Jo Seenie Redsky: “We’re your last resort.” Photo: Paul S. Graham If your only source of information is the mainstream news media you can be forgiven for wondering what the Idle No More movement is all about. Since it burst on the scene late last year, media attention has darted
Continue readingTag: aboriginal peoples
350 or bust: Chief Spence Ends Her Hunger Strike, But The Struggle Continues
* Chief Theresa Spence has ended her hunger strike today. Here is the press release issued by her and her supporters: * Daniel Wilson reflects on the legacy of Chief Spence’s hunger strike today on Rabble.ca: We can help give success a chance, as Chief Spence and Elder Robinson are
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Paul Martin says Ottawa has ‘no understanding’ of native issues
Former prime minister was the architect of the 2005 Kelowna Accord By Jennifer Clibbon | CBC News, Jan 17, 2013 4:58 AM ET Few Canadian leaders know the issues raised by Idle No More better than former prime minister Paul Martin. As Canada’s 21st prime minister, Martin will be remembered as the architect of
Continue reading350 or bust: Idle No More Challenges Enbridge’s Pipedreams
“Everything that we do to water, we do to life because water is life. It’s not just us – we are all connected, we have to protect everything that lives, that shares the earth that we do…Idle No More is about us standing up and speaking up. We have never
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Is Chief Theresa Spence your 2012 newsmaker of the year? POLL
Is hunger striker Chief Theresa Spence, who entered Day 20 of her peaceful protest today, your 2012 newsmaker of the year? Is it the Idle No More movement? The Quebec student movement? Beleaguered Toronto Mayor Rob Ford? Is it Kevin Page, Canada’s fearless gallant Parliamentary Budget Officer, who showed uncommon courage recently when he took the Harper government
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: United Church of Canada implores Harper to meet with hunger striker Chief Spence
by United Church of Canada: December 19, 2012 The Right Hon. Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario Fax: 613-941-6900 Dear Prime Minister Harper: We write with urgency to implore you to meet with Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence, as soon as possible. We are
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: WTF? Justin Bieber says Aboriginal peoples get free gas in Canada
That’s what the 18-year-old Canadian pop star has told Rolling Stone magazine. The trouble is: our over-produced, over-exposed, man-made spoiled brat claims to have Aboriginal roots. But you know who’s to blame for Bieber’s ignorance? Girls. That’s right. Rolling Stone believes Bieber is “ready to be a grown-up superstar, if
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video: Niki Ashton – “Mr. Harper — if you’re not part of the solution, YOU are part of the problem.”
Churchill MP Niki Ashton gave an impassioned speech at the July 11th Winnipeg rally for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. In addition to posing the video, I’m providing a transcript because it neatly sums up this ongoing tragedy and the Harper government’s decisions that have served
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video: Manitoba’s Grand Chiefs demand provincial, national & international inquiries into missing & murdered women
Winnipeg: July 11, 2012: Three of the several hundred demonstrators who marched through downtown Winnipeg demanding public inquiries into the the deaths and disappearances of 600 hundred indigenous women in Canada. Photo: Paul S. Graham More than 600 indigenous women in Canada are believed to have gone missing or been
Continue reading350 or bust: “Our Answer To Enbridge Is NO”
Ta’Kaiya, 10, lives in North Vancouver and is from the Sliammon First Nation. She traveled on the Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train that recently crossed Canada to raise awareness of the threat posed By Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline through coastal First Nations territory. Here she is performing a song she
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video: Ta’Kaiya Blaney and her anthem for those who love the Earth
Winnipeg, May 4, 2012: Ta’Kaiya Blaney speaking at the Circle of Life Thunderbird House in Winnipeg about the need to oppose the Enbridge Gateway Pipeline Project. Photo: Paul S. Graham One of the youngest passengers on the Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train is Ta’Kaiya Blaney, 11, of Sliammon First Nation
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video: Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train Winnipeg News Conference
Winnipeg, May 4, 2012: Hereditary Chief Tsodih of the Nak’azdli First Nation speaking at a news conference at Circle of Life Thunderbird House. Photo: Paul S. Graham The Yinka Dene Alliance is on a cross country mission to tell Canadians why they have decided to refuse the construction of the
Continue reading350 or bust: My Country?
Inspired by images of Tahltan women blockading Shell in defense of the Sacred Headwaters in northern British Columbia, Rachelle Van Zanten wrote ‘My Country’. She was invited to perform it for the Tahltan people at the Iskut Music Festival a year later, where this video was filmed. One of the
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video Report: Colonialism & Indigenous Rights in Canada & Palestine
As a part of Israeli Apartheid Week 2012 in Winnipeg, Paul Burrows and Cheryl-Anne Carr discussed the impact of colonialism on the indigenous peoples of Canada and Palestine. The similarities are disturbing and striking. The event was sponsored by: Students Against Israeli Apartheid Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid CanPalNet (Winnipeg)
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Video Report: Aboriginal men march in Winnipeg for missing and murdered aboriginal women
Winnipeg, Feb. 14, 2012: Protesters pause outside the Department of Indian Affairs in Winnipeg to sing and dance during the Men's Gathering and Unity Walk for Missing and Murdered Women. Photo: Paul Graham Winnipeg, February 14, 2012: A group of aboriginal men held a march to show solidarity with the
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act. ~Paul Hawken
Continue reading350 or bust: Harper Government Does Not Have The Right To Declare Canada Open For Business
From the Union of B.C. Chiefs, Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, Canada – February 8, 2012: Close to 100 Chiefs and representatives from Indigenous Nations in BC along with 400 Chiefs from across Canada attended the Crown-First Nations Gathering in Ottawa on January 24 2012. The Crown-First Nations Gathering was an opportunity
Continue reading350 or bust: Gerald Amos Of Haisla First Nation To Stephen Harper and Joe Oliver: No Apology Forthcoming
This letter is reprinted from the Terrace Daily, where it was first published on January 8th, and then republished last week: Recently there has been a lot of criticism by supporters of the tar sands, and oil industry front groups, of Canadian non-profit organizations who have concerns regarding the proposed
Continue reading350 or bust: There’s Nothing “Ethical” About Tar Sands Oil
If anybody reading this is wondering about whether or not Canada’s tar sands oil is “ethical” or not, this presentation by photographer Garth Lenz, from TEDx Victoria this past November, will leave no doubt: * More links: Garth Lenz.com Indigenous Environmental Network: Tar Sands Campaign
Continue reading350 or bust: The Real Radicals Are Those Who Pollute Our Air and Water and Destabilize Our Climate, Mr. Oliver
Here are some excerpts from an open letter released yesterday by Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, just prior to the start of the Northern Gateway pipeline hearings in B.C. today: “Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their
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