This February 14th, 2012 Let’s Have a Heart for First Nations Children in Canada
February 14 is a Have a Heart Day for First Nations Children
At 10:30 am come to the Parliament Hill on unceded Algonquin Territory to be in solidarity with all First Nations Children, Demand CULTURALLY BASED EQUITY!
From February 13th to 15th, the Federal Court will hear an appeal on a human rights case that challenges Canada’s racially discriminatory underfunding of children’s welfare services on First Nations reserves by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (the Caring Society) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Timed to coincide with this hearing, the Caring Society has declared February 14th “Have a Heart Day for First Nations children”.
Allies of First Nations children, led by the students of Lady Evelyn Alternative School and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School joined by the other high school students in the local area, are organizing a rally on Parliament Hill to show Canada we care about First Nations children!
Tuesday, February 14th 10:30 am ~ 11:45 am Parliament Hill, unceded Algonquin Territory
We are calling upon peoples at all ages to join the children and youth in the rally on Feb. 14 at 10:30 am.
If the Caring Society and AFN are successful in this human rights case, it will set a precedent to addressfunding inequities in all areas on reserves, including housing, education, recreation, health care, clean water and sanitation. Canada is not arguing this case on the facts relevant to whether discrimination is occurring rather they are trying to avoid a hearing on this matter using legal loopholes.
Tentative Schedule:
10:30 Kitigan Zibi First Nation children and youth welcome students
10:35 Wesley Prankard of northernstarfish.org speaks about making a positive difference for First Nations children
10:40 Annie Atnikov, Lisa Howell and Cindy Blackstock announce new book “Children have Power”
10:45 Lady Evelyn Students (3-5) read letters or portions thereof
11:00 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Students (3-5 ) read letters or portions thereof
11:15 Kitigan Zibi First Nation Students (3-5) read letters of portions thereof
11:30 Children put letters into the mail box
11:35 Charlie Angus leads children singing Diamonds in the snow and children make snow angels on the way to their buses:)Together, we demand Culturally Based Equity for all peoples!!
source: First Nations Child and Families Caring Society
Support the Algonquins of Barriere Lake Demand Canada Remove Their Indian Act Band Council & Recognize Barriere Lake’s Customary Government
At 10 am, on Tuesday January 24, Barriere Lake Algonquins and allies will rally in front of the Crown and First Nations leaderships’ meeting at the old Ottawa City Hall. In April 2010, the Minister of Indian Affairs imposed a foreign system of governance (Indian Act electoral system) on the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake to avoid honouring the signed agreements and recognizing legitimate leadership.
Barriere Lake’s Customary Governance Code is recognized and affirmed by Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. By interfering in Barriere Lake’s internal affairs, using section 74 of the Indian Act to forcibly assimilate and destroy the community’s traditional government — a traditional government the community has used for countless generations — The Harper government is violating the Canadian Constitution, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples.
“Even after the Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology on behalf of Canadians to former students of the Indian Residential Schools in 2008, the Canadian government has continuously failed to reverse their colonial relationship with our community. Revoking Section 74 of the Indian Act in our community and respecting our customary leadership is the only way to send a positive message on their sincerity to reset our nation-to-nation relationship between First Nations and Canada across the country.” said Norm Matchewan, a youth community spokesperson.
At 10 am, on Tuesday January 24 as the Crown and First Nations leaderships gather at the old Ottawa City Hall, Barriere Lake Algonquins and our allies will rally in front of the meeting place to demand the Canadian government:
REVOKE SECTION 74 OF INDIAN ACT! RECOGNIZE BARRIERE LAKE’s CUSTOMARY CHIEF AND COUNCIL! RESPECT BARRIERE LAKE’S SOVEREIGNTY AND SELF-DETERMINATION!
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For further information and interview:
Norm Matchewan, Barriere Lake Community spokesperson: 819-334-0047
For a good background video on Section 74 and the Barriere Lake struggle, see this short 4-minute film: http://vimeo.com/23103527
In April 2010, the Minister of Indian Affairs imposed a foreign system of governance (Indian Act electoral system) on the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake to avoid honouring the signed agreements and recognizing legitimate leadership.
