Join us for the official trailer launch of The Sixties Scoop: A Hidden Generation. This film, by Ottawa-based Colleen Cardinal, will share the stories of the survivors of a period of Canadian child welfare policy during which an estimated 16,000 Indigenous children were removed from their homes and adopted into non-Indigenous homes: the Sixties Scoop.
Following the trailer screening, we will be hosting a panel discussion with Sixties Scoop survivors Angela & Neal Shannacappo who discuss the importance of speaking out about the Sixties Scoop and the inter-generational trauma it has caused Indigenous people. We will also be launching our Indiegogo fundraising campaign.
The panel discussion will also feature guests: Robert Commanda a plaintiff in the historical class action lawsuit against the Ontario government on behalf of Sixties Scoop survivors.
Families of Sisters in Spirit is dedicated to raising awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women in and impacts of historical colonial violence.
Friday, June 14 Location: Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave Doors Open and Light Refreshments: 6:30PM
This event is Accessible
This event is open to all, with a suggested donation of $5 at the door.
The event is being put on and supported by KAIROS
Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS) believes in centering stories and voices of Indigenous women, youth, families, communities and Nations. Highlighting our lived experiences as well as our power, resilience and strength are absolutely essential if we are to move forward as Indigenous peoples together in a good way; in a way that nurtures strong relations with non-Indigenous and settler peoples and ensures our collective futures are free from violence and oppression.
What?
An online and print zine for and by First Nations, Métis, Inuit and mixed-heritage Indigenous peoples, women, youth, families, Elders, elders, two-spirit/queer/gender fabulous, and grassroots folks. Please send us your submissions!
We are accepting a wide variety of submissions including memoirs, personal testimonies, short stories, short plays, prose, poetry, lyrics, photographs, art, collages, paintings, drawings, carvings, sculptures or other creative commentary by Indigenous peoples. We encourage emerging and unpublished as well as more established storytellers to submit. Topics are fairly broad but should speak to historical and ongoing colonial violence in Canada and what we need as Indigenous people to heal, resist and live as we were always meant to be.
Why?
We are making this zine in order to and validate our many and varied experiences of interpersonal and structural violence and celebrate our resilience and community power. Sharing our struggles and triumphs are acts of resistance and survival and show us that we are not alone. Our voices matter and affirm our self-determination as well as interdependence to one another and Mother Earth, and strengthens our families and communities.
Why else?
Because it feels like hardly nobody listens to us! Because Indigenous stories and experiences, especially those of women, are not valued as they should be. Because too often our complex realities are ignored and erased. Because we are tired of policies, decisions, and committees made on our behalf by people who are far removed from our realities. Because we are tired of people speaking for us and about us. Because we need to be the ones telling our stories. Because we are the experts in our own lives and we are talking back!
Who?
Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS) is a grassroots, non-profit, all volunteer, unfunded organization by family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with support and solidarity from Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies and friends. FSIS is committed to extensive public education, media and social media engagement, fundraising, and especially capacity and relationship-building with/among Indigenous families of missing and murdered women and girls. We believe in facilitating safe(r) spaces for families to share, grieve and strategize together, privately and publicly. FSIS follows anti-oppressive, anti-colonial and Indigenous feminist frameworks that root our work in radical relationships with the land, one another, our ancestors and future descendents.
Two members of FSIS Colleen Cardinal (Hele) and Kristen Gilchrist have taken the lead in launching Our Voices Matter: Talking Back
Colleen Cardinal (Hele): zhaawanongnoodin mihingan dodem, saddle lake n’doojbah
My name is Southwind woman, I am wolf clan originally from Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Alberta on Treaty 6 territory. I am a Plains Cree mother of four young adults and grandma to a lively granddaughter named Rosalie. I am in the beginning stages of producing a documentary called The Sixties Scoop: A Stolen Generation that follows six First Nation women and men who were forcibly adopted out of their Nations and placed into non-Indigenous households far away from their families or homelands in the middle of the 20th century. I am a Sixties Scoop survivor raising awareness about how historical colonial violence has impacted and continues to shape my family. My sister Charmaine Desa was murdered in 1990 and my sister-in-law Lynne Jackson was also killed in 2004. I have been involved with FSIS for more than a year, often engaging in public education about violence(s) against Indigenous women and girls.
