Canada endorses indigenous rights declaration
Last Updated: Friday, November 12, 2010 | 8:31 PM ET
CBC News
The federal government has endorsed a United Nations declaration that recognizes global human rights standards for indigenous populations, reversing its initial opposition to the document.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a non-binding document, recognizes indigenous people's basic human rights and rights to self-determination, language, equality and land, among other rights.
Canada was one of four countries, along with Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., to vote against the declaration when it was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007. Australia and New Zealand have since reversed their stance, and the U.S. has said it will review its position.
At the time the declaration was passed, the Harper government had expressed concerns about its wording on provisions addressing land and natural resources, saying it was overly broad and could lead to the reopening of previously settled land claims.
In its March speech from the throne, the government indicated it wanted to "take steps to endorse this inspirational document in a manner fully consistent with Canada’s Constitution and laws."
But on Friday, the government released a statement saying it has formally endorsed the declaration.
On the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website, it stated that: "after careful and thoughtful consideration, Canada has concluded that it is better to endorse the UNDRIP while explaining its concerns, rather than simply rejecting the overall document.
"Although the UNDRIP does not reflect customary international law or change Canadian laws, Canada believes that the UNDRIP has the potential to contribute positively to the promotion and respect of the rights of indigenous peoples around the world."
In a statement, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo praised Canada's endorsement of the document as a positive development.
"Today marks an important shift in our relationship, and now, the real work begins," he said. "Now is our time to work together towards a new era of fairness and justice for First Nations and a stronger Canada for all Canadians, guided by the Declaration's core principles of respect, partnership and reconciliation."
Source: CBC
Showing posts with label declaration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label declaration. Show all posts
13 November 2010
10 September 2010
3rd Anniversary/ 3eme anniversaire de l'UNDRIP
3rd Anniversary/ 3eme anniversaire de l'UNDRIP
Monday · 11:00 - 12:00
Location Devant le complexe guy favreau / in front of the Guy Favreau Complex
200, Bd René-Levesque Ouest, Montreal, QC
Created by:
Femmes Autochtones du Québec / Quebec Native Women Inc.
More info:
La Coalition pour les droits des peuples autochtones du Québec invite le public à venir souffler les bougies d’anniversaire de la Déclaration et demander au Canada d’appuyer et de mettre en œuvre la Déclaration, sans conditions.
The Coalition for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Quebec invites the public to come and celebrate the third anniversary of the UNDRIP and call Canada to endorse and fully implement the Declaration, without qualifications.
Facebook | 3rd Anniversary/ 3eme anniversaire de l'UNDRIP
Monday · 11:00 - 12:00
Location Devant le complexe guy favreau / in front of the Guy Favreau Complex
200, Bd René-Levesque Ouest, Montreal, QC
Created by:
Femmes Autochtones du Québec / Quebec Native Women Inc.
More info:
La Coalition pour les droits des peuples autochtones du Québec invite le public à venir souffler les bougies d’anniversaire de la Déclaration et demander au Canada d’appuyer et de mettre en œuvre la Déclaration, sans conditions.
The Coalition for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Quebec invites the public to come and celebrate the third anniversary of the UNDRIP and call Canada to endorse and fully implement the Declaration, without qualifications.
Facebook | 3rd Anniversary/ 3eme anniversaire de l'UNDRIP
26 April 2010
Bolivia: Indigenous Peoples' Declaration
Sunday, April 25, 2010
BOLIVIA: Indigenous Peoples' Declaration
Bolivia: Working Group #7, Indigenous Peoples:
WORLD PEOPLES’ CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
Mother Earth can live without us, but we can’t live without her.
We, the Indigenous Peoples, nations and organizations from all over the world, gathered at the World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Earth, from April 19th to 22nd, 2010 in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, after extensive discussions, express the following:
We Indigenous Peoples are sons and daughters of Mother Earth, or “Pachamama” in Quechua. Mother Earth is a living being in the universe that concentrates energy and life, while giving shelter and life to all without asking anything in return, she is the past, present and future; this is our relationship with Mother Earth. We have lived in coexistence with her for thousands of years, with our wisdom and cosmic spirituality linked to nature. However, the economic models promoted and forced by industrialized countries that promote exploitation and wealth accumulation have radically transformed our relationship with Mother Earth. We must assert that climate change is one of the consequences of this irrational logic of life that we must change.
The aggression towards Mother Earth and the repeated assaults and violations against our soils, air, forests, rivers, lakes, biodiversity, and the cosmos are assaults against us.
