Idle No More and Defenders of the Land stand with the Lakota Nation, Owe Aku, Protect the Sacred, Honor the Earth, and all land defenders opposing Keystone XL.  We stand with our neighbours to honour the treaties, protect sacred water, and to defend the Indigenous ways of life. 

Below is a statement from Honor the Earth that has been developed in collaboration with the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred.  Check the information links below and organize a vigil in your community in solidarity with the Lakota resistance to the Keystone XL Pipeline.

By Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
A Native American alliance is forming to block construction of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline which still needs final approval from U.S. President Barack Obama after the State Department released an environmental report indicating the project wouldn’t have a significant impact Alberta tar sands production.

Members from the seven tribes of the Lakota Nation, along with tribal members and tribes in Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, Nebraska and Oregon, have been preparing to stop construction of the 1,400 kilometre pipeline which is slated to run, on the U.S. side, from Morgan, Mon., to Steel City, Neb., and pump 830,000 barrels per day from Alberta’s tar sands. The pipeline would originate in Hardisty, Alta.

The Idle No More-Defenders of the Land Joint crowdfunding campaign has surpassed its goal! - with 36 hours left in our campaign, your support can help the movement do even more!!

Thank you to all of you who have contributed, pushing our campaign over the top. We are all part of a movement, and your support will make it stronger.

Let’s continue to show our commitment to the Indigenous-led movements happening across North America by coming out into the streets and onto the land, and by contributing directly to local community struggles.

Also, there are only 36 more hours to contribute to the Idle No More-Defenders of the Land joint crowdfunding campaign!  Lend your support and get some of the brand new perks from the award-winning Indigenous-made film Empire of Dirt!

Check it out and spread the word: www.idlenomore.ca/support

By Faith Gemmill as guest blogger for platformlondon.org (photo credits: Faith Gemmill)

Idle No More and Defenders of the Land groups and supporters across the country are beginning to organize a wave of local Teach-ins starting today, January 28th and beyond, around the proposed First Nation Education Act (FNEA) and the broader Indigenous Termination Plan that it represents.  

Organize your own Teach-In and check out these videos and resources you could use!

We recognize that every Nation and community has their own unique stories, struggles, and practices and we hope that every teach-in is rooted in the on-the-ground realities that are at the heart of the Idle No More movement.

As part of this wave of Teach-Ins, Idle No More and  Defenders of the Land are encouraging people across the country to wear the “Got Land?  Thank an Indian” shirt to their schools, workplaces, or neighbourhoods to spark conversations about Canada's true record on Indigenous rights.  Take action and learn more about the Got Land? Campaign

Here is a list of Teach-Ins that will be taking place on January 28th to launch an ongoing wave on winter Teach-Ins.  If you don’t see your Teach-In add it to the website!

Idle No More organizers and supporters led round dances outside several of the Honour the Treaties concerts and helped to gather signatures and donations in support of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s (ACFN) legal challenge against the Federal Government and Shell Canada.

by âpihtawikosisân (Image credit, Strong Families)

It is so easy to get bogged down by all the problems indigenous peoples face. Poverty, suicide, addiction, disease, incarceration, homelessness, violence — where does one even begin to address these things?

We can cast our nets widely, and see the big picture in all its ugly colonial horror. This is absolutely necessary; but philosophically deconstructing colonialism can only get us so far when so many indigenous peoples are struggling just to have their basic needs met.

By EDELO - Creative Time Reports (Photo Credit: TJ Scenes / Cesar Bojorquez/Flickr)

December 30, 2013 |  Mexico was said to be one step away from entering the “First World.” It was December 1992, and Mexico’s then-president, Carlos Salinas, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The global treaty came with major promises of economic development, driven by increased farm production and foreign investment, that would end emigration and eliminate poverty. But, as the environmentalist Gustavo Castro attests in our video, the results have been the complete opposite—increased emigration, hunger and poverty.