From the Ukraine - Youth Leaders in Action singing the Eagle Song in honour of Chief Theresa Spence

+++++++

From England's The Guardian

Canada's First Nations protest heralds a new alliance

The grassroots IdleNoMore movement of aboriginal people offers a more sustainable future for all Canadians

Martin Lukacs

guardian.co.uk Thursday 20 December 2012

 

An IdleNoMore rally in Edmonton, 11 December 2012

Canada's placid winter surface has been broken by unprecedented protests by its aboriginal peoples. In just a few weeks, a small campaign launched against the Conservative government's budget bill by four aboriginal women has expanded and transformed into a season of discontent: a cultural and political resurgence.

It has seen rallies in dozens of cities, a disruption of legislature, blockades of major highways, drumming flash mobs in malls, a flurry of Twitter activity under the hashtag #IdleNoMore and a hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence, in a tepee minutes from Ottawa's parliament. Into her tenth day, Spence says she is "willing to die for her people" to get the prime minister, chiefs and Queen to discuss respect for historical treaties.

The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs John Duncan has dismissed the escalating protest movement, saying "that's social media, so we'll just have to see where that goes." He told international media that relations with First Nations are "very good". If only that were the truth. What remains unspeakable in mainstream politics in Canada was recently uttered, in a moment of rare candour, by former Prime Minister Paul Martin:

"We have never admitted to ourselves that we were, and still are, a colonial power."

The evidence - and source of the current anger and unrest - is hard to dispute. While Canada has the world's largest supply of fresh water, more than 100 aboriginal communities have tapwater so foul they are under continual boil alert (pdf). Aboriginal peoples constitute 3% of Canada's population; they make up 20% of its prisons' inmates. In the far north, the rate of tuberculosis is a stunning 137 times that of the rest of the country. And the suicide rate capital of the world? A small reserve in Ontario, where a group of school-age girls once signed a pact to collectively take their lives.

Such realities have not stopped politicians and pundits from prattling on about the sums supposedly lavished on aboriginal peoples. The myth that aboriginals freeload off the state serves to conceal the real scandal: that most money pays for a sprawling government bureaucracy that keeps aboriginals poor, second-class, and dependent. The widespread notion that First Nations mismanage and squander what funds they do receive is simple prejudice: government reports acknowledge that communities are buried under a mountain of strict accounting; they are no more corrupt than non-native municipalities.

Billions have indeed been spent - not on fixing housing, building schools or ending the country's two-tiered child aid services, but on a legal war against aboriginal communities. Every year, the government pours more than $100m into court battles to curtail aboriginal rights - and that figure alone went to defeating a single lawsuit launched by two Alberta First Nations trying to recover oil royalties essentially stolen by bureaucrats.

Despite such odds, the highest courts of the land have ruled time and again in favour of aboriginal peoples. Over the last three decades, they have recognized that aboriginal nations have hunting, fishing and land rights, in some cases even outright ownership, over vast areas of unceded territory in British Columbia and elsewhere. And that the treaties Chief Spence is starving herself to see upheld - signed by the British Crown in the 1700 and 1800s, and the Canadian government until the early 1900s - mean the land's wealth should be shared, not pillaged.

Federal and provincial governments have tried to claw back these rights using every means at their disposal: unilateral legislation and one-sided negotiations, spying on and demonizing aboriginal activists, and, when all else fails, shuttling troublesome leaders to jail.

Parliament will soon debate a bill that would break up reserves - still, mostly, collectively held - into individual private property that can be purchased by non-native speculators. The undeclared agenda of government policy is the same as it was a century ago: a grab for resource-rich lands, and the assimilation of aboriginal nations.

Canadians have often turned a blind eye, having been taught to see the rights of aboriginal peoples as a threat to their interests. Dare to restore sovereignty to the original inhabitants, the story goes, and Canadians will be hustled out of their jobs and off the land. Or more absurdly, onto the first ships back to Europe.

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.

Think of this as a sign of things to come: an image of Vancouver's mayor, flanked by aboriginal chiefs, speaking out together against a destructive pipeline project. After all, who would Canadians rather control enormous swathes of rural, often pristine land : foreign corporations who see in it only dollar signs over the next financial quarter, or aboriginal communities whose commitment to its sustainability is multigenerational?