Before, we used to ask for permission for everything. Now, coming from developed countries, it is presumed that Mother Earth must ask us for permission. Our territories are not respected, particularly those of peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact, and we suffer the most terrible aggression since colonization only to facilitate the entry of markets and extractive industries.
We recognize that Indigenous Peoples and the rest of the world live in a general age of crises: environmental, energy, food, financial, ethical, among others, as a consequence of policies and attitudes from racist and exclusionary states.
We want to convey that at the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the peoples of the world demanded fair treatment, but were repressed. Meanwhile the states responsible for the climate crisis were able to weaken even more any possible outcome of negotiations and evade signing onto any binding agreement. They limited themselves to simply supporting the Copenhagen Accord, an accord that proposes unacceptable and insufficient goals as far as climate change action and financing to the most affected countries and peoples.
We affirm that international negotiation spaces have systematically excluded the participation of Indigenous Peoples. As a result, we as Indigenous Peoples are making ourselves visible in these spaces, because as Mother Earth has been hurt and plundered, with negative activities taking place on our lands, territories and natural resources, we have also been hurt. This is why as Indigenous Peoples we will not keep silent, but instead we propose to mobilize all our peoples to arrive at COP16 in Mexico and other spaces well prepared and united to defend our proposals, particularly the “living well” and plurinational state proposals. We, Indigenous Peoples, do not want to live “better”, but instead we believe that everyone must live well. This is a proposal to achieve balance and start to construct a new society.
The search for common objectives, as history shows us, will only be completed with theunion of Indigenous Peoples of the World. The ancestral and indigenous roots shared by the whole world must be one of the bonds that unite us to achieve one unique objective.
Therefore we propose, require and demand:
1. The recovery, revalidation and strengthening of our civilizations, identities, cultures and cosmovisions based on ancient and ancestral Indigenous knowledge and wisdom for the construction of alternative ways of life to the current "development model", as a way to confront climate change.
2. To rescue and strengthen the Indigenous proposal of “living well”, while also recognizing Mother Earth as a living being with whom we have an indivisible and interdependent relationship, based on principles and mechanisms that assure the respect, harmony, and balance between people and nature, and supporting a society based on social and environmental justice, which sees life as its purpose.
All this must be done to confront the plundering capitalist model and guarantee the protection of life as a whole, through the search for inclusive global agreements.
3. We demand States to recognize, respect and guarantee the application of international standards of human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights (i.e., The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ILO Convention 169) in the framework of negotiations, policies, and measures to confront climate change.
4. We demand States to legally recognize the preexistence of our right to the lands, territories, and natural resources that we have traditionally held as Indigenous Peoples and Nations, as well as restitution and restoration of natural goods, water, forests and jungles, lakes, oceans, sacred places, lands, and territories that have been dispossessed and seized. This is needed to strengthen and make possible our traditional way of living while contributing effectively to climate change solutions.
Inasmuch, we call for the consolidation of indigenous territories in exercise of our self-determination and autonomy, in conformity with systems of rules and regulations.
At the same time we demand that states respect the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation or in initial contact, as an effective way to preserve their integrity and combat the adverse effects of climate change towards those peoples.
5. We call on States not to promote commercial monoculture practices, nor to introduce or promote genetically-modified and exotic crops, because according to our people’s wisdom, these species aggravate the degradation of jungles, forests and soils, contributing to the increase in global warming. Likewise, megaprojects under the search for alternative energy sources that affect Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories, and natural habitats should not be implemented, including nuclear, bio-engineering, hydroelectric, wind-power and others.
6. We demand changes to forestry and environmental laws, as well as the application of pertinent international instruments to effectively protect forests and jungles, as well as their biological and cultural diversity, guaranteeing Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including their participation and their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
7. We propose that, in the framework of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, states establish a policy that Protected Natural Areas must be managed, administered and controlled directly by Indigenous Peoples, taking into account the demonstrated traditional experience and knowledge towards the sustainable management of the biodiversity in our forests and jungles.
8. We demand a review, or if the case warrants, a moratorium, to every polluting activity that affects Mother Earth, and the withdrawal of multinational corporations and megaprojects from Indigenous territories.
9. We urge that states recognize water as a fundamental human right, avoiding its privatization and commodification.
10. We demand the application of consultations, participation, and the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples and affected populations in the design and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and any other intervening actions on Indigenous territories.
11. States must promote mechanisms to guarantee that funding for climate change action arrives directly and effectively to Indigenous Peoples, as part of the compensation for the historical and ecological debt owed. This funding must support and strengthen our own visions and cosmovisions towards “living well”.
