Duane Hicks
Several hundred people from area First Nations joined the grassroots movement, “Idle No More,” by marching marched through Fort Frances on Friday afternoon.
Held as a show support for Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, who is on a hunger strike for her community, as well as to protest Bill C-45 and other legislation aimed at undermining treaties and their people, the message was clear: Bill C-45 will affect everyone, aboriginal or non-aboriginal, and it’s time to make a stand.
A gathering at the Couchiching multi-use facility before Friday’s march saw individuals rally the hundreds of people on hand to be “Idle No More.”
Couchiching youth councillor Jeremy Jordan said that when he heard about “Idle No More” and the mobilization of First Nations across Canada, he was scared.
“I am still trying to sort out the issues, the aftermath of when we put up the toll booth,” he remarked.
“It was damaging to me, being there on the frontlines, being called ‘a stupid little brown boy’ . . . getting change thrown at my face,” Jordan recalled.
“‘We’re going to remember your face, we’re going to remember you on the streets in town.’”
But as Jordan looked around the packed gym at the multi-use facility, he said he no longer felt scared.
“I am not afraid today to take a stand because this is not only about my future, but there will be a day when I have children, and I will sit down with them and look back . . . I want to say, ‘Daddy was there. Daddy fought for your rights,’” he stressed.
“And this is not only about treaty rights but Mother Earth,” Jordan added. “And one day, I hope to . . . teach my children how to respect the trees and the waters, because it’s bad enough as it is right now, how bad the waters are.
“And it’s only going to get worse if we continue to act as door mats, to let people just walk over us and rape Mother Earth, because that is what they are doing,” he warned.
“They call it resources. I don’t believe in that term,” Jordan said. “Our trees, the water—I don’t look at them as resources.
“Those are gifts; we use them for our healing.”
Jordan said there are many people who are uneducated as what is happening, but they have to realize Bill C-45 “affects everyone as Canadians.”
He added that if those supporting “Idle No More” are met with ignorance, the key is to meet that ignorance with love and understanding.
Jordan reminded everyone gathered to keep Chief Spence in mind, as well as others who are on a hunger strike and all of those people taking a stand elsewhere in Canada and around the world.
Priscilla Simard said Bill C-45, which is the Conservative government’s so-called omnibus budget bill, can be stopped if everyone stands up and stands together.
“Two years ago, the Government of Canada made an apology to aboriginal people, especially those that attended Indian residential schools, and said that they would promise to do right with our people,” Simard recalled.
“I am an Indian school survivor,” she noted. “I have been a fighter since [the] 1969 White Paper. I was there on those picket lines.
“We can stop this legislation, but we must be as one voice,” Simard stressed. “I urge you to spread the word that Harper’s laws cannot be implemented on our reserves.
“With all the bills in front of the federal government, there are drastic changes that are going to happen,” she warned. “They will impact you.
“And I urge you to take a stand against it.
“I also speak to the women,” Simard added. “Our nation is only strong if our women are strong.
“No longer will they kill us,” she vowed. “The inquiry into women that are dead, I have been personally affected by that.
“And the only difference is that they were women, they were Anishinaabe-quay, and they were poor.
“So I am asking again—we need to make a very clear stand.”
Arlene Tucker, meanwhile, said “Idle No More” was just a little spark started by four women and now it’s going across Canada as people mobilize against the Harper government.
“In our area, it was started by just a couple people and look at it now today.
“It’s awesome, you’re all awesome,” she said to a roomful of applause.
Tucker noted Chief Spence is a courageous woman, and that aboriginal women have to educate their children about their history, about residential school survivors, and about oppression—even though this history is “not pretty.”
She said Bill C-45 affects everyone, aboriginal and non-aboriginal, and it has to be stopped.
“We’ve got to protect our waters and our land . . . as aboriginal women, it’s our responsibility,” Tucker stressed.
Couchiching Princess Shyana Perrault delivered a message that urged all First Nations’ peoples and their leaders “to unify and support one another” at this time.
Couchiching Chief Chuck McPherson and Warren White, Grand Chief of Grand Council Treaty #3, also spoke in support of “Idle No More” and Chief Spence.
Then shortly after 1 p.m., hundreds of people carrying signs marched from the multi-use facility to Fort Frances and through the town.
All ages were represented at the peaceful protest march, with some elders and dignitaries riding alongside the procession in vehicles.
The “Idle No More” movement was started in Saskatchewan by Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, Sheelah McLean, and Nina Wilson—four women who oppose Bill C-45.
They were upset about the reduced number of federally-protected waterways and a fast-tracked process to surrender reserve lands, and decided to be “Idle No More.”
The public can keep up with “Idle No More” by going to the group’s website, idlenomore.com, or by following the #IdleNoMore hashtag on Twitter.
