Tag Archives: Students

#IdleNoMore Teach-In and Demonstration at #UBC

Well over 300 gathered this afternoon for an Idle No More Teach-In at the University of British Columbia. This followed a late morning and afternoon INM demonstration yesterday with 100+ in attendance at any given moment. Today’s Teach-In at the First Nations House of Learning was broadcast by CITR (101.9 FM), the student run (since 1974) radio at UBC. If you were unable to attend, I encourage all to listen to the podcast for today and view videos from yesterday’s demonstration, as these were truly memorable and significant events at UBC. On a campus that has become renowned for apathy, Idle No More is a welcome and extremely promising change of both outlook and power dynamics. If you’re on the Board of Governors at UBC, you are likely proud and anxious at this point: Proud in that students are waking up and organizing demonstrations and teach-ins such as Idle No More and anxious in that none of this bodes well for business as usual and continuos expansion into unceded Musqueam territory and lands endowed in trust about 100 years ago (Musqueam home from time immemorial to “Crown Land” in late 1800s into “Endowment Lands” in 1910). Thank you to all who organized and participated these past two days in Idle No More at UBC!

#IdleNoMore Demonstration at UBC

Lee Brown Speaks wisdom to power at Idle No More Demonstration at UBC

Thank you to Idle No More student planners of the extremely important demonstration at the University of British Columbia yesterday (31 January). This was the first of many to come at a University that has grown irresponsible in its expansion throughout the unceded Musqueam territory on which it is settled. This was a refreshingly catalytic exploration of the varied and complex issues represented within the Idle No More movement for a campus waking up from a decade of messages from the University that an inactive and idle student body is the best student body.

The Idle No More Teach-In at UBC this afternoon at the First Nations Longhouse will work from yesterday’s demonstration to generate next steps for this decreasingly idyllic, but no longer idle, campus.

Most videos from the Idle No More Demonstration at UBC (31 January 2013) are accessible:

#IdleNoMore Teach-in at UBC on Friday (February 1)

Idle No More Teach-in
First Nations House of Learning
University of British Columbia

First Nations Longhouse
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013
1pm-3pm 

Distinguished Aboriginal faculty will provide a background to the movement, outline the aspects of Bills 38 and 45 that are seen as problematic and discuss ways that classroom dialogue around this issue can be incorporated in an informed and productive way.

Everyone is welcome including students, staff, faculty, TAs and community members.

#IdleNoMore Demonstration at UBC on Thursday (January 31)

Idle No More Demonstration at the University of British Columbia 
Thursday, January 31
10:30am – 5pm
meet in front of UBC’s Museum of Anthropology
for a march to the Student Union Building

The UBC Idle No More Demonstration is an educational campaign led by both First Nations and Non-Indigenous students.

We will meet in front of UBC’s Museum of Anthropology for a march to the Student Union Building for a day of music, dancing, guest speakers, and alliance building between the grassroots Idle No More Movement and the wider UBC community.

10:30 am Meeting at MOA for opening prayer with Musqueam community members and Doctor Lee Brown.  11:00 to 12:00 March around campus (route to be determined) lead by First Nations Studies students.

Drummers and Singers from the Coast Salish, Tsimshian, Nisga’a Tlingit, Haida, and Kwakwaka’wakw Nations will be sharing their songs and dances throughout the demonstration.

**We invite people from all Nations to come with their drums to join in on songs and share songs of your own**

12:00 to 4:30 Meeting in front of the SUB between Brock Hall and the Goddess of Democracy Statue

Order of Speakers

  • 1.) 12:00/12:30 to 1:00 Professor Glen Coulthard, Yellowknives Dene First Nation
  • 2.) 1:00 to 1:15 Karina Czyzewski (student)
  • 3.) 1:30 Shannon Hecker (student)
  • 4.) 1:45 Professor Charles Menzies
  • 5.) 2:00 Professor Coll Thrush
  • 6.) 2:30 Miles Richardson (Haida Gwaii, UBC Alumni, David Suzuki Foundation, British Columbia Treaty Commission)
  • 7.) 3:00 Angela Code (Sayisi Dene and UBC Alumni)
  • 8.) 3:30 Professor Bruce Miller.
  • 9.) 3:45 to 4:30 Open Mic and performances (weather permitting).
  • 10.) 4:30 to 5:00 Closing

EDUCAUTION – A New Documentary on Student Debt

Dear Friends & Supporters:

I’m writing today to let you know about a great new documentary film on Student Debt called “EDUCAUTION.”