12. We call for the recovery, revalidation and strengthening of Indigenous Peoples’ technologies and knowledge, and for their incorporation into the research, design and implementation of climate change policies. This should compliment Western knowledge and technology, ensuring that technology transfer processes do not weaken indigenous knowledge and technologies.
13. We propose the recovery, development and diffusion of indigenous knowledge and technology through the implementation of educational policies and programs, including the modification and incorporation of such knowledge and ancestral wisdom in curricula and teaching methods.
14. We urge States and international bodies that are making decisions about climate change, especially the UNFCCC, to establish formal structures and mechanisms that include the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples. They must also include local communities and vulnerable groups, including women, without discrimination, as a key element to obtain a fair and equitable result from climate change negotiations.
15. We join in the demand to create a Climate Justice Tribunal that would be able to pass judgement and establish penalties for non-compliance of agreements, and other environmental crimes by developed countries, which are primarily responsible for climate change. This institution must consider the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, and their principles of justice.
16. We propose the organization and coordination of Indigenous Peoples worldwide, through our local, national, regional, and international governments, organizations, and other mechanisms of legitimate representation, in order to participate in all climate change related processes. With that in mind, we call for an organizational space to be created that will contribute to the global search for effective solutions to climate change, with the special participation of Elders.
17. We propose to fight in all spaces available to defend life and Mother Earth, particularly in COP16, and so we propose a 2nd Peoples’ Conference to strengthen the process of reflection and action.
18. The ratification of the global campaign to organize the World March in defense of Mother Earth and her peoples, against the commodification of life, pollution, and the criminalization of Indigenous and social movements.
Created in unity in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, the 21st day of April, 2010
World Climate Conference. Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Working Group.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DECLARATION
Photos by Michelle Cook, Navajo (see link below)
[Source]
BOLIVIA: Indigenous Peoples' Declaration
Bolivia: Working Group #7, Indigenous Peoples:
WORLD PEOPLES’ CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RIGHTS OF MOTHER EARTH
Mother Earth can live without us, but we can’t live without her.
We, the Indigenous Peoples, nations and organizations from all over the world, gathered at the World Peoples’ Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Earth, from April 19th to 22nd, 2010 in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, after extensive discussions, express the following:
We Indigenous Peoples are sons and daughters of Mother Earth, or “Pachamama” in Quechua. Mother Earth is a living being in the universe that concentrates energy and life, while giving shelter and life to all without asking anything in return, she is the past, present and future; this is our relationship with Mother Earth. We have lived in coexistence with her for thousands of years, with our wisdom and cosmic spirituality linked to nature. However, the economic models promoted and forced by industrialized countries that promote exploitation and wealth accumulation have radically transformed our relationship with Mother Earth. We must assert that climate change is one of the consequences of this irrational logic of life that we must change.
The aggression towards Mother Earth and the repeated assaults and violations against our soils, air, forests, rivers, lakes, biodiversity, and the cosmos are assaults against us.
Before, we used to ask for permission for everything. Now, coming from developed countries, it is presumed that Mother Earth must ask us for permission. Our territories are not respected, particularly those of peoples in voluntary isolation or initial contact, and we suffer the most terrible aggression since colonization only to facilitate the entry of markets and extractive industries.
We recognize that Indigenous Peoples and the rest of the world live in a general age of crises: environmental, energy, food, financial, ethical, among others, as a consequence of policies and attitudes from racist and exclusionary states.
We want to convey that at the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the peoples of the world demanded fair treatment, but were repressed. Meanwhile the states responsible for the climate crisis were able to weaken even more any possible outcome of negotiations and evade signing onto any binding agreement. They limited themselves to simply supporting the Copenhagen Accord, an accord that proposes unacceptable and insufficient goals as far as climate change action and financing to the most affected countries and peoples.
We affirm that international negotiation spaces have systematically excluded the participation of Indigenous Peoples. As a result, we as Indigenous Peoples are making ourselves visible in these spaces, because as Mother Earth has been hurt and plundered, with negative activities taking place on our lands, territories and natural resources, we have also been hurt. This is why as Indigenous Peoples we will not keep silent, but instead we propose to mobilize all our peoples to arrive at COP16 in Mexico and other spaces well prepared and united to defend our proposals, particularly the “living well” and plurinational state proposals. We, Indigenous Peoples, do not want to live “better”, but instead we believe that everyone must live well. This is a proposal to achieve balance and start to construct a new society.
