Tag: Canadian Politics, Indigenous Politics,

Hundreds gather in Ottawa to protest the violent raid of the Wet’suwet’en Unist’ot’en camp in northwestern British Columbia, January 8, 2019. Photo from Flickr. Sierra Club Canada Foundation stands in solidarity with peaceful actions taken to support of the legal jurisdiction that the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs’ hold in their traditional

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. Photo from Flickr. On Saturday, February 8 I was invited to speak at a local rally in support of the Wet’suwet’en people. I was grateful for the opportunity because the situation in Wet’suwet’en territory is a complex one. Too often important parts of the story get lost

Protesters and land defenders erect a barricade in Vancouver in support of the Wet’suwet’en, who are blocking a pipeline from being built on their land. Photo by Sally T. Buck (Flickr). The recent RCMP raids of Wet’suwet’en land defenders in northwestern British Columbia have left many Canadians shocked and angered.

A land defender holds iconic solidarity art at the blockade on CN Rail near Pioneer Village in Toronto, where protestors gathered for a direct action on the second-largest rail classification yard in Canada. Photo by Jason Hargrove (Flickr). The RCMP’s enforcement of the Coastal GasLink injunction against the Wet’suwet’en has

Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Event, Toronto, Saturday, February 8, 2020. Photo from Flickr. As a sovereign nation, the Wet’suwet’en have the right to live in balance with their lands and waters and have a responsibility to defend their culture, language, and lifeways. In 1985, we exercised our right and responsibility to protect

Last week the RCMP raided unceded land to arrest peaceful land defenders. Members of the Wet’suwet’en and neighbouring Gitxsan nations have been camping there at various checkpoints to protect their land against the building of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. The pipeline would carry fracked gas from the BC interior

Militarized police moving in on the Gidimt’en checkpoint on Wet’suwet’en territory on Jan. 7, 2019. Photo by Michael Toledano FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10 February 2020 WASHINGTON – In response to the dozens of arrests of Indigenous Land Defenders and solidarity protesters made by the RCMP and other law enforcement organizations

Al Harrington, an Ojibway man from Shoal Lake 39 at the Ontario/Manitoba border who resides in the Mohawk community, was on a hunger strike since Oct. 11 at the Kanesatake. Photo courtesy of CBC Radio-Canada/Laurence Niosi. On 11 October 2019, Al Harrington, a member of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of

Justin Trudeau addressing the 2017 Families of Sisters in Spirit vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, on Oct 4, 2017. Photo by Obert Madondo (Flickr). This year’s federal election campaign has seen a significant drop in priority for Indigenous issues, especially in

Mohawk flags are placed at the border of the Kanasatake Mohawk territory and the town of Oka, Que. Friday, July 19, 2019. Photo by Ryan Remiorz/CP. On 11 October 2019, as many Canadians made plans for thanksgiving feasts, a Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) member of the Kanehsatà:ke community in what is today

Photo by Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC On 21 August 2019, Ellen Gabriel and other Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to address the ongoing land fraud in their homelands. They gave Justin

Ellen Gabriel at a July 2013 demonstration against Enbridge’s Line 9 on Kanehsatake traditional territory. Photo by Tim McSorely. On 21 August, the Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to

Photo by Jessica Deer/CBC On 21 August 2019, Ellen Gabriel and other Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) of Kanehsatà:ke held a press conference in the Pines, the site of the so-called “Oka Crisis” that took place in the summer of 1990, to address the ongoing land fraud in their homelands. They are giving

Photo by David Suzuki Foundation Canadians have been largely persuaded by politicians and mainstream media that the project of colonialism and assimilation of Indigenous Peoples is over. As the argument goes, reconciliation means a new, more respectful relationship has been established, realized via economic opportunities afforded by the expansion of

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes flowery public speeches about respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and reassures the international community that there is no relationship more important that the one with Indigenous peoples, Canada invaded sovereign Wet’suwet’en Nation territory. When questioned about this aggressive move at a Liberal fundraiser

Photo by Yellowhead Institute Since 2009, members of the Unist’ot’en (C’ihlts’ehkhyu / Big Frog Clan) have been re-occupying Wet’suwet’en territory – in the northwestern part of what is known as British Columbia – to affirm their sovereignty and block any oil and gas development on their unceded lands. They are

Tiny House Warriors, Facebook. “We are a nation of pipelines,” proclaims Chris Bloomer, president and CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, in a 2017 newsletter. This notion is echoed in the position taken by the federal government, both publicly and behind closed doors, to the effect that energy infrastructure,

Photo by Jacob C Boynton In the early days of colonization in what is now known as Canada, settler governments engaged in horrendous acts of genocide in order to clear the land for settlement, extraction of natural resources and international trade. Early colonial officials saw Indigenous Nations as a real

Screenshot from YouTube On September 21, Justin Trudeau addressed the United Nations in New York. It was, by all accounts, a historic speech. For the first time, a Canadian prime minister devoted the bulk of his UN address to Indigenous issues. Trudeau’s words were powerful, even hopeful, about reconciliation with

Image by Idle No More Idle No More & Defenders of the Land call to action: In the spirit of Arthur Manuel, we want to make July 1st a National Day of Action. This day of action is to celebrate our Indigenous and human rights to self-determination, our lands, territories,