PRESS RELEASE
First Nations Push for Native Rights Reaches New Heights with 30 Foot Teepee on Ontario Legislature’s Lawn
For Immediate Release: June 25, 2007
TORONTO – Today members of the Grassy Narrows and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nations, with help from Rainforest Action Network and Christian Peacemaker Teams, erected a 30-foot painted teepee reading “Native Rights Now” in Queen’s Park outside the Ontario Legislature. The First Nations communities and their allies are calling on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to honour moratoria declared by Grassy Narrows and KI prohibiting industrial activity without consent in their traditional territories.
This action comes as Canada braces for a potentially disruptive National Day of Action for Indigenous Rights on June 29. Today’s events reflect the recent findings of the provincially commissioned Ipperwash Inquiry, according to which "the single biggest source of frustration, distrust, and ill-feeling among Aboriginal people in Ontario is our failure to deal in a just and expeditious way with breaches of treaty and other legal obligations to First Nations."
For the last decade, Grassy Narrows leaders have repeatedly called on Weyerhaeuser Corp., Abitibi Consolidated and all levels of government to halt logging and procurement from their traditional lands in the boreal forest without consent. Provincially licensed clear-cut logging is a violation of their right to hunt, trap and fish, as guaranteed in Treaty 3 of 1873. In December 2002, the Grassy Narrows community began the longest running peaceful Native road blockade in Canadian history to halt the degradation of their land and culture.
”When it arrived in office four years ago, the McGuinty government spoke the language of hope and renewal with regard to the rights of First Nations. Instead, its policy has contributed to the continued demise of our culture by giving our land – without our consent – to companies like Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi that are destroying what is most important to us. The government has a chance to correct this injustice by respecting our moratorium and our human rights,” said Chief Simon Fobister of Grassy Narrows.
In February 2006, KI found a drilling company operating on behalf of Aurora, Ontario-based Platinex Inc. on their traditional territory without consent. The community held a peaceful protest, and the drilling crew eventually pulled out. Platinex then filed a 10 billion dollar lawsuit and filed for an injunction to remove community members from its drilling operations. KI had issued a moratorium on all activities until their treaty land entitlement and the Crown duty to consult and accommodate were met. The province continued to grant Platinex drilling permits even though the company had failed to meet the Supreme Court requirement that it consult with First Peoples prior to commencing industrial operations on Indigenous lands. KI’s position is that the McGuinty government acted illegally by failing to meet Supreme Court standards of consultation and by not dealing seriously with the outstanding land claims.
“The McGuinty government says it respects aboriginal and treaty rights, yet they continue to attack First Peoples when we stand up for the rights of our people,” said John Cutfeet, KI councilor and spokesperson. “One of the goals of consultation as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada is reconciliation. But how can you reconcile when the Crown continues to wage war on First Peoples and their rights on a daily basis?”
The McGuinty government faces increasing international scrutiny for its refusal to address the environmental and human rights concerns of First Nations communities. In a recent letter to Premier McGuinty, the human rights organization Amnesty International wrote that the situation of the people of Grassy Narrows "stands as a stark example of the inadequate safeguards for the land rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada."
“Years of opposition to provincially licensed logging and mining exploration have been ignored by both the McGuinty government and companies like Weyerhaeuser and Platinex that continue to profit from resource extraction on Indigenous ancestral land,” said David Sone, Old Growth campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. “With industrial demand for wood at a historic low and public support for Indigenous land rights at an all time high, McGuinty has a perfect opportunity to honour the land rights of these communities and protect the boreal forest.”
One of the world’s last remaining wild forests, the Canadian boreal is the planet’s largest land-based carbon storehouse and holds the most freshwater of any ecosystem on earth.
High resolution, rights-free photos are available at www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork. B-Roll Available on-site.
For more information, visit FreeGrassy.org.
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Grassy Narrows is a Native Community of 800 people located approximately 80 km northeast of Kenora, Ontario.
KI is a Native community of 1200 people located approximately 377 miles north of Thunder Bay, accessible by air year round and winter road during January, February, March.
Rainforest Action Network runs hard-hitting campaigns to break North America’s oil addiction, protect endangered forests and Indigenous rights, and stop destructive investments around the world through education, grassroots organizing and non-violent direct action.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is an international violence- reduction program initiated by the historic peace churches and supported by a wide range of Christian denominations around the world. CPT currently has projects in Palestine and Colombia. CPT Canada accompanied the Grassy Narrows blockade from 2002 to 2004.