At 10 am, on Tuesday, Jan. 24 as the Crown and First Nations leaderships gathered at the old Ottawa City Hall, come out to join Barriere Lake Algonquins at a rally in front of the meeting place to show your solidarity and demand CANADIAN government:
photo credit: Mike Barber
REVOKE SECTION 74 OF INDIAN ACT! RECOGNIZE BARRIERE LAKE’s CUSTOMARY CHIEF AND COUNCIL! RESPECT BARRIERE LAKE’S SOVEREIGNTY AND SELF-DETERMINATION!
10 am Old City Hall, 111 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory.
On Wednesday, January 25, 2012, the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa (IPSMO) will present the following films as part of the OPIRG Ottawa Film Festival:
2:00 PM: Kinàmàgawin: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom
A film by Canadian Studies MA student Melissa Santoro Greyeyes-Brant and filmmaker/Carleton University alumnus Howard Adler, “Kinamagawin: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom” examines the difficulties and challenges in discussing Aboriginal issues in post-secondary classrooms. See the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vjQgpEryVM
Image credit: OPIRG-Ottawa
Q&A with the filmmakers after the screening
8:00 PM: Reel Injun
(Presented in partnership with the Aboriginal Studies Program)
“Reel Injun” takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through the history of cinema. Travelling through the heartland of America, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond looks at how the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding – and misunderstanding – of Natives.
Discussion will follow after the film with Sheila Grantham (Anishinabe/Metis and a doctoral candidate in the School of Canadian Studies) and David Welch, a member of IPSMO and professor at University of ottawa.
As the crisis of inadequate housing and colonial repression continues in Attawapiskat and other First Nations, what can we do to hold our governments accountable for the prevalent violence deliberately perpetrated against these unique peoples?
Photo Credit: Liam Sharp,
With our gratitude and respect to the original peoples of this land we live on, and acknowledgement of the over 500 years of their resistance to colonialism, patriarchy and racism, in the spirit of reconciliation, we ask all to show solidarity by:
learning about the root causes of the crisis;
speaking out against the governments and media’s misrepresentation of the issues;
rallying in front of the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday, February 14 at 10:30 am as it hears a landmark human rights case on Canada’s systematic underfunding of services on First Nations reserves; and
attending the court to show your solidarity during the hearing of this unprecedented human rights case (Feb. 13-15) at the Supreme Court of Canada
Details about each of these actions follow, below.
1. Learn more
Check out the link below for an overview and other insightful analysis of the crisis in Attawapiskat:
We must speak out against skewed, colonialist misrepresentations of the situation wherever we encounter them in our daily lives.
We also must let public officials know about our disgust with the federal government’s shameful victim-blaming response to the humanitarian emergency in Attawapiskat, and the Ontario government’s irresponsibility to the well-being of the First Nation. We must demand peace, justice and equity for all of First Nations peoples. It is our responsibility.
Here are a few suggestions for officials to write to:
John Duncan, Federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development: minister@aadnc-aandc.gc.ca, Phone: 819-997-0002, FAX: 819 953 4941
David Johnston, Governor General of Canada: info@gg.ca, Phone: 613-993-8200, Fax: 613-998-8760
You can also contact your member of Parliament (contact info can be found here: http://bit.ly/pKCBj4), and member of Provincial Parliament (see http://bit.ly/dl8sdz)
3. Attend Have a Heart Day Rally
Tuesday, February 14th 10:30 am ~ 11:30 am Parliament Hill, unceded Algonquin Territory
Bring your creative signs to support First Nations children!
From February 13th to 15th, the Federal Court will hear an appeal on a human rights case that challenges Canada’s racially discriminatory underfunding of children’s welfare services on First Nations reserves by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (the Caring Society) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). Timed to coincide with this hearing, the Caring Society has declared February 14th “Have a Heart Day for First Nations children”.
Allies of First Nations children, led by the students of Lady Evelyn Alternative School and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School, are organizing a rally in front of the courthouse to show Canada we care about First Nations children!
