Indigenous artists reclaiming space with Ogima Mikana project
Recently in Toronto, a billboard popped up at the intersection of Queen and Noble. It wasn’t the ordinary advertisement, rather it was an image of the Dish with One Spoon wampum. Underneath the image, the billboard read, “If you want to learn something, learn this first.” The Dish with One Spoon wampum is an agreement made between Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabek peoples which predates Canada. The billboard is meant to interrogate people’s perceptions of place, as well it offers a reflection of the indigeneity of Toronto, which is historically shared territory between Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabek nationhood.
Susan Blight, one of the co-founders of the Ogima Mikana Project, said that these kinds of billboards are set to go up across Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Peterborough and Sault Ste. Marie. Blight is from Couchiching First Nation in Northwestern Ontario and works alongside Hayden King on this project. Together they secured funding from Ontario Arts Council to move this project forward.
Right now, a billboard with a stylized image of nearby Mount McKay and the words “Animkii-waajiw” adorns a billboard in Thunder Bay. “To use these commercial spaces to really centre and privilege Anishnaabe language and imagery and ways of thinking about place is not only about a historical relationship but also an ongoing one,” Blight said.
The billboard translates to the place where the thunderbirds land, and it’s the Anishnaabe name for Mount McKay. “It is a place, a sacred site for the NIshnawbe people that remains so to this day and remains an important part of our relationship to the land,” Blight continued. The billboard will remain up until Victoria Day weekend.
Family of Grassy Narrows youth want an inquiry into her death
On April 15, 2016, 14-year-old Azraya Kokopenace disappeared from the Lake of the Woods hospital. Earlier in the evening, Kenora police dropped the youth off at the hospital but they will not say why she was picked up. Two days later, Kokopenace’s body was found in the woods nearby.
The Grassy Narrows Youth Organization obtained footage of a video taken by a bystander that shows a male police officer struggling with Kokopenace on the ground. At one point, he puts his knee in her back. Police won’t comment on the situation because they’re not sure where the case will go.
However, Kokopenace’s family are seeking an inquest into the case because they want to know the full story. She was living with her family until she was placed in the temporary care of a First Nations Child Welfare agency in Kenora. According to a news release from the family: “Azraya was known to be suicidal following the death of her older brother, Calvin who suffered from Mercury poisoning and died at 17 in 2014 from health complications.”
Grassy Narrows is a small reserve located in Northwestern Ontario. It is plagued by the effects of mercury poisoning in the water caused by logging in the area. The coroner’s office is continuing the investigation saying it could take months to come to a conclusion.
Hypodermic needles washing up in Oneida floodplains
Used hypodermic needles are being found buried in the sand, along with empty saline packages, tourniquets and condoms on the floodplains of the Thames River in Oneida Nation of the Thames. Community members are becoming increasingly concerned because there are people who use the river and the land to sustain themselves and their families.
The floodplains are nowhere near residential areas, so Anthony Nicholas and Daryl Chrisjohn are wondering where the medical waste is coming from. They are concerned that the entire flood plain is becoming a medical waste dump. The continue to warn fishermen and children to stay away from that spot.
“It’s really changed the lifestyle here. I’m not sure where that future is going to hold if we can’t be safe down here with our kids and ourselves as to be aware of the needles being found like this,” said Nicholas. It happens that London, Ontario is 20 kilometres upstream and the city has one of the highest intravenous drug problems in the country.
There are 16 needle drop boxes throughout the city, placed near rivers, parks and playgrounds. Although the city doesn’t provide any funds specifically for the collection of discarded needles, there are several organizations that collect them.
“It’s very concerning and I know it concerns the fishermen and the hunters that are along the river cause we’re mostly the ones that are active down here. You know the water is everyone’s concern. It’s not just our concern,” said Nicholas.
Kinder Morgan Vancouver Port shut down as part of global act of civil disobedience
In an action organized by multiple Canadian environmental groups and Indigenous leaders, the Kinder Morgan port was shut down by hundreds of people marching on foot, as well 200 people in kayaks on the water. Together, they were shouting, “keep it in the ground!”
The action wasn’t limited to Canadian people. Across the globe, people took part in a collective act of civil disobedience to tell governments and industry to “break free” from fossil fuels. Protests shut down coal mines, rail infrastructure and the Kinder Morgan Port in Burnaby, British Columbia.
“The age of oil is over,” shouted Grand Chief Serge Simon from Kanesatake, Quebec. “With your help, if we all pull together, this thing is going to be a sorry memory in our history.” Kinder Morgan is currently proposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion which would seek to build a pipeline through various Indigenous communities on the West Coast. From Kinder Morgan’s port, the tarsands oil would be shipped out in oil tankers.
The National Energy Board has spent months reviewing Kinder Morgan’s 23. 000-page project application and will submit their decision to the federal government by Friday. The Prime Minister’s cabinet will decide by the end of the year. Considering that Canada recently endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which includes the right of Indigenous peoples to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, it will be interesting to note how Justin Trudeau and the federal government will move forward.
These global protests also seen actions in countries like Germany, Nigeria, Brazil and New Zealand. In the Phillipines city of Batangas, over 10. 000 people marched to oppose a coal fired power plant. People want energy companies to move away from oil and “keep it in the ground.”
