Welcome to our latest Idle No More email update. We have important news to share about a handful of the many awareness campaigns, Indigenous rights to self-determination campaigns, and Indigenous-led land and water protection actions. All across our territories, Indigenous youth, men, women, and Two-Spirit peoples are out on the land taking a stand and raising awareness. Whether our resistance comes in the form of art, music, or language revitalization camps, people are sharing food sovereignty knowledge, reclaiming cultural tradition, and holding space in response to the Indigenous child apprehension crisis. Our communities come together in so many different ways and bring a vast wealth of skills and knowledge to help advance Indigenous rights to self-determination and environmental protections.

Idle No More Stands In Solidarity with Justice for Our Stolen Children Organizers

Idle No More stands in solidarity with the Justice For Our Stolen Children (JFOSC) camp in Treaty 4 territory, and agrees with the organizer’s call to reform the foster care system in the province of Saskatchewan. The peaceful demonstration began in the late spring at the legislative building in Regina in response to the acquittal of Gerald Stanley in the murder of Colten Boushie and the acquittal of Raymond Cormier in the murder of teenager Tina Fontaine. The purpose of the camp is to expose and draw attention to the inequalities of the systems in place that kills Indigenous men, women, Two-Spirit people and children on a daily basis. The practices of these systems go unscrutinized by most Canadians.

On the morning of Wednesday, June 27, 2018, in Hamilton, Ontario, a jury of 5 women and 7 men found Peter Khill not guilty of the second-degree murder charge, for the intentional premeditated shooting of an unarmed Six Nations man, Jon Styres. The parallels between the Jon Styres and Colten Boushie cases cannot be ignored, as both cases highlight how Canadian jurys across the country continue to send the message to Indigenous communities, that Canadians private property holds more value than the lives of Indigenous Peoples. Both young men were unarmed on private property when they were shot. In both cases, the men standing trial for second-degree murder were found not guilty for the shootings.

Stop Termination!

On February 14, 2018 Prime Minister Trudeau gave a speech in Parliament announcing a new framework that would  legislate "Rights Recognition". The proposed framework  is a direct threat to Indigenous Peoples right to self-determination.  This proposed framework needs to be stopped.

Mohawk policy analyst Russell Diabo responds to the government's proposed  framework and discusses the termination tables: Video: Russell Diabo

These efforts are not new, but are a variation on rhetoric and policy that has been tried before in Canada and the United States. In the 1970’s, Dr. Buffy Sainte-Marie also discussed termination, the erosion of Treaties and the direct connection to resource extraction.  Watch the video at the link below and listen for parallels in the language:  Video: Dr. Buffy St. Marie

Colten Boushie was a 22-year-old from Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. In August 2016, Colten was shot and killed by a farmer.

On February 9th, the  jury and judge ruled that Gerald Stanley was acquitted of all charges.

In honor of the late Colten (Coco) Boushie, we are calling for a day of action to show solidarity and support for the Boushie and Baptiste family.

Gather wherever you are. Rallies and vigils by location will be posted here as soon as information is available.

We have now started the 22 week training in Opaskwayak Cree Nation. Ten community members are learning how to build and will be starting to build the sustainable village. It's a land - based curriculum that incorporates carpentry, indigenous knowledge, language and culture as well as design. Stay tuned for updates! 

On November 6th, The Bay Area group Idle No More worked with Issac Murdoch and members of the Onamon Collective, 350.org and Greenpeace  to paint a massive anti-DAPL message outside of Wells Fargo. This street painting drew in huge crowds sending the powerful message that water is life.

INM Solidarity statement  

For immediate release

Idle No More stands in solidarity with Indigenous Taiwanese who are currently occupying the 228 Peace Memorial Park/台北市二二八和平紀念公園. This current occupation has been for more than 260 days. INM calls for the Canadian government to impose immediate trade restrictions on Taiwan.