Idle No More continuing to make a difference after one year anniversary of movement
Idle No More fight continues after tough 12 months
A year after 1st national day of action, activist vows to push for change
By Ryan McMahon, Dec 10, 2013
Idle No More protesters march towards the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Jan. 17, 2013. The fight continues, says Ryan McMahon. (Geoff Robins/Canadian Press)
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Ryan McMahon
Ryan McMahon is a comedian, an activist, and the host of the popular podcast Red Man Laughing. McMahon has appeared in a number of CBC-TV comedy specials and is currently working on his first national special for CBC Radio.
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The other day, during one of our famous Winnipeg winter storms, I watched dozens of parents pull their kids to school on plastic sleds and overpriced toboggans and I thought to myself, "those kids have legs - what the hell are they doing being pulled to school by their parents."
These kids weren't babies. They weren't even toddlers. They were grade school kids. Grade school kids with legs.
'The hardest thing we face in our communities daily is not dragging our kids to school in sleds and toboggans.'- Ryan McMahon
I heard the parents joke about the fact that dragging their kids to school was the "toughest thing they'd do all day." I don't have an anger problem, in general, but I walked home that day fuming.
I'm not sure what triggered the anger. My thoughts on parenting aside - it really bothered me that I felt so angry.
It bothered me that I had such a reaction to such a small thing. I smudged on it. Slept on it. Prayed on it.
A day or so later it came to me.
I am tired.
- Live Blog: Idle No More protesters marching to Parliament Hill today
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So many indigenous people in Canada are tired. The hardest thing we face in our communities daily is not dragging our kids to school in sleds and toboggans.
Attawapiskat Chief Teresa Spence's went on a hunger strike to demand indigenous communities and the government meet but it never happened. (Ryan McMahon)
Elsipogtog. LubiconCree Nation.Attawapiskat. Northern Manitoba. The fight for our women. The fight for our children. Poverty. Addictions. These are just some of the hardest things we face in our daily lives.
The list grows daily. The answers elude us. The frustration grows. The support wanes. The players change. The teams stay the same. And we fight. And fight.
It's been a long year. An intense year of focus. Growth. A year of being Idle No More. A year of rebuilding. It's been beautiful. And ugly. Every day is a struggle. We live in crisis. We work in crisis.
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence gave us the strength to demand a better deal. To sit at the table with all partners in this relationship. Her demand was simple - indigenous communities, government and the Crown together at a table. It easily could have happened - but it didn't.
The takeaway from a year in the movement - we need to do things differently. We can do things differently.
The conversation has changed this year. Our youth are more engaged on the ground. Our women are taking their rightful places at the front of much of the grassroots planning.
As hard as the fight is, it's given us much to focus on.
The land is my god
Ryan McMahon, who wrote this article, says the land is his god and what keeps him well. (Ryan McMahon)
Let me put it this way - the land is my god. All the land gives me, from my traditional territory, is what I use to keep me well.
The land, water, plants and animals are all present at my ceremonies. We don't separate ourselves from the land.
Why do we fight for the land? For practical reasons - yes. Dirty water kills us. Poisoned fish kill us. Clear cutting destroys ecosystems.
But it's also bigger than that. My religious beliefs depend on the land, use the land and without that, I cannot be Anishinaabe.
Treaty relationship and Indian Act
Treaty is not honoured today in this country and it cannot be honoured inside the Indian Act system. We must not settle for anything less than treaty enforcement.
We will continue to lead ourselves out from under the Indian Act. The colonial relationship has to change. It's fundamental. We need Canadians to demand it. We need indigenous people to demand it.
This outdated, racist and oppressive legislation was meant to kill Indian people in this country. Law and legislation was never written for idigenous people to flourish. It was meant to kill us.
We don't want the Indian Act tinkered with - we want it gone.