Kristen Gilchrist self-identifies as a white settler, queer/femme, survivor of violence(s), living with invisible disabilities, and situated within/across intersecting dimensions of privilege and oppression, agency and constraint. I am a graduate student in sociology at Carleton University, co-founder and allied/non family member with FSIS, and ally in the sex workers’ rights movement in the Ottawa area — traditional Algonquin territories.
How?
Please send all submissions to fsiszine@gmail.com with SUBMISSION as the subject. If it can’t be emailed, mail it to:
Suite 601, 250 City Centre Ave
Ottawa, ON K1R 6K7
℅ FSIS (zine)
The deadline is August 31th 2013 at 11:59 pm! All submissions and inquiries about submissions should be sent to fsiszine@gmail.com
In your submission, please include:
- Your name (or name you want to be published)
- RELIABLE Contact information (in case we need to talk to you about your work)
- A brief (50-100 word) bio or description of who you are/what you do, etc. (if you want to include it)
- Please make sure all attachments are either in PDF, JPEG, Word, RTF, BMP or any other compatible program.
- Your submission should be in an attachment, not copy/pasted into the email. (If you have trouble with attachments, email us for help!)
*We acknowledge the limitations and contradictions inherent in requesting and publishing submissions in the colonial English language. Our hope is this is a starting place for sharing and that many different translations could be possible in the future.*
Want to submit? Get involved in the planning/making of the zine?
Wanna support FSIS?
Got concerns, questions, etc?
Email us at fsiszine@gmail.com to talk and if you’d like to get involved.
Click photo for album of photos taken by Ben Powless.
Indigenous youth trekking to Ottawa from northern Quebec arrived by the hundreds on Monday, March 25. In mid January, six Cree youth from Whapmagoostui began a 1,600 kilometre “Quest of Wisjinichu-Nishiyuu”, a “Quest for Unity” as part of the burgeoning Idle No More movement. (read full article by Andy Crosby posted on ottawa.mediacoop.ca)
“I once asked an Elder in Barriere Lake if there was an Algonquin word for “solidarity.” He said there was no direct translation, but that the closest approximation was Widj-i-nia-mo-dwin — which means “walking together toward a common aim.” I love this. It captures for me the essence of solidarity. Solidarity is about a conscious choice to join together, to share a struggle, while remembering that the burdens, especially in collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, always remain unequal.
Solidarity means meeting the people whom you wish to organize with where they are—and taking that as a starting point for the path you’ll travel together, rather than imposing your own idea about how a struggle should proceed. When walking, you’re not in front of someone, as a guide, as a vanguard. You’re side by side.
When two people go walking, they talk, and solidarity at its most respectful and responsible is essentially a conversation. This is how you discover a community’s vision for itself, how it would like to determine itself. The principle of self-determination really is the foundation of solidarity. That forms the basis of the struggle. Solidarity is also a never-ending process to better understand each other’s norms, limitations and boundaries—whether political, cultural, psychological, or material. The exchanges we have help us know when the trust is strong enough to let us push each other, push those boundaries. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! That’s often how we learn best.
And speaking of “walking together” hints at the commitment and stamina involved in meaningful solidarity. The process of winning campaigns, expanding people’s rights and liberties, and changing society, is not a sprint. Getting to that place we want to go will take time—we’ll get there by walking.” – Martin Lukcas in Widj-e-nia-mo-dwin: Walking together for Indigenous rights, Norman Matchewan in conversation with Martin Lukacs.
December has been a very active month with the #idlenomore Indigenous Sovereignty movement across Turtle Island (aka North America) and Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike for a nation-to-nation meeting with Prime MinisterStephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca) and the Queen’s representative in Canada – Governor General David Johnston (info@gg.ca). The #idlenomore Indigenous Sovereignty movement and Chief Spence’s action areboth inspiring and significant, culminating in an international day of action on December 21, where thousands converged in Ottawa.
While Indigenous peoples continue to lead struggles against environmental degradation and social injustices, non-Natives have an important role to play in the success of the Idle No More movement. As Pamela Palmater said “After all, First Nations, with our constitutionally protected aboriginal and treaty rights, are Canadians’ last best hope to protect the lands, plants and animals from complete destruction — which doesn’t just benefit our children, but the children of all Canadians.”
Below are some resources on the importance of the #idlenomore movement and understanding of Indigenous struggles.
Please share via your networks, and help us educate other Canadians on the significance of supporting Indigenous Sovereignty for our collective future.