***Watch the trailer here***

EDUCAUTION is a journey documentary film created by graduate students who are concerned about the future of the American Higher Education System. By focusing on the economic issues surrounding the higher education system, the film examines the increasing concerns of many Americans regarding the continuing decrease in the quality, value, and financial return of higher education in the market place. Through interviewing fellow Americans with real stories from diverse backgrounds, the filmmakers’ goal has been to examine the current system, offer hope, and propose solutions towards preserving the American Higher Education System – a system that has been the main force behind much of the Modern World’s achievements and advances.

From the filmmakers:

EDUCAUTION, currently an Independent USC Graduate Thesis Documentary Film, will be followed by EDUCAUTION 101, a full feature documentary film, which aims at taking a more comprehensive look at the education system as a whole in America– starting from the moment of birth to college and beyond.

The journey to make this film started in Southern California, home to one of the best university systems in the world.  After starting the film in Los Angeles, the filmmakers’ journey in exploring this issue has taken us to Northern California, Texas and Washington D.C.  Additionally, we have interviewed activists and experts from numerous regions of our country including New York, Michigan, and Alaska.  After talking to hundreds of students, teachers, parents, administrators, activists, experts, economists, politicians, and interviewing more than 40 individuals, we would like to say hello by sharing our first teaser.

Please be sure to check out the trailer and then share it on Facebook & Twitter today!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Robert Applebaum

Co-Founder & Executive Director
StudentDebtCrisis.org

#IdleNoMore World Day of Action

Today (January 28) is the first #IdleNoMore World Day of Action, with events and protests planned around the globe and in at least 30 Canadian cities.

This day of action will peacefully protest attacks on Democracy, Indigenous Sovereignty, Human Rights and Environmental Protections when Canadian MPs return to the House of Commons on January 28th. As a grassroots movement, clearly no political organization speaks for Idle No More. This movement is of the people …

INM urges the government of Canada to repeal all legislation; which violates Treaties, Indigenous Sovereignty and subsequently Environmental Protections of land and water.

INM is grateful to many leaders who have supported this vision and the movement of the grassroots people. “The Treaties are the last line of defense to protect water and lands from destruction,” stated Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs.

Here in Vancouver, the rally and Gathering of Nations will begin at 12:00 at the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Department office, near the intersection of Melville and Thurlow (1138 Melville st).

At the University of Mannitoba, Buffy Sainte-Marie will speak at the University of Manitoba Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. about the momentum of the movement as part of the university student union’s annual Week of Celebration. Students and youth from First Nations in Manitoba are walking this weekend along Highway 59 to rally at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Monday at 5 p.m. Sainte-Marie is expected to join the rally and round dance at the Manitoba Legislative Building today. Read more: Winnipeg Free Press

Mi’kmaq students stage #IdleNoMore rally at CBU

Chris Hayes, Cape Breton Post, January 25, 2013 — Dancing a round dance of friendship and speaking out against legislation by the federal Conservative government, Mi’kmaq students at Cape Breton University held a rally on Wednesday in support of the national grassroots Idle No More movement.

The students, who are in a Mi’kmaq governance class, wanted to raise awareness about legislation by the federal Conservative government they describe as a threat to their treaty rights and, in a wider sense, to all Canadians.

Class member Janine Christmas said the legislation is being pushed ahead without consultation with First Nations.

“These are things that not only affect our treaty rights and communities but also all Canadians,” she said.

Students wearing Idle No More T-shirts passed out information sheets to a crowd of CBU students and faculty at the rally about federal omnibus legislation called Bill C45, which was described as the bill causing greatest concern to First Nations across Canada.

A definition of aboriginal fishery in Bill C45 doesn’t recognize a moderate livelihood fishery and the bill drops protections that were in the Navigable Waters Protection Act for a list of federally protected lakes and rivers, reducing it in Nova Scotia, for instance, to just the Bras d’Or Lake, Great Bras d’Or and the LeHave River, the handout said.

The omnibus bill, which is about to be proclaimed by the Governor General, also changes how the federal government does environmental assessments in a way that could limit the role of First Nations people and alters the Indian Act when it comes to how bands may lease reserve lands to third parties. The new way of leasing land will be by “simple majority” voting.