Decolonize everything
We need to remind ourselves that we don't need permission from any government or politician to be Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, Mohawk, Mi'kmaq, Metis, Inuit. We can live this way everyday.
Not all of us understand what this means. It means language, culture, ceremony and teachings. It means returning to ourselves. It means calling for an end to the violence in our communities - violence experienced in multiple ways by our women, children, men, and elders in our communities.
We must restore the love and support in our relationships.
'I vow to continue to fight'
The largest indigenous movement in this country is in front of us. Yes, it's still a movement. We're still working. We're still pushing. We're still asking people to join the fight.
We have a lot to do. Most people have more questions than answers. Some of the answers are there. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are decent places to start to look for answers.
I vow to continue to fight. I will take my place in the circle and fight.
I'm going to continue the fight with a sled in my hand though. I'm going out to buy one today. I want my daughters to feel the privilege and entitlement those other kids have if not for just a few minutes a day. They deserve it. And hopefully when they're my age the fight won't be as hard.
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From theGlobeandMail.com
Idle No More's first anniversary marked by native education protest
OTTAWA - The Canadian Press, Dec. 10 2013
On the one-year anniversary of Idle No More, the aboriginal rights movement, about 50 activists marched from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill to protest a reform plan for aboriginal schools.
"It's not only an issue of saying 'We don't accept, we want the [Indian] Act kicked out," said Chief Gilbert Whiteduck of the Maniwaki First Nation.
"Unless we develop it, what little we have now is leading to ... extermination and termination."
Protesters drummed, chanted and waved flags, saying Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt has ignored the educational demands of First Nations.
They said the proposed First Nations Education Act fails to provide adequate funding and gives too much power to Ottawa and not enough to aboriginal peoples.
"Nobody can put us in line. These are our children," said Whiteduck.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said Valcourt's proposed plan fails to address the massive education funding disparity between aboriginal and non-aboriginal children.
"We have to talk about treating Canadians fairly, regardless of the communities they're in," Trudeau said.
"We need to make sure we are funding First Nations education to the same level, if not more, depending on the circumstances and the needs, that we do any other Canadians."
Valcourt said he will continue to work with the Assembly of First Nations, but that simply increasing funding will not by itself reform the education system to improve outcomes for students.
Last year, Idle No More protests attracted thousands marching down Wellington Street to Parliament Hill, with police escorts.
Other speakers at Tuesday's protest included Chief Theresa Spence, who launched a protest fast last year, and NDP MP Romeo Saganash.
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Idle No More still alive in Manitoba, one year later
Dec 10, 2013
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Idle No More still alive in Manitoba, one year later 1:57
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One year after Idle No More began, aboriginal activists and leaders in Manitoba say they - and the movement itself - are not going anywhere.
Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the nationwide grassroots movement, which began as a protest against federal legislation that organizers said would erode indigenous rights and hurt the environment.
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In Ottawa, Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs joined protesters as they marched from Victoria Island to Parliament Hill on Tuesday to oppose what they call the government's 'unilateral' approach to First Nations education.
'How are we doing? We're still here.'- Leah Gazan
The group that gathered on Parliament Hill on Tuesday was considerably smaller than the turnout at many Idle No More events across the country last year.
"There has to be diversity in our approach," Nepinak told reporters.
"It can't be just about rallies and marching on the streets. We've got to sit down, we've got to start thinking these things out."
There haven't been as many protests and marches compared to a year ago because much of the activism has gone underground, said Leah Gazan, who has been a key player in Winnipeg's Idle No More movement.
"Idle No More is kind of the newest, most up-to-date version of an over 500-year resistance. So how are we doing? We're still here," she said.
"For so long, you know, indigenous people in this country have been fighting alone, and I've never seen so many allies come out in support."
Sylvia McAdam, one of four Saskatchewan women who started Idle No More, said the movement has brought people together and even changed lives.
"It was the young people coming up to me and the other founders and other organizers and telling us that Idle No More changed their life," she said.