Wab Kinew on the Stereotypes about Natives in Canada
Taiaiake Alfred – Part 1 – Acimowin
Taiaiake Alfred – Part 2 – Acimowin
Aambe! Maajaadaa! (What #IdleNoMore Means to Me) By Leanne Simpsonhttp://bit.ly/VgT37x
“Our Ancestors were very astute at reading landscapes. So let’s recognize the value of this technique and apply this technique to the Canadian political landscape. Let’s stop and take a look around and focus on those visual cues, not what settler governments are saying, but the evidence of what they’ve done. When I do this, I see that Bill C-45 isn’t an isolated incident. Canadian environmental legislation was gutted in the first omnibus bill and barely anyone noticed. We have known this was coming since Harper was elected and Flanagan proved so influential to him in First Nations issues. Bill C-45 is not a blip on the political landscape. It is just one part of a much larger political project that the Conservatives, the NDP and the Liberals are all party to because none of them have ever articulated an alternative model to working with First Nations based on our sovereignty, nationhood and our treaties. None of them have ever seriously considered the recommendations of the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. This conflict between Canada and Indigenous nations started long before the White Paper. It even started before the first Indian Act. It started at the moment the colonizers stopped seeing us as sovereign nations and started seeing us as an obstacle to lands and resources, obstacles they could legislate out of existence.” – Leanne Simpson
Ryerson University Indigenous Governance professor Pamela Palmater, Mik’maq, attended the 4,000-person rally on Parliament Hill, the largest of the Idle No More events.
“Being in Ottawa at the rally, amongst thousands of our brothers and sisters from indigenous nations all over Canada, dancing, singing and drumming was a spirit-filling moment for me,” she told Indian Country Today Media Network. “You could feel the pride in our peoples standing shoulder to shoulder to protect our future generations. The energy was palpable and you could feel that our ancestors walked with us. The wind blowing through our Nations’ many flags was symbolic of our collective strength. Despite the cold, snow and wind, the spirit that has been relit in our peoples has enough heat to keep us in this grassroots movement for the long haul.”
Canada’s First Nations protest heralds a new alliance The grassroots IdleNoMore movement of aboriginal people offers a more sustainable future for all Canadians By Martin Lukacshttp://bit.ly/UJn41j
“But here’s the good news. Amidst a hugely popular national movement against tar sands tankers and pipelines that would cross aboriginal territories, Canadians are starting a different narrative: allying with First Nations that have strong legal rights, and a fierce attachment to their lands and waters, may, in fact, offer the surest chance of protecting the environment and climate. Get behind aboriginal communities that have vetoes over unwanted development, and everyone wins. First Nations aren’t about to push anyone off the land; they simply want to steward it responsibly.” – Martin Lukacs
Toronto Star: Why Idle No More is gaining strength, and why all Canadians should care By Jeff Denishttp://is.gd/eOt7zN
“Why should non-Indigenous Canadians care?
First, it is a matter of social and environmental justice. When corporate profit is privileged over the health of our lands and waters, we all suffer. When government stifles debate, democracy is diminished. Bill C-45 is just the latest in a slew of legislation that undermines Canadians’ rights. In standing against it, the First Nations are standing for us too.
Second, as Justice Linden of the Ipperwash Inquiry said, “we are all treaty people.” When our governments unilaterally impose legislation on the First Nations, they dishonour the Crown, they dishonour us, and they dishonour our treaty relationship. We are responsible for ensuring that our governments fulfill their commitments. If our governments do not respect Indigenous and treaty rights, then the very legitimacy of the Canadian state — and thus of all our citizenship rights — is in doubt. That’s what Idle No More is about.
So, yes, Harper should meet with Spence. But a meeting alone will not suffice. Change requires action. It requires a shift in public consciousness. It requires all of us being there, Dec. 21 and beyond, to “live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work toward justice in action, and protect Mother Earth”. – Jeff Denis
Idle No More: Women rising to lead when it’s needed most By Muna Mirehttp://bit.ly/RdItC4
“Sounds like a long shot, but we’re used to that. We don’t think in quarterly statements and yearly projections. We think in terms of generations,” Paquette said.
As Chief Spence starves, Canadians awaken from idleness and remember their roots By Naomi Kleinhttp://bit.ly/V1s55U
“The greatest blessing of all, however, is indigenous sovereignty itself. It is the huge stretches of this country that have never been ceded by war or treaty. It is the treaties signed and still recognized by our courts. If Canadians have a chance of stopping Mr. Harper’s planet-trashing plans, it will be because these legally binding rights – backed up by mass movements, court challenges, and direct action will stand in his way. All Canadians should offer our deepest thanks that our indigenous brothers and sisters have protected their land rights for all these generations, refusing to turn them into one-off payments, no matter how badly they were needed. These are the rights Mr. Harper is trying to extinguish now.
