The indigenous people have been a native to the land known today as Canada since long before any Europeans arrived here, yet have been victimized ever since. Their culture was shut down and their children ripped from their families during the time of the residential schools. Much of their land has been taken away. And on Thursday October 17, members of the Mi’kmaq tribe had a standoff with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to protect their land from potential fracking.

The Mi-kmaq Warrior Society held a barricade in Rexton, New Brunswick for two weeks in order to prevent a Houston-based firm, Southwestern Energy, to enter their land and look for shale gas before the RCMP arrived to implement an injunction against the barricade. On one side stood officers of the police force, some in camouflage with assault weapons. On the other stood members of the Mi-kmaq Warrior Society, some playing the drums. The APTN reports that one RCMP officer shout to protesters that “crown land belongs to the government, not to f*cking natives.” After the police arrested several activists, residents from the Mi’kmaq community of Elsipogtog swarmed the protest site. According to the RCMP, at least 40 people were then arrested on various offences including firearms offences, threats, intimidation, mischief, and ignoring a court injunction.

Recently, some First Nations of British Columbia are raising concerns over fracking and what it would do to the land. France has also recently passed an “ultimate fracking ban” to limit fossil fuels and carbon emissions. A website supporting the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of the United States states that the problem with fracking, the process in which the ground is drilled and liquid is injected into it at a high pressure to fracture shale rocks and release the natural gas inside, is that it uses 1 to 8 million gallons of water and 40 thousand gallons of chemicals per fracturing job, contaminating nearby groundwater. This is a serious concern for not only the Mi’kmaq tribe but also the Acadian and Anglophone residents of the area, who are worried that if the company find shale gas their water sources will be contaminated. In a letter sent to Southwestern Energy, the Mi’kwaq people stated, “These attacks to our people’s water source infringe on the integrity of our cultural resources and heritage in our region. Allowing further development violates our treaty rights to not only hunt, fish and gather…but our treaty right, Aboriginal right and title right to the land and water itself.” Fracking the area would produce negative consequences for all of the residents who live there, and the company does not even have the right to do so- it isn’t their land.

This scandal has received a great deal of media attention since it occurred and outraged many Canadians. In only 12 hours, over sixteen thousand people signed a petition that called on the RCMP to refrain from using violence or excessive force against peaceful First Nations protests. In addition, 48 solidarity actions such as marches and sit-ins have been organized across the country to support the Mi’kwaq people. Along with many other First Nations tribes, they have been oppressed for far too long. Canadians are now gathering to supporting them and their rights.