The case is relevant to Attawapiskat because it centres on the principle of culturally based equity that essential services accessed by First Nations children and families on reserves should be funded at a level equal to the funding level for all of Canadian residents. If the Caring Society and AFN are successful in this human rights case, it will set a precedent to address funding inequities in all areas on reserves, including housing, education, recreation, health care, clean water and sanitation. Canada is not arguing this case on the facts relevant to whether discrimination is occurring rather they are trying to avoid a hearing on this matter using legal loopholes.
We are calling upon peoples to attend the rally on Feb. 14 at 10:30 am in front of the Supreme Court of Canada (301 Wellington Street).
4. Court Support throughout the Federal Court Appeal on the child welfare case
Feb 13-15, 2012 9:30 am ~ 4:30 pm (10:30, 2:30 coffee break & noon-1pm lunch break) Federal Court 90 Spark Street, Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory
The Caring Society is calling upon observers to attend the hearing of the appeal throughout these three days.
For more information on this appeal please see above or check this web site: www.fnwitness.ca. If you have any questions regarding this court support, please e-mail Sylvia at info@projectofheart.ca.
In a harsh and regressive display of colonial paternalism, the Canadian government has used the acute housing crisis in Attawapiskat, a Northern Ontario Cree First Nation, to deny the community’s inherent right to handle its own affairs. The Federal government has done this by imposing Third Party Management (TPM), seizing complete control of all the community’s financial decisions for programs and services on the reserve. TPM is the most extreme and intrusive step the department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) can impose financially on a First Nation community. It is a shameful act of colonialism — one imposed on at least 10 other First Nations communities in Canada. The Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake whom IPSMO have been supporting for over three years is also under Third-Party Management.
Denial: The Oppressive Shape of Canadian Colonialism Today
Instead of providing immediate support for Attawapiskat to overcome their inhuman living conditions, the Harper government insinuated that the problem was due to financial mismanagement by the band council and imposed TPM. By doing so he blamed the victims, denied his responsibility and ignored the urgent needs of the people. He knows that to accept responsibility and act for Attawapiskat would mean accepting responsibility for many other similar situations in Canada.
We need to remember how long it has taken, and continues to take, for the government to accept responsibility for the horror of residential schools. The response of the Minister to the situation of Attawapiskat and other First Nations is similar in its pattern of denial.
Attawapiskat First Nation (Treaty 9, Ontario) is not the only community suffering from housing crises and other dire living conditions including lack of clean running water, sanitation services, electricity and health care. Many other communities such as Pikangikum (Treaty 5, Ontario), Kashechewan (Treaty 9, Ontario), Sandy Bay (Treaty 1, Manitoba), and Kwicksutaineuk-Ah-kwa-mish (BC) are also in the same predicament as Attawapiskat. This has been going on for years and the list of communities could be expanded.
Why do the First Nations communities live in such dire conditions in a country that is rich in natural resources and whose human development index is ranked No. 6 in the world in 2011?
The answers are simple.
The root causes behind the crises facing Attawapiskat and many other First Nations communities across Canada, and their treatments from both the federal and provincial governments might seem complex, however, they can be traced to a few important points:
Racism. The original peoples of this land have been treated as they do not seem to exist when making decisions on the use of their home territory. Their existence as peoples, as part of the lands, have not been respected.
Canada’s continuous colonial policies of dispossession and exploitation of native lands, as well as assimilation, displacement and genocide of native communities.
Dishonour of the Crown, Canada and Provinces in the signed nation-to-nation treaties and agreements.
Canada’s ”Indian” policy is all about the wresting control of the land and its valuable “resources” from the land. How can you take the Land? The following two articles explain it.
But there are reasons behind this suffering. There is a history. There is a structure to oppression, denial and indifference that houses this suffering and there is a system that perpetuates it. – Robert Lovelace
The solution to the problem of First Nations psychological and financial dependency on the state caused by colonialism is the return of land to First Nations and the re-establishment of First Nations presences on and connections to their homelands. – Taiaiake Alfred
Overview – What have been going on?
On October 28, Theresa Spence, the chief of Attiwapiskat First Nation declared a state of emergency due to a chronic, systemic housing crisis and poor living conditions in the community. About 300 families and 90 people on this Northern Ontario reserve are living in makeshift housing such as unheated tents, sheds, and trailers, many with no running water, heat, plumbing or electricity. Many of the houses in the community are infested with mold. The medical workers there say peoples’ lives are at risk from the coming winter cold and health problems, such as infectious diseases, scabies, lice, respiratory problems and acute depression, associated with the crowded, unsanitary living conditions. Substance abuse and suicide often follow.
source: Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press
The chief estimated at least 268 new houses are needed, and many other houses are in need of major repair.