During this season of light and magic, something truly magical is spreading. There are round dances by the dollar stores. There are drums drowning out muzak in shopping malls. There are eagle feathers upstaging the fake Santas. The people whose land our founders stole and whose culture they tried to stamp out are rising up, hungry for justice. Canada’s roots are showing. And these roots will make us all stand stronger.” – Naomi Klein
“To me this conversation is more than just an “Indian Thing.” It is one that Canadians of all backgrounds should pay attention to, if not participate in. The ideals that are underlying this action are ones to which we all aspire, even if we may disagree on how exactly to pursue them. ” – Wab Kinew
A collection of articles, commentary and events listings showcasing the #IdleNoMore campaign and it’s efforts to change government legislation, policy and funding for Canada’s Indigenous people.
Following the success of Honouring Indigenous Women: Hearts of Nations Vol.1, published earlier this year, the Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement Ottawa (IPSMO) has now launched the second volume!
Sixty-two women and men from various nations contributed to this book. Indigenous women shared their lived experiences with regards to their relationships with the land, their birth mothers, families, communities, and themselves. Their Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies shared their thoughts on responsibilities to (re)build relationships with Indigenous women.
We are very grateful for the authors and artists who courageously shared their stories with us, and are honoured to publish their work. A list of our contributors is provided below.
We also would like to express our gratitude to Under One Roof Properties who generously donated us the layout by Nancy Reid from NR Grafix.
We are now looking for funds to print it in preparation for our book launch and to offer our contributors paper copies of the book in early 2013. We plan to have this book available for individual purchases, in local libraries and community resource centers, and for use as part of school curricula.
If you would like to help us with distribution, please us at ipsmo@riseup.net.
or make a cheque to ‘Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa’ with ‘HIW-Vol.2′ in the memo line. Cheques can be mailed to: IPSMO, c/o OPIRG-Carleton, 326 Unicentre, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6.
The contributors featured in the book are:
Adelle Farrely, Angela Ashawawasegai, Angela Mashford-Pringle, Arlene Bowman, Belinda Daniels, Carrie Bourassa, Catherine M. Pulkinen, Catherine McCarty, Cecelia LaPointe, Cristina Afán Lai, Dawn Karima Pettigrew, Deanna StandingCloud, Donna Roberta Della-Picca, Dvorah Coughlin, Emilie Corbiere, Eva Apuk Jij, Faith Turner, Francine Burning, Greg Macdougall, Heather Shillinglaw, Helen Knott, Janet Marie Rogers, Janine Manning, Jodie-Lynn Waddilove, Lana Whiskeyjack, Leanne Simpson, Lesley Belleau, Linda Lucero, Lisa M. Machell, Lorri Neilsen GlennLouise Vien, Lynn Gehl, Marcie Riel, Margaret Kress-White, Mariel Belanger, Mikhelle Lynn Rossmulkey, Miranda Moore, Mona-Lisa Bourque-Bearskin, Nehi Katawasisiw, Nicole McGrath, PJ Prudat, R. Saya Bobick, Raven Sinclair, Robert A. Horton, Rosie Trakostanec, Samantha Elijah, Shauneen Pete, Simone Nichol, Susan Smith Fedorko, Tamara Pokrupa-Nahanni, Tamara Starblanket Neyihaw, Teresa Rose Beaulieu, Theresa Meuse, Waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy, Yolanda Teresa Philgreen and Zainab Amadahy.
Please join us for this ground-breaking, history making art exhibition by the National Gallery of Canada!
Van Gogh was not this big. Monet was not this big. Caravaggio was not this big! Nothing the gallery has ever done has been this big!!
188 art pieces by 82 Indigenous artists from 16 countries display contemporary Indigenous art that addresses social, political and cultural issues from around the world.
A Special Traditional Algonquin Welcoming Ceremony – For the Indigenous Artists of SAKAHÀN
Please come and join us for the OFFICIAL welcoming & opening for SAKAHÀN: International Indigenous Art Exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada!
Thursday May 16, 2013
Here’s what’s happening:
1-3pm Sacred Fire at Victoria Island with Peter Decontie
3pm Canoes to deliver Sakahán bundle to the river’s edge near the gallery
(This is where you come in!)
