“The spread of false information on Wet’suwet’en and solidarity actions has resulted in Indigenous people being put in the line of hatred and danger. It has stoked the fire of anger from those who are less informed, or willfully ignorant, on the struggle of Indigenous people.”
“No matter the form each action has taken, there has been a common declaration among them: Reconciliation is dead. This is in response to the actions, or lack thereof, by Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, and John Horgan, the Premier of British Columbia.”
If we look at history, the “rule of law” is not always just. In the weeks following B.C.’s implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), we have regressed to a time where sovereign Indigenous peoples are once again being criminalized on their own land.
“I find myself extremely frustrated that the use of the word “genocide” to describe the violence and oppression that Indigenous Peoples in so-called North America have experienced and continue to experience has become a topic of controversy overshadowing the discussion of the violence and oppression themselves.”
“With the election safely behind us and the populist pressure to “do your civic duty” now relaxed until the next election cycle, I’d like to challenge a bit of the common wisdom surrounding participation in the so-called “democratic” process.”
It is not a matter of individual interests — it is a matter of ensuring our future as humanity. We need to recognize and support the efforts of those who are actively keeping the destruction of land and water in check.
“A recent genetic study of Skeena Sockeye salmon scales revealed that in the past 100 years, their population has decreased by over 75 per cent. This is no surprise to the Indigenous peoples of the Skeena watershed, as we have been watching this decline take place for generations.”
What does it take to turn colonial apathy into human empathy? We share the same planet, the same air, the same water, the same moon, and the same sun. We also share the same burden of imminent, human-induced climate change, as well as the greatest loss of planetary biodiversity in human history.
This July, I did not celebrate Canada 152. Canada remains a false country, because this is unceded Indigenous land, and because we are unceded Indigenous peoples. What I would like to celebrate is the resilience of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island.
