Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth.
Even though it's been a long time coming, IMO this has been even more Didn't see that coming than Occupy Wall Street.
Why it's happening now is the Conservative omnibus budget Bill C-45, which abolishes federal protection of waterways and abrogates treaty rights by facilitating the sale of reserve land without consultation. So there's that, the Tar Sands, and the hundreds of years of atrocities preceding. (And still no national inquiry into the hundreds of missing and murdered aboriginal women.)
Last year, the conditions in the community of Attawapiskat scandalized the country and embarrassed the government, which proceeded to blame the victim.
The Chief of Attawapiskat, Theresa Spence, is now in her 13th day of a hunger strike. She's camped on an island close to the parliament. Her demand is to meet with Stephen Harper. He's refused. But he has tweeted "mmm... bacon." Some find this to be inappropriate.
And this is perfect:
Canadians are a tolerant people, right? It’s certainly something we pride ourselves on. The Idle No More movement provides an ideal opportunity to test this notion, as Canadians turn to mass media outlets online to express their thoughts about the matter.
Let’s take, for example, the comments on articles about Idle No More from a variety of media outlets: Globeandmail.com, CBC.ca, NationalPost.com and CTV.ca, just as easy examples. By this I mean the comments that have not been removed for being blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, violent, vulgar, or hateful. The ordinary stuff, in other words. The ideas and opinions that are helping to form and reflect actual public opinion on this important issue.
Now, it would, at first blush, be easy to read some of the comments on those articles as intolerant. But let’s face it: people often misread online communication. So it’s only fair to give these folks the benefit of the doubt, and try to understand where they are coming from. It’s the Canadian way, eh?
Here, then, are examples of several of the most common statements made in comments on these articles, thoughtfully translated so the tolerance really stands out.
What they say: All people are equal, and should be treated the same.
What they must mean: I’m willing to trade situations with any Inuit or First Nations person at any time.
...
What they say: First Nations and Inuit people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
What they must mean: I never had a single opportunity in my life. My people were downtrodden for a few hundred years, my language was beaten out of me, my family was broken by residential schools, my access to health care was poor, I was economically and socially isolated, I had little opportunity for jobs or education, and yet I became the selfless contributor to society that I am today all by myself.
What they say: Native people need to get with the times and join the rest of Canadian society.
What they must mean: A wasteful, polluting materialist culture for everyone!
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