The handout at the rally said there was no consultation on the changes to the Indian Act and chiefs feel the way they came about calls into question the honour of the Crown.

Christmas suggested a lower threshold could ease the way for the development of pipelines and power lines that are a threat to the environment and health.

First Nations have concerns about other federal legislation, she said.

The rally began with a smudging ceremony and honour song by the Stoney Bear Singers.

Read More: The First Perspective

 

From Kindergarten Cop to The Garrison School and Society

In the midst of a debate and impending action on gun control in the US, sparked by the senseless killing of 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on 14 December, “hundreds of law enforcement personnel descended on Lone Star College-North Harris today.” Yet another campus shooting left four injured while two suspects were rushed from the campus in handcuffs.

In the meantime, as Emily Richmond reported in The Atlantic today, some states are forging ahead with plans to arm teachers. “Utah teachers are far from the only ones expressing increased interest in concealed weapons. There has also been a jump in inquiries at gun training clinics in Florida, according to the Palm Beach Post, even though the state bans nearly all weapons at public schools…. In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, said she wouldn’t support allowing principals to carry weapons, as proposed by the state’s superintendent of public instruction. A bill to arm teachers in the Evergreen State faces an uphill battle as Democrats have the supermajority, Colorado Public Radio reports. But in Tennessee, where the Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, talk of arming teachers is more likely to gain momentum.”

This idea of gun-toting teachers has been gaining momentum, with the US National Rifle Association’s in your face ad released last week (Obama’s kids get armed guards, yours don’t), a month after gun expert and university professor John Lott said to Newsmax that gun-free zones in schools are “a magnet” for killers. Lott’s solution: arm teachers— “Simply telling them to behave passively turns out to be pretty bad advice . . . By far the safest course of action for people to take, when they are confronting a criminal, is to have a gun. This is particularly true for the people in our society who are the most vulnerable.”

What seems like an idea of fiction or Hollywood has some politicians pumped. For example, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul commented on 17 January that “if my kids were at that school [Sandy Hook Elementary], I would have preferred that the teacher had concealed-carry and had a gun in her desk… Is it perfect? No. Would they always get the killer? No. Would an accident sometimes happen in a melee? Maybe… but nobody (at the Connecticut school) had any defense, and he just kept shooting until he was tired and he decided to shoot himself.”

Republican and ex-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, like other actors and directors, maintains a boundary between movies and life: “one has to keep (the two) separate,” he said. What he does in movies such as the Raw Deal is “entertainment and the other thing [Sandy Hook massacre] is a tragedy beyond belief. It’s really serious and it’s the real deal.” He is at least up for taking a look at “how we deal with mental illness, how we deal with gun laws, how we deal with parenting.”

Of course, if the Kindergarten Cop was filmed today, John Kimble, the undercover cop come teacher, would be packing heat. Unlike the 1990 version, he wouldn’t have to be rescued by a pet ferret and another teacher with a baseball bat. In fact, the old movie makes ya kinda wonder why he wasn’t packin a 45.

When John Dewey wrote his influential The School and Society in 1900, he anticipated arming teachers with new ideas. Silly. He should have known what the NRA was up to in his day. By the late 1910s, forty years into its existence, the NRA had “succeeded in making it possible for any group of ten persons to get free rifles from the Government and free ammunition. That has added, of course, a bit to our sense of security,” it was claiming. For Dewey, the school and society were interconnected, as he saw it: the “New Education” reflected “larger changes in society.” “Can we connect this ‘New Education’ with the general march of events?,” he asked (p. 4). Indeed, todays edition of the classic text will have to be retitled The Garrison School and Society. And that first chapter will have to be rewritten to reflect the times– nowadays, we “Arm Teachers with New Guns, Not New Ideas.”

Judith Sayers on #IdleNoMore: ‘A real need to join the people’

Globe and Mail, Rob Mickleburgh, January 21, 2013 — As a former chief of the Hupacasath First Nation, a past executive member of the First Nations Summit and currently a visiting professor of business and law at the University of Victoria, Judith Sayers has long been one of B.C.’s most prominent natives, with a reputation for seeking solutions over confrontation. But there she was last week, part of the Idle No More highway blockade near Victoria. Afterward, Ms. Sayers talked with The Globe and Mail about her support for the burgeoning movement, and her unhappiness with current native leadership.