The importance of #IdleNoMore cannot be overstated. Grassroots movements are what have ensured the survival of aboriginal culture, and what remains of an aboriginal land base. If it grows in energy and coordinates in a network of activism like Defenders of the Land, it could be a powerful force to reset aboriginal-state relations.

It will not only ensure Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally takes the short drive from his office to visit an ailing Theresa Spence. It may also inspire non-native Canada itself, idle for too long, to reckon with the past and envision a very different future.

+++++++++

From Toronto Star

Why ‘Idle No More’ is gaining strength, and why all Canadians should care

Jeff Denis - December 20, 2012

In a Dec. 16 editorial, the Star rightly called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with Chief Theresa Spence, now in her 10th day of a hunger strike. It rightly drew attention to the ongoing housing crisis at Attawapiskat First Nation. Yet, it missed the big picture.

Spence’s hunger strike is not just about Attawapiskat. It is not just about housing or school funding. And it is not just about the omnibus budget Bill C-45, which eliminates federally protected waterways and facilitates the sale of reserve lands without consultation. It is about all of that and more.

Spence’s hunger strike is part of the Idle No More movement, which, in a matter of days, has become the largest, most unified, and potentially most transformative Indigenous movement at least since the Oka resistance in 1990.

The fundamental issue is the nation-to-nation treaty relationship with Indigenous peoples that Canadian governments repeatedly flout by passing legislation without free, prior and informed consent.

Harper and the Governor-General (as Crown representative) must meet with Chief Spence and other First Nations leaders, to not only discuss this relationship but take concrete action to repair it.

Idle No More is not a sudden case of “mass hysteria.” If one were paying attention, one could feel the movement brewing for years.

On June 11, 2008, Harper apologized for the residential school system and promised to forge “a new relationship” based on “partnership” and “respect.” Some people believed — or wanted to believe — that things would change.

Unfortunately, actions speak louder than words. Since 2008, the Harper government has cut aboriginal health funding, gutted environmental review processes, ignored the more than 600 missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada, withheld residential school documents from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, abandoned land claim negotiations, and tried to defend its underfunding of First Nations schools and child welfare agencies.

When some dared call attention to poverty, “corrupt” chiefs were blamed. Although the minister of Aboriginal Affairs, John Duncan, claims to have visited 50 First Nations communities and conducted 5,000 consultations, he and his staff clearly have not gained the First Nations’ consent on the seven currently tabled bills that Idle No More activists oppose.

Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples are the fastest growing population in Canada. They are young, ambitious and well aware of historical and contemporary injustices. Like others abroad, they are revitalizing their languages and cultures, rebuilding their nations, and supported in these initiatives by international law, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada reluctantly endorsed in 2010.

On Friday, Dec. 21, thousands of Indigenous peoples and their allies will converge in Ottawa for a mass rally. This event follows two weeks of direct action from coast to coast to coast, including flash mobs and sit-ins, highway blockades, and drumming and prayers for change. Indigenous elders across the land have joined Chief Spence in her fast.

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”.

++++++++

From Montreal Gazette

Aboriginal rights movement Idle No More spreads beyond First Nations community

By Christopher Curtis, Postmedia News December 19, 2012

OTTAWA - Theresa Spence gets dizzy if she walks more than a few steps.

The Attawapiskat chief is getting weaker as her hunger strike is in its second week, but Spence says she won't eat until Prime Minister Stephen Harper agrees to meet with her and other aboriginal leaders across Canada.

Since she began her protest, Spence has spent her days in isolation on the tiny aboriginal territory of Victoria Island, which sits across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill.

These days Spence barely has enough strength to leave the teepee she's been sleeping in. She drinks a small cup of fish broth each day to fend off sickness.

"My spirits are good," she said, warming by a wooden fire in her makeshift home. "I hear drumming every day and people singing songs for me every day ... it's encouraging."

Chief Spence's strike has become the focal point for Idle No More, an aboriginal rights movement that has captured the imagination of Canada's First Nations peoples.