The search for common objectives, as history shows us, will only be completed with theunion of Indigenous Peoples of the World. The ancestral and indigenous roots shared by the whole world must be one of the bonds that unite us to achieve one unique objective.
Therefore we propose, require and demand:
1. The recovery, revalidation and strengthening of our civilizations, identities, cultures and cosmovisions based on ancient and ancestral Indigenous knowledge and wisdom for the construction of alternative ways of life to the current "development model", as a way to confront climate change.
2. To rescue and strengthen the Indigenous proposal of “living well”, while also recognizing Mother Earth as a living being with whom we have an indivisible and interdependent relationship, based on principles and mechanisms that assure the respect, harmony, and balance between people and nature, and supporting a society based on social and environmental justice, which sees life as its purpose.
All this must be done to confront the plundering capitalist model and guarantee the protection of life as a whole, through the search for inclusive global agreements.
3. We demand States to recognize, respect and guarantee the application of international standards of human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights (i.e., The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ILO Convention 169) in the framework of negotiations, policies, and measures to confront climate change.
4. We demand States to legally recognize the preexistence of our right to the lands, territories, and natural resources that we have traditionally held as Indigenous Peoples and Nations, as well as restitution and restoration of natural goods, water, forests and jungles, lakes, oceans, sacred places, lands, and territories that have been dispossessed and seized. This is needed to strengthen and make possible our traditional way of living while contributing effectively to climate change solutions.
Inasmuch, we call for the consolidation of indigenous territories in exercise of our self-determination and autonomy, in conformity with systems of rules and regulations.
At the same time we demand that states respect the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation or in initial contact, as an effective way to preserve their integrity and combat the adverse effects of climate change towards those peoples.
5. We call on States not to promote commercial monoculture practices, nor to introduce or promote genetically-modified and exotic crops, because according to our people’s wisdom, these species aggravate the degradation of jungles, forests and soils, contributing to the increase in global warming. Likewise, megaprojects under the search for alternative energy sources that affect Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories, and natural habitats should not be implemented, including nuclear, bio-engineering, hydroelectric, wind-power and others.
6. We demand changes to forestry and environmental laws, as well as the application of pertinent international instruments to effectively protect forests and jungles, as well as their biological and cultural diversity, guaranteeing Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including their participation and their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
7. We propose that, in the framework of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, states establish a policy that Protected Natural Areas must be managed, administered and controlled directly by Indigenous Peoples, taking into account the demonstrated traditional experience and knowledge towards the sustainable management of the biodiversity in our forests and jungles.
8. We demand a review, or if the case warrants, a moratorium, to every polluting activity that affects Mother Earth, and the withdrawal of multinational corporations and megaprojects from Indigenous territories.
9. We urge that states recognize water as a fundamental human right, avoiding its privatization and commodification.
10. We demand the application of consultations, participation, and the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples and affected populations in the design and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and any other intervening actions on Indigenous territories.
11. States must promote mechanisms to guarantee that funding for climate change action arrives directly and effectively to Indigenous Peoples, as part of the compensation for the historical and ecological debt owed. This funding must support and strengthen our own visions and cosmovisions towards “living well”.
12. We call for the recovery, revalidation and strengthening of Indigenous Peoples’ technologies and knowledge, and for their incorporation into the research, design and implementation of climate change policies. This should compliment Western knowledge and technology, ensuring that technology transfer processes do not weaken indigenous knowledge and technologies.
13. We propose the recovery, development and diffusion of indigenous knowledge and technology through the implementation of educational policies and programs, including the modification and incorporation of such knowledge and ancestral wisdom in curricula and teaching methods.
14. We urge States and international bodies that are making decisions about climate change, especially the UNFCCC, to establish formal structures and mechanisms that include the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples. They must also include local communities and vulnerable groups, including women, without discrimination, as a key element to obtain a fair and equitable result from climate change negotiations.
15. We join in the demand to create a Climate Justice Tribunal that would be able to pass judgement and establish penalties for non-compliance of agreements, and other environmental crimes by developed countries, which are primarily responsible for climate change. This institution must consider the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, and their principles of justice.
16. We propose the organization and coordination of Indigenous Peoples worldwide, through our local, national, regional, and international governments, organizations, and other mechanisms of legitimate representation, in order to participate in all climate change related processes. With that in mind, we call for an organizational space to be created that will contribute to the global search for effective solutions to climate change, with the special participation of Elders.