4pm Elder Albert Dumont (blessing/prayer) & Claudette Commanda (Sakahàn teaching) Ceremony with Indigenous Artists from around the world (Amphitheatre: outside in the front of the gallery)
5pm Sakahàn Exhibition opens (Galleries)
6pm Official Opening with the Director & Chair of the National Gallery of Canada, Chief Gilbert Whiteduck, Eagle River Drummers from Kitigan Zibi with Gabriel Whiteduck, Hoop Dancer (Rhonda Doxtator) in the Auditorium (break-out rooms with screens available)
7pm Tour the Sakahàn Exhibition (Galleries)
8pm After party with Inuit & Métis entertainment. Light refreshments will be served (Water Court & Terrace)
10pm after-after party tbd
For more information please contact Jaime Koebel, Sakahán Educator, National Gallery of Canada:jkoebel@gallery.ca or 613 991-4610
This event is open and free to the public. If you’ve ever wanted to learn about Aboriginal issues – this is the place to be.
Image credit: Jesse Purcell with the Just Seeds collective
Monday, April 22, 6:00 to Midnight
Rideau Curling Club, 715 Cooper Street, Ottawa
– Facebook event link
Free – suggested donation $10 – $20
Wheelchair Accessible
Contact us about ASL/LSQ: ipsmo@riseup.net
Food will be provided by Food Not Bombs Ottawa, and there is a bar in the Curling Club
The IPSM is organizing a fundraiser for front-line land defenders from Six Nations this Earth Day!
All of the money raised will be going directly to the Six Nations Land Defenders Legal Defence Fund.
The night will feature short movies, speakers and live music!
Short films:
Day Zero, about the Six Nations Land Reclamation
Rough Cut: Toad: Onkwehonwe Land Defender
the National Film Board film, Six Miles Deep (subtitled)
Speakers:
Francine “Flower” Doxtator
Tom Keefer
Live music:
True Rez, award winning hip-hop artists from Six Nations
Balam Santos
—-
In 2006, activists from Six Nations reclaimed a part of their territory, “Kanonhstaton” that was going to be developed by several construction companies who had, illegally, invested in Douglas Creek Estates. For most of the summer of 2006, the land reclamation was highly publicized. Since then, although it has not generated the same media attention, Haudenosaunee activists have continued to fight to protect their lands and waters. Due to this fight, the last six years have seen harsh criminalization of Haudenosaunee Land Defenders. Dozens of people have faced criminal charges and several have served substantial time in jail. In Brantford, an injunction was passed making it illegal for anyone from Six Nations to be involved in land claims protest within the city.
Several Six Nations activists have also been arrested and charged of serious criminal offences due to the actions of Gary McHale, a racist right-wing demagogue with ties to overt white supremacists. On February 18th several Six Nations land defenders were arrested for allegedly “obstructing” and “assaulting” OPP officers. That day anti-native rights activist, Gary McHale, marched onto Kanonstaton and succeeded yet again in instigating conflict by unexpectedly marching towards the house at Kanonhstaton and disturbing the Haudenosaunee people living there. Later, on April 28th, the police claimed that by being at Kanonhstaton on April 28th, Flower had breached conditions stemming from the charges on February 18th.
We must continue to build support for Six Nations land defenders and resist the actions of the colonial courts in criminalizing Six Nations land defenders. Flower is still not legally allowed to return to Kanonhstaton and in order to avoid jail she had to agree to live with her surety in Toronto – away from her home, her community and friends, her daughter, and her four grandchildren. All of us living on this land are treaty people, and we as treaty people must overcome such outrageous and heartbreaking violations of treaty and human rights by building support for our friends and allies at Six Nations.
In terms of a legal strategy, money is still urgently needed.
The April 28th Coalition is asking for your help to support Flower in a number of ways:
Pass a motion within your union or political organization denouncing this political repression of indigenous land rights activists.
Invite Flower and other members of the April 28th Coalition to come and speak to your group about her case and the larger issues of Six Nations land rights and activism in support of treaty rights.
Raise money to help cover the legal costs of appealing the court’s decision to ban Flower from Kanonhstaton.
Send money to help Flower cover the cost of replacing the glasses the police broke while arresting her and to aid with her living costs while she is in Toronto.
Come to Flower’s next court appearance at 2pm on June 26th in Cayuga, Ontario.
Get involved in the April 28th Coalition.