When she first set foot on Victoria Island less than two weeks ago, Idle No More was a regional protest movement strung together by aboriginal women who met on Facebook. But the campaign has since exploded in popularity, spurring dozens of protests and three highway blockades and inspiring thousands to demand a more equitable relationship between the federal government and aboriginals.

Several solidarity hunger strikes were launched last week and, Tuesday, a man was arrested in Labrador after cutting down a hydro poll to support Idle No More.

Now it appears the movement has extended beyond the First Nations community and into mainstream political discourse. In the past week, all three opposition parties voiced their support for Spence's strike, which has been endorsed by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

"It kind of freaks me out how big this thing has gotten," said Tanya Kappo, who co-founded the movement in November. "It wasn't my intention to start something like this, I just wanted people to know how their lives could be affected by (Bill C-45)."

Kappo worries that new laws outlined in Bill C-45 would clear the way for aboriginals to sell plots of their land to non-natives, threatening traditional practices and eroding their language.

"This guarantees the end of reserve lands," Kappo told Postmedia News. "The kind of life my parents live, the kind of live our people live is only possible because of the reserve system. It's ironic that the same system created to assimilate us is actually what has allowed us to keep our way of life."

Like most of the four women behind Idle No More, Kappo is struggling to co-ordinate the growing wave of demonstrations while keeping up with her duties as a law student and mother.

Kappo said that if there isn't a concerted effort to improve the lives of Canada's native population, her daughters will grow up in a world where the odds are heavily stacked against them.

"Statistically, if you're a native woman you're twice as likely to die a violent death, you're more likely to fall victim to abuse and I don't want that for my kids," she said. "We just want to be treated like everyone else, we want to preserve our way of life but have the same opportunities non-aboriginals have."

The Idle No More movement is expected to stage its most elaborate event Friday, when each major Canadian city will host a protest in support of Chief Spence's strike. Similar events have also been planned in California, Minnesota and in London, England.

"We're seeing a rejection of old strategies right now," said Wab Kinew, the First Nations co-ordinator at the University of Manitoba. "Aboriginal people have tried sitting down with the government, they've tried doing it the bureaucratic way but it isn't working. So they aren't going to wait for the Assembly of First Nations, they aren't going to wait for their leaders. They're going to lead the charge."

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan has expressed concern for Spence's health, offering to meet with the northern Ontario chief on several occasions. He's also highlighted the billions in investments his government has made towards aboriginal education and healthcare.

But Spence won't budge on her demands.

"I asked for the prime minister not John Duncan," she said sternly. "We just want peace, we just want to work together."

During an interview with the CBC's Evan Solomon, Canada's Governor General also weighed in on the matter.

"My heart goes out to Chief Spence ... and I hope she can spend Christmas with her family," David Johnston said Wednesday.

Johnston said that while he is a representative of the Crown, the decision to meet with Spence should not be taken by him but rather by Canada's elected government.

Meanwhile, support for Spence's hunger strike continues to grow. She continues to insist that she's prepared to die if a deal isn't reached.

"I went back home, talked to my 17-year-old and I explained to her the journey of life," Spence said, visibly shaken at the prospect of never seeing her children again. "I told her I was doing this for the youth, I told her that even if I don't make it she won't be alone, that she'll have her sisters. It was hard. She had tears."

Despite her degrading physical condition, Spence maintains her good humour. She laughs at the occasional joke and puts on a brave face for reporters. But the aboriginal leader has a stark view of the final outcome of her actions.

"If I die, things might get bad," she said. "Back home, there's been talk of people shutting the mine down, there's talk of roads being closed. We want peace, but we can't control what happens if things get worse."

+++++++++

From Cbc.ca/strombo

As The Chief Of Attawapiskat Marks Her 10th Day On A Hunger Strike, Another First Nation Community Faces A Crisis This Winter

Theresa Spence - the Chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation - is now into the 10th day of her hunger strike in Ottawa.

And we're starting to hear concerns about her health. She is said to be weak, shaky and not well.

She gets dizzy when she walks around and barely has enough strength to leave the teepee she's been living in.

"I am able to walk around short distances. I don't have headaches, I am getting thirsty a lot, but my mind is still good," Spence told APTN, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

"Being around people, it helps me to talk and communicate."

Spence has vowed not to eat until the Prime Minister agrees to meet with her and other aboriginal leaders across Canada.