How was the protest?

I didn’t plan to go, but I was checking Twitter and felt a real need to join the people. It’s such a good feeling to be with people of one mind, walking, hearing the drums and the singing, and just listening to people.

What brought you to Idle No More, which is very much outside the formal channels you’re used to?

Well, those formal channels aren’t getting us anywhere. I have always said we need leaders who are going to put our issues on the front page, make them election issues. None of us, including myself, have been able to do that. I see this movement able to do that. It’s amazing. Our people have never really taken this kind of initiative before. It’s across the ranks. All of the issues have come to a boiling point.

Read More: Globe and Mail

Students and young people behind #IdleNoMore

What’s behind the explosion of native activism?  Young people

JOE FRIESEN
The First Perspective 

The First Perspective, Joe Friesen, January 20, 2013 — Erica Lee is a 22-year-old Cree woman raised by a single mother in a rough part of town. She’s the first of her family to finish high school, the first to go to university and, as an organizer of the Idle No More movement, she represents a sea change in Canadian life and politics.

When she was in high school in Saskatoon, Ms. Lee’s history teacher was a woman named Sheelah McLean, one of the four founders of Idle No More. Together they embody one of the movement’s most intriguing aspects: It has been led and organized almost entirely by young, university-educated women. But Idle No More is also shaped by a collision of demographic and historic forces: a very young population, rising levels of income and education and a community that has suffered decades of injustice. It reads like a recipe for a resistance movement.

So why is it taking off now and not five or 10 years ago? A critical mass of educated young people.

“One of the things I look at is the number of aboriginal students in university and college. In the early 1970s, the number was counted in the low hundreds. If you look now, you’ll find the number is around 30,000. It’s a staggering number, a wonderful indication of a major transformation,” said Ken Coates, Canada research chair in regional innovation at the University of Saskatchewan.

Prof. Coates describes Idle No More as part of a revolution of rising expectations. The number of aboriginal university graduates increased by a third between 2001 and 2006. Over that same period, incomes rose and employment grew. Forty-four per cent of those 25 to 64 now have some form of postsecondary credential. More and more young aboriginal people are connected to the mainstream economy, and more communities are finding some measure of prosperity through economic development. There’s a long way to go to achieve equality with the rest of Canada, but there are signs of progress.

“The whole balance in the first nations community is radically different than it was before,” Prof. Coates said. “They have companies, they have success, they have graduates. All these elements, which Canadians are not used to seeing, have made it so that first nations people are saying, ‘Why shouldn’t we aspire to more?’ ”

Ms. Lee is a fourth-year student in political philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan. She has been active in Idle No More since its first rally in a Saskatoon community centre, where she spoke to a humble gathering of 100 people. At the time, she thought it was no different than the other political activities she’d taken part in. The crowd was familiar, many of them veterans of the local activist scene, and there were no signs that this time was different. But within weeks, the movement started to take off.

Read More: The First Perspective

Gyasi Ross : : The #IdleNoMore Movement for Dummies (or, ‘What The Heck Are All These Indians Acting All Indian-Ey About?’)

Gyasi Ross, Indian Country Today Media Network, January 16, 2013 — Lately, Native people have taken to the streets malls in demonstrations of Public Indian-ness (“PI”) that surpasses the sheer volume of activism of even Alcatraz and the Longest Walk. There’s a heapum big amount of PI going on right now! Many people, non-Native and Native alike, are wondering what the heck is going with their local Native population and how this so-called #IdleNoMore Movement managed to get the usually muffled Natives restless enough to be Indian in public. I mean, like Chris Rock said, he hasn’t ever even met two Indians at the same time. He’s seen “polar bears riding a tricycle” but he’s “never seen an Indian family just chillin’ out at Red Lobster.”

Yet, now people can’t seem to get away from us.

And that’s cool—but isn’t that what pow-wows and November is for? People (non-Native and Native alike) can only take so much PI, right? Is that what the Idle No More Movement is—an extended Native American Heritage Month, where non-Natives have to act like they’re fascinated by Native culture?