Email april28info@gmail.com to get in touch with us and tell us how you can help with any of these matters. Cheques can be made payable to “First Nations Solidarity Working Group” and mailed c/o Laura Lepper to 193 Tansley Rd., Thornhill, ON, L4J 2Y8. You can also donate money via credit card or paypal by clicking on the “donate” button at the http://www.april28.net/ website.
Tuesday, March 19 at 6:00pm
University of Ottawa, Jock Turcott University Centre (UCU) room 207 (facebook event)
or
Thursday, March 21 at 6:00pm
McNabb Community Centre, 180 Percy St. (facebook event)
Free
Wheelchair Accessible
Contact us in advance regarding ASL
ipsmo@riseup.net – www.ipsmo.org
Matt (the facilitator for this workshop) is a white male, a survivor of childhood abuse and police violence, who has lived most of his adult life in poverty.
He has been engaged in indigenous solidarity activism for the past six years, primarily with the Indigenous Peoples` Solidarity Movement of Ottawa (IPSMO) and is also a part of Books to Prisoners Ottawa.
The goal of the workshop is to educate non-indigenous people about the importance of indigenous solidarity, to teach people and learn from them about what solidarity means and how to do it, and to work on our decolonial analyses.
1) Case study
Using a popular education exercise that is based in the experiences of the Lubicon Cree we explore what colonization is and, to some extent, how it feels.
2) What is solidarity?
We focus on what solidarity is and how to “do it”. The word solidarity is used a lot, especially in radical organizing, but it is not always easy to define or to do. Put simply we believe that it is essential in solidarity work to “listen, take direction and stick around”.
3) Looking at colonization from an anti-oppressive framework
This part of the workshop focuses on building a theoretical understanding of colonization and oppression. It is based on Andrea Smith’s analysis of the role that Heteropatriarchy and White Supremacy play in colonization, and also examines how colonization has been, and continues to be, imposed through individual, institutional and cultural oppression.Orientation for the IPSM Ottawa
The Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement of Ottawa (IPSMO) is a grassroots community organization that is committed to supporting indigenous struggles for justice, decolonization and self-determination.
We started organizing in 2006 in support of the Caledonia land reclamation, and are currently most active in supporting the Barriere Lake Algonquin, and working to end violence against indigenous women and girls.
We have regular orientation sessions for people who are or think they might be interested in organizing with us in support of indigenous resistance.
As part of Idle No More movement, Algonquins of Barriere Lake slow down traffic on Highway 117
Kitganik / Rapid Lake – January 16, 2013
Barriere Lake youth with banner in Ottawa January 11th, 2013.
The Algonquins of Barriere Lake will be slowing down traffic on Highway 117 today to draw attention to forestry operations that they oppose on their lands. Joining the chorus of First Nations across the country who are demanding the government honour their agreements with Indigenous peoples, and consult with them on development affecting their lands, Barriere Lake is demanding the implementation of a resource co-management agreement signed in 1991 with Canada and Quebec that continues to be neglected.
Barriere Lake is taking action today to protect the land and watershed for their future generations and for the future of Canadians. Resolute Forestry Products has already clear-cut several ecological sensitive areas of Barriere Lake’s traditional, unceded territory, such as bear dens and moose yards, that the community is trying to protect.
Barriere Lake has never been idle. But today marks the first day of coordinated Indigenous action and unrest until First Nations’ demands in this country are finally met.
Media Contacts:
Norman Matchewan, band councilor: 819-441-8006
For printing and distribution to help spread the message of #IdleNoMore
This is a 1-pg double-sided pamphlet (or french version or spanish version), in PDF format, that summarizes key points from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). The pamphlet is entitled ‘Resetting and Restoring the Relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canada‘ and is written by Taiaiake Alfred and Tobold Rollo (the original unformated version is here).
The pamphlet also includes graphics and links for the Idle No More movement.
Join us for the official trailer launch of The Sixties Scoop: A Hidden Generation. This film, by Ottawa-based Colleen Cardinal, will share the stories of the survivors of a period of Canadian child welfare policy during which an estimated 16,000 Indigenous children were removed from their homes and adopted into non-Indigenous homes: the Sixties Scoop.
![482692_10200650314321052_824841453_n[1]](http://ipsmo.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/482692_10200650314321052_824841453_n1.jpg?w=224&h=300)
Matt (the facilitator for this workshop) is a white male, a survivor of childhood abuse and police violence, who has lived most of his adult life in poverty.