Since last Tuesday, she's had nothing but water twice a day (in the morning and evening), along with medicine tea and fish broth.

She's been living in a teepee on Victoria Island on the Ottawa River, near Parliament Hill - a teepee that now has a wood stove and blankets.

Spence says she knows the RCMP are keeping an eye on her, but she says she won't let them take her away - even if she's close to dying.

"I got my helpers here to protect me. They are the ones who are going to look after me," she told APTN National News.

"I'll be here, I am not going anywhere. My ancestors are here, my drummers, the grassroots people are here."

Spence is calling on the federal government to show more respect for First Nations and their treaty rights, and do more to help communities that are in real crisis - everything from housing and poverty to health and education.

"There is too much pain, that pain has to go away," Spence said. "If not, the pain is going to get worse and things will get worse."

So far, the Prime Minister's Office has referred things to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs who says he's willing to meet with Spence.

Yesterday, Governor General David Johnston suggested it's up to the government to decide whether or not to meet with Spence.

"What we have here is a very complex set of issues that primarily are matters of politics and therefore these are matters for elected governments to determine first and foremost," Johnston told CBC News Power & Politics.

"My heart goes out to Chief Spence as anyone would in that circumstance, and my greatest wish is that she would be home with her family for Christmas enjoying Christmas as we do with families," he said.

In spite of that, Spence says she's not giving up.

"I am not going to give up. I am here for my people, for our rights, the government needs to really open its heart," she told APTN.

Spence also called on Stephen Harper's wife, Laureen to convince her husband he should meet with the chiefs.

"This is about children, for our children to unite together, to walk together. We need Mrs. Harper to talk to her husband, tell him to set up that meeting," she said. "It's for the children. She has children and I have children."

Spence, who is 49, has raised both her daughter and granddaughter - who are both 13. She says they cried when she talked to them about the hunger strike.

She says she told them "If I am not going to be here, you are not going to be alone... There will be people looking after you, my partner, your sisters, my friends... and I am going to be there in my spirit with them every day."

Spence also has a teddy bear with her, which she has jokingly named "Harper".

"I sleep with him, he keeps me warm," she said. "My honey came here and spotted him and said, 'you are replacing me,' yes with Harper."

Spence's community of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario made headlines last year, because of the horrendous conditions people were living in - flimsy tents and shacks with no running water, just as winter set in.

The Attawapiskat First Nation Last Year

The government sent in new modular homes and trailers to give 22 families decent housing, but others are still living in substandard conditions.

Ottawa also appointed an outside manager to oversee the community's affairs, but that was sharply criticized in August by the Federal Court, which called the move "unreasonable in all circumstances."

Of course, Attawapiskat isn't the only First Nation community that's suffering.

Today, cbc.ca has a feature on another - the Pikangikum First Nation in northern Ontario, about 28 hours north of Toronto.

The Pikangikum First Nation reserve in northern Ontario

Unemployment there is 90 per cent. There's a severe housing shortage and most homes have no indoor toilets or running water.

Not good, when temperatures can drop to -40C.

On top of that, the school has been forced to close because there's not enough fuel to keep the generators going. Teachers have left for the time being.

Last year, mould problems forced the elementary school to close, so 700 children had to repeat a year.

Gas sniffing is also common among young people. Hunger can be a problem, as food is a lot more expensive than it is in southern Ontario.

And there are gravestones - a lot of them. In a community of about 2,400, more than 60 young people have committed suicide over the past ten years.

In fact, between 2006 and 2008, there were 16 suicides by hanging, some by children as young as 10 years old.

You can read more about the Pikangikum First Nation here.

All of this coincides with the Idle No Moremovement, a grassroots series of protests that have been happening across the country.

Members of the Kahnawake Mohawk community block traffic today on a ramp to Montreal's Mercier Bridge as part of the Idle No More protests

The movement was started by four women in Saskatchewan, who say the Harper government's policies are hurting First Nations communities.

Protesters are critical of Bill C-45, the government's omnibus budget legislation, which they say weakens environmental laws.

They say First Nations should have a say in any decisions about Canada's land and resources and be recognized as sovereign people at the table.

+++++++++++