Recently, the Swinomish, Suquamish, Lummi, Tulalip tribes, Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and Musqueam Nations released a joint statement of solidarity to stand together to protect the Salish Sea.
The energy giant, Kinder Morgan, filed an application with the National Energy Board of Canada in December of 2013 to construct a pipeline, dubbed the TransMountain pipeline, from the tar sands in Alberta to Vancouver, B.C. From Vancouver, the crude oil would be placed on tanker ships and exported to Asia.
“We issue a call to all Native Americans, First Nations relatives, and to all people who love the Salish Sea to please stand with us to protect our rights, our health, and our children’s future. It is our generation’s time to stand up and fight. What happens to the Salish Sea happens to our peoples, and to all those who call this unique place home.”
CHRISSY SWAIN, DEFENDING GRASSY NARROWS - Chrissy Swain shares about her connection to the land, the importance of youth defenders, and how some leadership should “smarten up” and be Anishinaabe.
On December 2, 2002, youth and Elders of the Grassy Narrows First Nation established a blockade on a logging road in their territory and sparked one of the longest standing Indigenous logging blockades in Canadian history. The Grassy Narrows community has survived many colonial traumas including relocation, residential schools, mercury contamination, flooding of sacred grounds and burial sites, and clear-cut logging within their traditional territory. However, resistance is strong at Grassy Narrows where youth and Elders are actively defending their territories by re-occupying their lands, reviving their culture, and exercising their rights to manage their land as they see fit.
Southwestern Energy (SWN) is pulling out of New Brunswick after sparking weeks of protests from the #Elsipogtog First Nation community and fracking opponents… at least until 2015!
“We can’t allow any drilling, we didn’t allow them to do the testing from the beginning.” - Elsipogtog War Chief John Levi.
DULUTH, MINNESOTA - Idle No More organizer Reyna Crow opened her mail on Christmas Eve to discover a letter from the Mall of America management team. There were not holiday gift cards inside.
Instead she and several other Idle No More organizers received letters suggesting they could be arrested if another flash mob round dance occurs again this year at the Mall of America.
The letter had a threatening tone, indicating the mall “…will utilize additional actions… including trespassing the organizers of the protest” should a flash mob Round Dance recur there on New Year’s Eve this year.