In a word, no. It is much more. Please consider this a fairly exhaustive explanation of the Idle No More Movement, what it is not and what it is. If for some reason you cannot read the next 1000 or so brilliant words, I can be summed up thusly: the Idle No More Movement is not a new movement. Instead, it is the latest incarnation of the sustained Indigenous Resistance to the rape, pillage and exploitation of this continent and its women that has existed since 1492. It is not the Occupy Movement, although there are some similarities. It is not only about Canada and it is not only about Native people. Finally, and probably most importantly, it (and we) are not going away anytime soon. So get used to it (and us).

 

#IDLENOMORE MOVEMENT: WHAT IT IS ABOUT

“The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. It is the blood of our ancestors.”
Chief Plenty Coups, Apsaalooke

“…you have come here; you are taking my land from me; you are killing off our game, so it is hard for us to live.”
Tasunke Witko (Crazy Horse), Oglala Lakota

 As the above quotes display, the Indigenous Resistance to the raping and pillaging of the Earth is not new. Likewise, Indigenous peoples’ efforts to protect the mothers of our Nations—the women—are not new either. The Idle No More Movement is simply the latest chapter in that resistance.

Read More: Gyasi Ross, “The Idle No More Movement for Dummies” Indian Country Today Media Network, January 16, 2013

Dalhousie University Student Activism & Teach-In @ #IdleNoMore

Dalhousie University Teach-In videos, by Solidarity Halifax:

“An evening of education, action and ceremony, teachers share information and analysis on the economic and political structures that have and continue to shape a colonial relationship between First Nations and Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian state. The upsurge in parliamentary legislation in the form of Bill C-45 and other proposed bills is a recent manifestation of this relationship.”

See More: Halifax Media Co-op

Patricia Doyle-Bedwell : : #IdleNoMore A Movement for Change

Dal News, Misha Noble-Hearle, January 18, 2013 — Thirty years ago, Patricia Doyle-Bedwell sat in Dalhousie’s Student Union building with four other aboriginal students discussing issues such as class, racism and indigenous rights. She would never have guessed that 30 years later, more than 400 people would be packed into the Scotiabank Auditorium in support of, or simply eager to learn about, the same issues.

“I am overwhelmed with joy for the support of Idle No More,” says the Dalhousie professor and director of the Transition Year Program, speaking about the teach-in event held on campus last week.

Growth of a movement

Idle No More is a grassroots movement that began as an email exchange between four aboriginal activists in Saskatchewan last fall. Their discussions focused on Bill C-45, a 400-page bill passed in December 2012 by the Canadian government that made changes to the Indian Act, the Navigation Protection Act and the Environment Assessment Act, among others.

Worried how these changes would affect them and their treaty rights, the activists organized a rally in Saskatoon peacefully protesting the bill. Since then, the movement has caught fire, spreading rapidly and prominently around the country.

With live tweets during events and more than 75,000 “likes” on Facebook, Idle No More is powered by social media as well as the inaccuracies of mainstream media, says Howard Ramos, a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology and an expert in Canadian Aboriginal mobilization and issues of ethnicity and race.

“The movement spread not just through social media, but when the media got it wrong,” says Dr. Ramos.

Often, Idle No More has been portrayed in affiliation with Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike. After declaring that her First Nations band in Northern Ontario was in a state of emergency due to severe economic issues, she began a liquids-only diet on Dec. 11, 2012, demanding a meeting with Stephen Harper and Governor-General David Johnston. This media coverage sparked interest in Idle No More, merging the two separate movements, but Idle No More is about a lot more than one hunger strike.

The protection of Aboriginal Rights and environmental concerns are high on the to-do list of Idle No More organizers and supporters, but the movement also provides a platform for social learning and “unlearning,” an idea that Erin Wunker, English professor, explained at the January 8 event. She defined unlearning as the act of acknowledging something we thought was true as not being the truth.

“I am part of a population that has learned that I have always had a right to be here, and that is untrue,” said Wunker, identifying herself as a descendant of European-Canadian settlers. “We need to learn each other’s stories and unlearn the dominant discourse of them.”

Sparking a dialogue

Idle No More promotes education about issues that affect not only Aboriginal Canadians, but all Canadians, say those who are following it closely.

Read More: Dal News

U Fraser Valley (UFV) #IdleNoMore educational forum

University of the Fraser Valley (UFV)  #IdleNoMore Educational Forum

17 January
1:00 – 3:30
Aboriginal Gathering Place at the Canada Education Park campus in Chilliwack

The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) will host an Idle No More educational forum on January 17 from 1 to 3: 30 p.m. at the Aboriginal Gathering Place at the Canada Education Park campus in Chilliwack.