17. We propose to fight in all spaces available to defend life and Mother Earth, particularly in COP16, and so we propose a 2nd Peoples’ Conference to strengthen the process of reflection and action.
18. The ratification of the global campaign to organize the World March in defense of Mother Earth and her peoples, against the commodification of life, pollution, and the criminalization of Indigenous and social movements.
Created in unity in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, the 21st day of April, 2010
World Climate Conference. Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Working Group.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DECLARATION
Photos by Michelle Cook, Navajo (see link below)
[Source]
25 April 2010
NZ reverses opposition to UN DRIP
History is made!
New Zealand reverses opposition to U.N. Declaration on Indigenous Rights, U.S. reviewing stance
Kenneth Deer
Exclusive to Turtle Island News
UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK, N.Y.-The government of New Zealand announced its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Monday at the opening ceremonies of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
New Zealand was one of the four governments that voted against the Declaration on September 13, 2007, along with Canada, Australia and the United States. This is good news for all Indigenous Peoples around the world as the Declaration becomes more and more entrenched in the UN system and supported by more states. Now that it changed its vote, and with Australia already endorsing the Declaration, that leaves Canada and the United States. Canada has announced in the recent Throne Speech that it intends to endorse the Declaration but when that will happen is not clear. The next possible date would be June 21st on Canada's National Aboriginal Day. That would leave the United States as the only country in the UN that has not endorsed the Declaration.
Sunday, April 25, 2010 - 11:54 AM
Turtle Island News
http://www.theturtleislandnews.com/
New Zealand reverses opposition to U.N. Declaration on Indigenous Rights, U.S. reviewing stance
Kenneth Deer
Exclusive to Turtle Island News
UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK, N.Y.-The government of New Zealand announced its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Monday at the opening ceremonies of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
New Zealand was one of the four governments that voted against the Declaration on September 13, 2007, along with Canada, Australia and the United States. This is good news for all Indigenous Peoples around the world as the Declaration becomes more and more entrenched in the UN system and supported by more states. Now that it changed its vote, and with Australia already endorsing the Declaration, that leaves Canada and the United States. Canada has announced in the recent Throne Speech that it intends to endorse the Declaration but when that will happen is not clear. The next possible date would be June 21st on Canada's National Aboriginal Day. That would leave the United States as the only country in the UN that has not endorsed the Declaration.
Sunday, April 25, 2010 - 11:54 AM
Turtle Island News
http://www.theturtleislandnews.com/
26 October 2009
Indigenous Sovereignty Week 2009
Indigenous Sovereignty Week builds community-based resistance
By Greg Macdougall | October 26, 2009
In November of last year, Indigenous activists and allies from across Canada came together in Winnipeg to form Defenders of the Land, a network of Indigenous communities and activists in land struggle across Canada.
Out of this network came a call for a pan-Canadian event, Indigenous Sovereignty Week, which is now upon us. Close to 30 cities and communities across Canada (and even a few in the United States) will be holding public events from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.
The purpose of this week is to build local relationships between groups and individuals, disseminate ideas and generally contribute to building a cross-Canada movement for Indigenous rights, self-determination, and justice that is led by Indigenous communities but with a broad base of informed support.
Activities throughout the week include: speakers, panels, workshops, films, community tours, feasts, and performance art, music, and spoken word. A wide range of issues will be covered, but relate to four main themes: Struggles for Indigenous rights and self-determination; Indigenous knowledge, culture and identity; Indigenous peoples and the environment; history of Indigenous-Canadian relations.
Arthur Manuel is an Indigenous activist who will be part of the ISW speakers tour, visiting different communities on different days to help educate people and spread the word.
Manuel is from the Neskonlith Indian Band of the Secwepemc Nation (in British Columbia), and is leader of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, which works with people on the community level and also internationally towards recognition of Aboriginal title and treaty rights.
Having been in the struggle his entire life and generations before (he's the son of George Manuel, one of the first presidents of the National Indian Brotherhood, which later became the Assembly of First Nations), Manuel has become involved with Defenders of the Land and Indigenous Sovereignty Week because he sees the importance of activists standing up to the government and educating the public, "I believe that establishment Indian organizations, [through] the courts and all that, we've actually pushed the system as much as we can through establishment mechanisms."
Manuel adds, "We've won the past 20 years: constitutionally, judicially, internationally [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples -- UNDRIP], economically [WTO ruling on Aboriginal title and treaty rights], but we haven't been able to get recognition on the ground" on issues such as mining, the tar sands, and the development of ski resorts.
