rant_01-bills&treaties

idle no more | herewestand | landback

my thoughts after the first 2 months of Summer Research in Mechanical Engineering and Renewable Energy  –

This is an opportunity I am incredibly grateful for, but I cannot help but wonder when the jig will be up.

In a world where Indigeneity remains a joke. Falsely celebrated. It all feels futile. Development on the James Bay Lowlands, the lungs of the earth, in the name of economic progress undermines all research initiatives, reconciliation claims, and actual progress.

Here I Stand. The granddaughter of Gabriel and Sophie Spence of Attawapiskat First Nation. I came to this school to listen to kookum, to get educated, to progress, to pave a way for my nieces and nephews. Now I am far from home in the first capital of Canada learning at one of the most prestigious institutions. Trying to make an impact and support the ideals of engineering for humanity. But I fear all of these ideals will be implemented far too late. Our land will be gone, resources drained. Engineering for survival will be the new phrase. 

The very land I am fighting for is being undemocratically and hastily snatched from my people. The Ring of Fire sits on Treaty Land, located up river from Attawapiskat. Yet my Chief was fined for her voice at the legislature. 

Withdraw Bill 5. Stand with us.

Listen to the stewards of the land. Wait until my generation is graduated from your institutions. One thing this egregious legislation got right was confirming Indigenous people are not stakeholders in these extractive projects. We are the owners, the keepers, the protectors. Treat us as such. "it is our law to safeguard everything we have now for the future generations!" (Jeronimo Kataquapit, video linked).

We should all be outraged. This hastily written bill not only undermines Indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights, but also Canadian Law. 
Silencing an entire people group based on their ethnicity through means of procedural tactics and fines? What have we come to?

And for money?

History repeats itself, life imitates art. We must not let these pigs walk on their back legs and sleep sheltered. It is time to act.