Speakers include:

  • Joanne Gutierrez (Xwiyolemot, Sto: lo/ Cree woman) who will talk about indigenous government and Idle No More capacity building
  • Sakej Warden (Master of Indigenous Government degree from University of Victoria Member of Warrior Societies Alliance) who will talk about indigenous nationhood
  • Hamish Telford (UFV political science instructor) who will talk about omnibus bills and Bill C-45
  • Robert Harding (UFV social work instructor) who will talk about media representation of the Idle No More movement and the context of the representation of aboriginal peoples and issues in the media

#IdleNoMore at U Victoria: Where do we go from here?

#IdleNoMore at U Victoria: Where do we go from here?

Teach-In and Public Forum

 

A town hall and public discussion co-sponsored by the Faculty of Human and Social Development and Indigenous Governance examines the Indigenous Peoples’ movement that is generating debate from coast to coast.

Panelists include:
Dr. Taiaiake Alfred (Professor, Indigenous Governance, UVic)
Janet Rogers (Victoria Poet Laureate, INM Victoria Organizer)
Mandee McDonald (MA Student, Indigenous Governance, UVic, INM Victoria/Denendeh Organizer)
Special Guest: Wab Kinew (Media Personality, Director of Indigenous Inclusion, University of Winnipeg).

What: “Idle No More: Where do we go from here?”
When: Wednesday, Jan. 16, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: First Peoples House, UVic

At social media command centre, U of S student in eye of storm of #IdleNoMore

Erica Lee, photo by Richard Marjan

Jeremy Warren, StarPhoenix, 16 January 2013: Erica Lee is at the centre of Idle No More and has witnessed the best and worst of the made-in-Saskatchewan national movement.

Lee, a 22-year-old University of Saskatchewan student, manages the movement’s main Facebook page, which serves as Idle No More’s unofficial headquarters. It’s the hub where people from around the world go to find help organizing rallies, share stories and support the cause.

The Idle No More page is also where people go to vent and berate. Lee spends much of her day checking it to remove racist and violent comments.

“A teenage boy sent me a message calling me a ‘squaw,’ ” Lee said while scrolling through comments at a computer in the U of S Aboriginal Students’ Centre this week. “I’ve deleted messages that say, ‘Quit drinking Lysol.’ That’s a really common one.”

Lee, who also sits on the Indigenous Students’ Council, is never without a cell-phone and she regularly checks it between classes. The page reached 1.5 million people in the week leading up to Friday’s meeting between First Nations leaders and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to Face-book measurements that account for views, “likes” and “shares.”

There are also posts that inspire, Lee says. She is particularly fond of a picture someone posted of a lone person standing on a building in Palestine holding an Idle No More poster.

Lee deletes much of the racist comments, but she doesn’t shy away from criticism. Many people have questions about the goals and activities of Idle No More and honest dialogue might lead to some good, Lee says.

“We don’t want to remove dissenting comments because we want a good discussion,” she said.

“If you delete a question, people will never learn. There’s still so much misunderstanding about First Nations in Canada.”

Read more: StarPhoenix

Sylvia McAdam @ U Regina on #IdleNoMore

Global News, 14 January 2013. At a presentation to University of Regina students on Monday, Idle No More co-founder Sylvia McAdam wasn’t afraid to air her own criticism of how some in the mass media have portrayed her grassroots movement.

“I have an issue with media. There is this automatic idea that indigenous people and leaders are misusing funds. That is not true,” McAdam told students, referring to allegations of mismanaged funds on Chief Theresa Spence’s Northern Ontario Attawapiskat reserve.

McAdam was also quick to point out that while they may share common goals, Chief Spence is separate from the Idle No More movement.  Her message to future journalists, besides making sure to get the facts straight was that more dialogue is needed.

Idle No More wasn’t present at the meeting on Friday between Stephen Harper and First Nations Chiefs. McAdam says they weren’t invited, but had they been, they would have probably not attended anyway because the government had made it clear Bill C-45 would not be repealed.

When asked if the movement will soon likely run out of steam, she replied, “Resistance is creative. It’s very creative. I don’t think it will slow down because on January 28th we’re having a worldwide Idle No more call to action, so it’s still growing.”