Since a state of emergency was declared almost two months ago, instead of receiving immediate supports from both the federal and provincial governments, the community has received:
Jurisdictional wrangling between the federal government and Ontario on who should be responsible for the emergency, who should pay for the needs of the people
Blaming from the feds on their financial mismanagement, which isn’t true
Punishment with third-party management
Red tape & bureaucracy in order to have their state of emergency recognized and needed funds allocated
While the spotlights were on the Attawapiskat’s state of emergency and the governments’ illogical, irrational victim blaming and finger pointing on who should be responsible for the emergency, other news also brought to light that the federal government has spent tones of money in spying on a respectful First Nations child welfare advocate – Cindy Blackstock – as well as many other Indigenous peoples and their supporters for defending Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination and land rights.
It is very clear that Canada has not changed its colonial attitude and its ultimate objective of genocide of the First peoples of this land, even after its Residential School Apology issued on June 11, 2008. The actions of the Canadian government speak louder than its words.
On December 1, Attawapiskat First Nation issued a press release in response to the fed’s decision on putting the community under third-party management and its misinformation on the community’s financial situation. In this release:
Chief Spence has said. “On our traditional lands, that we once shared in the past with the visitors to our land, our lands, have proven to be bountiful in natural resources, and have been a benefit to all of Ontario, and Canada, but we were left behind. In our territory, we have a world class diamond mine, the pride of the Canadian, and Ontario governments, as well as De Beers Canada. They have every right to be proud of that mine, but each party has failed to acknowledge the First Nation peoples who continue to use the land as our grandparents did.
While they reap the riches, my people shiver in cold shacks, and are becoming increasing ill, while precious diamonds from my land grace the fingers, and necklaces of Hollywood celebrities, and the mace of the Ontario Legislature.
My people deserve dignity, humane living conditions, for that our community asked for the assistance from my fellow citizens, for our simple request for human dignity, the government’s decision was to impose a colonial Indian Agent.”
IPSMO member Sylvia Smith receives Governor General’s Award for educational project on residential schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2011
OTTAWA – Sylvia Smith, for her work as coordinator of Project of Heart, will be presented with a Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching on Monday.
Sylvia Smith presenting Project of Heart at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Project of Heart is a hands-on, collaborative, inter-generational, inter-institutional artistic endeavour that commemorates the lives of the thousands of Indigenous children who died as a result of the Indian Residential School experience.
Participants have used the learning module to connect with a specific residential school history and the Indigenous people whose traditional territory the school was located on, and have shared the experience with an Aboriginal elder and/or residential school survivor. Follow-up research and social justice action is part of the process for each participant.
Smith founded Project of Heart in 2007 in collaboration with her students at Elizabeth Wyn Wood Alternate High School Program in Ottawa, and over 50 schools, faith communities, and workplaces across Canada have since taken part.
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa (IPSMO) member Pei-Ju Wang states, “We are very pleased to see this award recognizing the work that Sylvia and others with Project of Heart have done to help non-Aboriginal Canadians acknowledge, and take ownership and action for, the devastating policy of residential schools that continues to have lasting effects on Indigenous peoples here. Her contributions to our group’s work have similarly been about moving people towards achieving justice, understanding and healing in the relationship between the Canadian state and the First Peoples of this land.”
Warren McBride, a fellow teacher at Elizabeth Wyn Wood, observes, “One of the main attributes of Project of Heart is that it provides an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge of the past to issues that are continuing today. Sylvia has been able to create an educational experience that has direct relevance to the news headlines of December 2011.”
Smith herself says, “Project of Heart is something that belongs to all who embrace it. Indeed, it is the collective aspect of the Project that gives it its strength. I am honoured to be the name attached to it.”
IPSMO is committed to documenting what we can of the various events we help to put on, as well as other content that is relevant.
We have both a YouTube channel and Vimeo account through which we publish these videos.