Manuel feels that community-based resistance is what is needed, "That's where the real pressure is, for pushing the government -- through action." For examples of effective action, he cites the examples of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwg (KI) protests (in Northern Ontario) against platinum drilling (which led to jail time for six KI leaders and then an overturning of their sentences) and also the resistance to the Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Secwepemc Territory, just outside of Kamloops, B.C.
He also emphasizes education and outreach, and stresses the position of the Canadian government in not signing the UNDRIP nor respecting Aboriginal rights:
"The real question is, 'do Canadians really accept what Canada is doing? They're undermining Canadians' credibility regarding human rights. You can't cherry pick: if you believe in human rights, you believe in them across the board. Accepting the UNDRIP is a question of maturity: are we a mature country of settlers and Indigenous people sitting down to deal with these issues?"
Arthur Manuel has a clear idea of where real change with respect to Indigenous rights is going to come from.
"The real people who are going to raise those questions are activists. Establishment organizations are not being taken seriously because they literally are taking too much [political] money from the government."
Greg Macdougall is active in Ottawa with IPSMO (Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa). He is also a member of Common Cause, the provincial anarchist organization and runs the EquitableEducation.ca project.
Source: rabble.ca/news/2009/10/indigenous-sovereignty-week-builds-community-based-resistance
By Greg Macdougall | October 26, 2009
In November of last year, Indigenous activists and allies from across Canada came together in Winnipeg to form Defenders of the Land, a network of Indigenous communities and activists in land struggle across Canada.
Out of this network came a call for a pan-Canadian event, Indigenous Sovereignty Week, which is now upon us. Close to 30 cities and communities across Canada (and even a few in the United States) will be holding public events from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.
The purpose of this week is to build local relationships between groups and individuals, disseminate ideas and generally contribute to building a cross-Canada movement for Indigenous rights, self-determination, and justice that is led by Indigenous communities but with a broad base of informed support.
Activities throughout the week include: speakers, panels, workshops, films, community tours, feasts, and performance art, music, and spoken word. A wide range of issues will be covered, but relate to four main themes: Struggles for Indigenous rights and self-determination; Indigenous knowledge, culture and identity; Indigenous peoples and the environment; history of Indigenous-Canadian relations.
Arthur Manuel is an Indigenous activist who will be part of the ISW speakers tour, visiting different communities on different days to help educate people and spread the word.
Manuel is from the Neskonlith Indian Band of the Secwepemc Nation (in British Columbia), and is leader of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, which works with people on the community level and also internationally towards recognition of Aboriginal title and treaty rights.
Having been in the struggle his entire life and generations before (he's the son of George Manuel, one of the first presidents of the National Indian Brotherhood, which later became the Assembly of First Nations), Manuel has become involved with Defenders of the Land and Indigenous Sovereignty Week because he sees the importance of activists standing up to the government and educating the public, "I believe that establishment Indian organizations, [through] the courts and all that, we've actually pushed the system as much as we can through establishment mechanisms."
Manuel adds, "We've won the past 20 years: constitutionally, judicially, internationally [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples -- UNDRIP], economically [WTO ruling on Aboriginal title and treaty rights], but we haven't been able to get recognition on the ground" on issues such as mining, the tar sands, and the development of ski resorts.
Manuel feels that community-based resistance is what is needed, "That's where the real pressure is, for pushing the government -- through action." For examples of effective action, he cites the examples of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwg (KI) protests (in Northern Ontario) against platinum drilling (which led to jail time for six KI leaders and then an overturning of their sentences) and also the resistance to the Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Secwepemc Territory, just outside of Kamloops, B.C.
He also emphasizes education and outreach, and stresses the position of the Canadian government in not signing the UNDRIP nor respecting Aboriginal rights:
"The real question is, 'do Canadians really accept what Canada is doing? They're undermining Canadians' credibility regarding human rights. You can't cherry pick: if you believe in human rights, you believe in them across the board. Accepting the UNDRIP is a question of maturity: are we a mature country of settlers and Indigenous people sitting down to deal with these issues?"
Arthur Manuel has a clear idea of where real change with respect to Indigenous rights is going to come from.
"The real people who are going to raise those questions are activists. Establishment organizations are not being taken seriously because they literally are taking too much [political] money from the government."
Greg Macdougall is active in Ottawa with IPSMO (Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa). He is also a member of Common Cause, the provincial anarchist organization and runs the EquitableEducation.ca project.
Source: rabble.ca/news/2009/10/indigenous-sovereignty-week-builds-community-based-resistance
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