U of R professor Leonzo Barreno invited McAdam to speak to his Indigenous People and the Press class. He says it’s important for the students to hear all sides and to be able to sort out a very complicated and sensitive issue, but hesitates to liken Idle No More to other recent popular movements…

Read More Global News: Global News | Idle No More co-founder speaks of movement’s effectiveness

See video of Sylvia McAdam, Idle No More co-Founder, at the University of Regina (sponsored by The event was jointly sponsored by the School of Journalism, University of Regina, and the Indian Communication Arts program at the First Nations University of Canada).

Pamela Palmater :: Why We Are Idle No More

Pamela Palmater is a Mi’kmaq lawyer and professor in Ryerson University’s Department of Politics and Public Administration, and Director of the Centre in Indigenous Governance. For Idle No More, she argues that the Canadian government can no longer sustain its status quo relationship with First Nations people. “It’s supposed to be nation to nation,” she said yesterday.  “What we’re going to do is show you how to be a respectful partner… If they refuse [Canadian government], that’s their choice, but there will be consequences.” Her lead article in the Ottawa Citizen articulates some of the key reasons why indigenous people and allies in solidarity will be Idle No More:

Ottawa Citizen 28 December 2012. The Idle No More movement, which has swept the country over the holidays, took most Canadians, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government, by surprise.

That is not to say that Canadians have never seen a native protest before, as most of us recall Oka, Burnt Church and Ipperwash. But most Canadians are not used to the kind of sustained, co-ordinated, national effort that we have seen in the last few weeks — at least not since 1969. 1969 was the last time the federal government put forward an assimilation plan for First Nations. It was defeated then by fierce native opposition, and it looks like Harper’s aggressive legislative assimilation plan will be met with even fiercer resistance.

In order to understand what this movement is about, it is necessary to understand how our history is connected to the present-day situation of First Nations. While a great many injustices were inflicted upon the indigenous peoples in the name of colonization, indigenous peoples were never “conquered.” The creation of Canada was only possible through the negotiation of treaties between the Crown and indigenous nations. While the wording of the treaties varies from the peace and friendship treaties in the east to the numbered treaties in the west, most are based on the core treaty promise that we would all live together peacefully and share the wealth of this land. The problem is that only one treaty partner has seen any prosperity.

The failure of Canada to share the lands and resources as promised in the treaties has placed First Nations at the bottom of all socio-economic indicators — health, lifespan, education levels and employment opportunities. While indigenous lands and resources are used to subsidize the wealth and prosperity of Canada as a state and the high-quality programs and services enjoyed by Canadians, First Nations have been subjected to purposeful, chronic underfunding of all their basic human services like water, sanitation, housing, and education. This has led to the many First Nations being subjected to multiple, overlapping crises like the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, the water crisis in Kashechewan and the suicide crisis in Pikangikum.

Part of the problem is that federal “Indian” policy still has, as its main objective, to get rid of the “Indian problem.” Instead of working toward the stated mandate of Indian Affairs “to improve the social well-being and economic prosperity of First Nations,” Harper is trying, through an aggressive legislative agenda, to do what the White Paper failed to do — get rid of the Indian problem once and for all. The Conservatives don’t even deny it — in fact Harper’s speech last January at the Crown-First Nation Gathering focused on the unlocking of First Nations lands and the integration of First Nations into Canadian society for the “maximized benefit” of all Canadians. This suite of approximately 14 pieces of legislation was drafted, introduced and debated without First Nation consent.

Idle No More is a co-ordinated, strategic movement, not led by any elected politician, national chief or paid executive director. It is a movement originally led by indigenous women and has been joined by grassroots First Nations leaders, Canadians, and now the world. It originally started as a way to oppose Bill C-45, the omnibus legislation impacting water rights and land rights under the Indian Act; it grew to include all the legislation and the corresponding funding cuts to First Nations political organizations meant to silence our advocacy voice.

Our activities include a slow escalation from letters to MPs and ministers, to teach-ins, marches and flash mobs, to rallies, protests and blockades. The concept was to give Canada every opportunity to come to the table in a meaningful way and address these long-outstanding issues, and escalation would only occur if Canada continued to ignore our voices. Sadly, Prime Minister Harper has decided to ignore the call for dialogue just as he has ignored the hunger-striking Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence.