Here is one of our most recent videos recorded in Nov. 2011:
The Psychic Landscape of Contemporary Colonialism, Lecture by Taiaiake Alfred, of the Indigenous Governance program, University of Victoria
November 9, 2011 – University of Ottawa – Unceded Algonquin Territory
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Indigenous Peoples Land and Resource Rights in Latin America: Law and Practice Lecture by José Aylwin, Observatorio Ciudadano, Universidad Austral de Chile
José is a well known lawyer from Chile, specializing in indigenous rights.
November 17, 2011 – Université de Québec en Outaouais – Unceded Algonquin Territory
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The Achuar vs Talisman Energy
Peas Peas Ayui, President of the National Achuar Federation of Peru with Gregor MacLennan of Amazon Watch
The Achuar are resisting attempts by Calgary-based Talisman Energy to drill for oil on their traditional territory in the northern Peruvian Amazon
November 25, 2011 – University of Ottawa – Unceded Algonquin Territory
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Some other videos are:
Cindy Blackstock, ‘Is This Our Canada’ public lecture (How racial discrimination in children’s services undermines the potential of this generation of First Nations children and what you can do to help) Sept 2010:
It is our honour to have an Indigenous Achuar leader from the northern Peruvian Amazon come to visit us. He is Peas Peas Ayui, the president of the National Achuar Federation of Peru and he will be accompanied by Gregor MacLennan, an anthropologist with Amazon Watch. They come here, far away from their home, with a mission! Peas Peas will be sharing the stories of his people – the stewards of the Amazon rainforest – and their struggle and determination to stop Talisman Energy, an oil and gas corporation based in Calgary, from destroying their ancestral territory and their way of life.
The Achuar people need us, you and I, to stand with them for their fight to protect the rainforest!
Please come and join us on Friday evening to meet with Peas Peas and Gregor.
7:00 p.m. Friday November 25
University of Ottawa, Lamoureux Hall (LMX), Room 122,
Unceded Algonquin Territory
This trailer has Spanish subtitles but the documentary we will be showing will have English subtitles.
“We demand that the Peruvian government immediately annuls the contracts for blocks 64 and 101 and that Talisman immediately withdraws from our territory.”
Achuar public statement, March 28th 2010
Amazon Watch is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. For more about the organization: http://amazonwatch.org/about,
This event is a special event in collaboration with the Cinema Academica weekly series of film screenings at University of Ottawa. For more info on Cinema Academica: Wayne Sawtell, 613-421-1373.
Barriere Lake Solidarity Collective presents Fundraising Raffle for BARRIER LAKE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
Spread the word and join the raffle!
Grand Prize: Dakhlawedi (Eagle: High Honour), art work by Brad Henry
Raffle ticket: $5.00 each or 3 for $10.00
Draw on Oct. 27, 2011 at the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ (CUPW) National Convention held in Toronto. You need not be present to win.
If you wish to purchase raffle tickets, please contact Dave Bleakney at dbleakney@cupw-sttp.org.
About The Algonquins of Barriere Lake:
The Algonquins of Barriere Lake have been fighting for years to ensure Canada and Quebec honour the Trilateral Agreement, a landmark resource co-management agreement signed in 1991. The governments are determined to quash the agreement and are now trying to seize sensitive community documents supporting the fight for the Trilateral Agreement. These documents include research on traditional land use & occupancy, wildlife habitat studies, and land claims research.
Barriere Lake is being forced to take costly legal action to protect themselves against the actions of the Canadian government. They cannot succeed without your support!
Monthly legal costs that the Algonquins of Barriere Lake must incur will rise into the tens of thousands of dollars by the end of the year, amounting to approximately $30,000 by December 2011.
Brad was born in Whitehorse, Yukon and raised in Vancouver and has had a lifetime of exposure to, and experience with, Northwest Coast Aboriginal art. His artwork strives to bring positive energy into the world and pass on the legends and beliefs of his Tlingit and Vuntut Gwitch’in ancestors. On various occasions, he has lectured at the University of Ottawa on present day Tlingit culture and art. In addition, his artworks can be found in collections worldwide. Check out his web: http://www.peoplesofthelonghouse.com/
Feb 13-15, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa 