevin Annett has been pulling a con-job for quite a while now. He claims to be individually responsible for bringing the issue of Indian residential schools to people’s attention, but that’s not true. It is people like Willie Blackwater who brought the story to prominence- those who spoke out publicly and shared the pain and humiliation they went through. It is the same people who have accused Annett of stealing their stories and asked him to stop.

But, Annett didn’t stop- and despite the fact he’s been shown to be a serial liar, he continues to tread on their memories. Today I share with you a story about how he stole more than just their stories. In this case, he stole the signature of one of Canada’s most respected indigenous activists- Harriett Nahanee…

Nahanee was an indigenous rights activist, and an environmental activist who was honoured and loved by the people in the communities where she dwelled. She was also a survivor of the Ahousaht Residential School, a place where she was forcefully placed away from her parents and where she experienced physical and sexual abuse.

She witnessed a fellow student get killed on December 24, 1946. Rev. A. E. Caldwell was in an argument with a female supervisor that night about a little girl who was running up and down the stairs. Nahanee said that, as usual, the female supervisor was drunk. According to her testimony, Caldwell kicked the little girl and she fell down the stairs and died. This is only one story of many children who died at the schools.

Nahanee was involved in campaigning and demonstrating over many issues. The last issue she worked on was the expansion of Vancouver’s Sea-to-Sky highway being prepared for the 2010 Olympics. She was sentenced to 14 days in jail for that protest, as she was trying to save what she believed was a vital wetlands where they planned to build an overpass (the demonstrators were suggesting a tunnel.)

She spent two weeks in the Surrey Women’s Pre-Trial Detention Center- then, one month after she was released, she had a case of pneumonia. At the hospital she discovered that she had a terminal case of lung cancer. She passed away on February 25, 2007.

Nahanee is another unfortunate residential school survivor who got caught in Annett’s web. She participated with him at first, then she separated herself from him when Annett was denounced by the Circle of Justice for stealing their stories and evidence (and taking donations in their name). When she died, Annett stole her story once more, and labelled her death a ‘judicial murder’. This is a man who has no shame or honour.

Annett mentioned Nahanee on the radio show we were both on on Sunday. He said that Nahanee supported him, and ignored the fact that she eventually denounced his work. It surprised me that he did that- but, it wasn’t shocking- Kevin has a habit of acting this way.

Then, today, I was contacted by Nell Cole, a woman who was previously one of Annett’s most staunch supporters, but who has recently separated herself from him due to his lies about the bones at the Six Nations Reserve. Nell was concerned that I had the story wrong about Annett & Nahanee, and shared a letter that Annett gave her a few years ago where Nahanee said she supported his work. Here’s a copy:

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This letter didn’t make sense to me. First, it was written very shortly before Nahanee passed away- she was not healthy, and she was very busy working on her activism over the bypass. But, also, three people had told me that Nahanee thought Annett was a fraud. So, I dug into the problem and started investigating. After a sahort while searching, I came across a document from one of Annett’s  websites, an affidavit signed by Nahnee:

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The signatures looked awfully similar- too similar really. So, I blew-up copies of both and put them beside each other:

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Well, well, well. Besides the fact that they are digitized at a different resolution, both signatures are identical! Look closely at the spacing of the letters, the crossing of the t’s, the dot over the i. Also look at how the letters cross over and sit on the line- they are exactly the same.

The other thing to notice is how, on the letter about Kevin Annett is that the text is printed at a different angle than the signature. And, the title below the signature is at a different angle too. Also, the line under the signature is in exactly the same sized font- yet, the fonts are different in both letters.

I’ve shown this to a dozen people so far, and everyone immediately came to the same conclusion. This document is forged. So, not only is Annett stealing residential school survivor’s stories, he’s now stealing their signatures too. This letter was shared with Nell Cole after Nahanee’s death.

Kevin, you are a sick man…

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