Although Idle No More began before Chief Spence’s hunger strike, and will continue after, her strike is symbolic of what is happening to First Nations in Canada. For every day that Spence does not eat, she is slowly dying, and that is exactly what is happening to First Nations, who have lifespans up to 20 years shorter than average Canadians.

Idle No More has a similar demand in that there is a need for Canada to negotiate the sharing of our lands and resources, but the government must display good faith first by withdrawing the legislation and restoring the funding to our communities. Something must be done to address the immediate crisis faced by the grassroots in this movement.

I am optimistic about the power of our peoples and know that in the end, we will be successful in getting this treaty relationship back on track. However, I am less confident about the Conservative government’s willingness to sit down and work this out peacefully any time soon. Thus, I fully expect that this movement will continue to expand and increase in intensity. Canada has not yet seen everything this movement has to offer. It will continue to grow as we educate Canadians about the facts of our lived reality and the many ways in which we can all live here peacefully and share the wealth.

After all, First Nations, with our constitutionally protected aboriginal and treaty rights, are Canadians’ last best hope to protect the lands, waters, plants and animals from complete destruction — which doesn’t just benefit our children, but the children of all Canadians.

Pamela Palmater is chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University and an indigenous activist with Idle No More.

Read more: Ottawa Citizen

Idle No More Vancouver w Ta’Kaiya Blaney

Today marked a milestone for Idle No More as thousands gathered for protests, sacred drumming and fires, and speeches sustained throughout the day, across Canada.  Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, one month into a hunger strike, made a brief press statement while other First Nations chiefs led rallies or represented in a high stakes meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In Vancouver, over 500 marched and rallied in solidarity on City Hall. As if on queue, at the mid point an eagle soared overhead, suddenly the PA system was patched, and the poignant statements of speakers resonated louder throughout the park at the seat of Vancouver government.

Shortly after, Ta’Kaiya Blaney stepped up to the mic and stilled the crowd with her resolute insights on Idle No More, education, and the environment. “We were given a voice for a reason,” she began, “to speak out for those who have no voice, like the whales, the salmon.”  “We have a voice and do not be afraid to speak out for what you’re passionate about, about what concerns you” she continued. “We were given that voice for a reason, to use it, and each and every one of us here has a gift, share it.” “We are idle no more.”

At 11 years old, Ta’Kaiya has already established herself as First Nations singer-songwiter and international activist. About a year ago, at an Occupy rally, she introduced Earth Revolution and without missing a step today from her position on Idle No More she performed a heartfelt rendition of this amazing song.

Idle No More @ Universities

University administrators in Canada are bracing as Idle No More energizes students, staff, and faculty members dissatisfied with business as usual. Protests have been fluid, with flashmobs and scaled demonstrations moving from streets to campuses and back. Massive demonstrations across the country were held today in solidarity with Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, now one month into a hunger strike, and other First Nations chiefs.

Carleton and Ottawa universities for the past week have seen a series of round dance flashmobs, and activism from the People’s Council of representatives of the movement, Indigenous students and communities, and the wider student movement. On 8 January, the Indigenous and Canadian Studies Students’ Association (ICSSA) of the University of Ottawa raised the following five demands for decolonization of the campus:

  1. That Omaniwininimowin (the Algonquin language) and Kanien’keha (the Mohawk language) be taught every semester, and that this leads to the creation of a minor in both these languages.
  2. A substantial increase in scholarships for Indigenous students by the administration of the University of Ottawa, in recognition of the treaty rights of Indigenous nations to higher education.
  3. An Indigenous portal on the University of Ottawa website, including a statement recognizing that our campus is built on non-ceded Algonquin nation territory.
  4. A commitment to the recognition of the Algonquin nation in the physical landscape of our campus, for example through the naming of buildings.
  5. The immediate and substantial increase in the allocation of resources to the Aboriginal Studies program in the Faculty of Arts, leading to the creation of an Institute of Indigenous Studies and Decolonization.

The Idle No More student movement is holding steadfast: “Higher education is a treaty right guaranteed to Indigenous nations that has been consistently violated by Canada. It is time for students and Indigenous nations to stand together and be IDLE NO MORE.”  The emphasis is on a “commitment to the struggle for justice in both higher education and the wider Indigenous and settler societies.”

Read more: Idle No More Community and Idle No More website