From IdleNoMore Crowdfunding Site

Idle No More 2.0: Support an Indigenous-led movement to transform Canada

Idle No More and Defenders of the Land have united in a joint campaign for escalating action to honour Indigenous sovereignty and protect the land and water.

Idle No More is one of the largest Indigenous mass movements in recent history.

It has sparked thousands of teach-ins, rallies, and direct actions across the globe, and it has forced Stephen Harper to acknowledge issues he wants to ignore. What began as a series of teach-ins on November 10th, 2012 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to protest laws that would scale back environmental protections and threaten Indigenous self-determination has now changed the social and political landscape of Canada and beyond. More and more non-Native people are realizing that Indigenous Peoples are among the strongest forces protecting our common environmental interests.

The coming year is critical for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. 

The Harper government has moved aggressively on many fronts to dismantle the protection of Indigenous and Treaty rights and to forcibly assimilate Indigenous Peoples into their vision of an ultra-capitalist, environmentally devastated Canada. With one more year before he goes into election campaign mode, Harper will attempt to push through the most hard-hitting points of his agenda in 2014.

As we begin the second year of this movement, Idle No More and Defenders of the Land are asking for your support. We are about to launch a major new stage of the campaign - one that will focus the grassroots power already mobilized in order to produce change through coordinated, strategic, cross-Canada campaigns and successful non-violent direct actions guided by grassroots Indigenous communities themselves.  These strategies are essential, as they alone have made governments recognize Indigenous rights.

We need the support of people like you to help make this happen. 

Continue to show your commitment to Indigenous-led movements happening across North America by coming out into the streets and onto the land, and by contributing directly to local community struggles.  

Two of the needs identified by many Indigenous communities under threat are: (1) resources and trainings to better understand the legal and policy framework that they are confronting, and (2) organizing and communication support to magnify the impact of their actions on the broader public and policy makers. As one part of Idle No More-Defenders of the Land's commitment to building a broad community-based Indigenous movement that can actually bring about profound change, all moneys raised in this crowdfunding campaign will be put towards:

• developing educational materials in responses to community-identified priorities so communities can advocate for themselves as strategically as possible
• supporting grassroots Indigenous land defenders who want to organize training, strategy, and coordination sessions in their own communities  
• maintaining a communications infrastructure, such as conference call/virtual meeting technology, communication text alerts, email blasts, and media support for key events and actions.
• hiring a dedicated staff coordinator for six months who will be responsible for developing and facilitating these activities

Idle No More and Defenders of the Land, a network of Indigenous communities in land struggle, have united in a joint campaign for escalating action. Our calls for change are clear and in accordance with the principles of coexistence and mutual respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples. 

_____

Gifts with (*) have been generously made available by Empire of Dirt, an award-winning feature about three generations of Cree women confronting the legacies of colonial violence. "Based on a superb script by Cree screenwriter Shannon Masters, Empire of Dirt brims with sharp, candid dialogue and memorable characters imbued with refreshingly human flaws and contradictions." - TIFF.

Winner of Best Canadian Feature Film, TIFF 2013 ~Nominated for Best Female Actor, 2014 (Jennifer Podemski) ~ Nominated for 5 Canadian Screen Awards, 2014, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress