[Indigsol] Ottawa Solidarity Event with Grassy Narrows & RELEASE: Sacred fire at Queen's Park marks 10 years of the Grassy Narrows logging blockade

[ipsm ottawa]

*Ottawa Solidarity Event to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Grassy
Narrows Blockade - Please spread widely.*
*
*
*Grassy Narrows Blockade 10 years in Resistance*
*Film Screening and Discussion
**7:00 PM Wednesday December 5th
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Social Sciences Building, 4th Floor, Room
4006 (map: http://uottawa.ca/maps)*

December 2nd, 2002 is the date when the courageous Anishinaabek of the
Grassy Narrows First Nation decided to halt further clear cutting of their
forests. To mark the 10th anniversary of the ongoing blockade, we are
holding a film-screening and follow-up talk in solidarity.

Film: "As Long as the Rivers Flow - The Grassy Narrows Blockade Story" by
David Clement and Thunder Bay Indymedia
You can watch its trailer here: http://youtu.be/STsn4fqDtGk

There will be questions and discussions afterward with Craig Benjamin of
Amnesty International. Craig has spent some time at Grassy Narrows.

Event hosted by IPSMO (Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa) and
Amnesty International.

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/371408146281957/ and
freegrassy.org

~~

IMMEDIATE
RELEASE

Sunday Dec. 2, 2012


Contact: 647-779-5983 riverrun2010 at gmail.com

*Sacred fire at Queen's Park marks 10 years of the Grassy Narrows logging
blockade *

*Threat of logging looms as Ontario approves dozens of new clearcuts in
logging plan*

*Toronto, **ON *- Today, Grassy Narrows Blockaders and their supporters are
celebrating the 10 year anniversary of what is now the longest running
Indigenous logging blockade in Canada. Supporters in Toronto will light a
sacred fire at the provincial legislature at 2 p.m., one of 25 coordinated
events happening in cities across North America to celebrate this major
milestone in the fight for Indigenous land rights and environmental
justice. Grassy Narrows blockaders are holding a pipe ceremony in a new
long house built at the Slant Lake blockade site where grassroots youth,
mothers, and land users have denied passage to logging trucks seeking
access to community's territory for the past decade.

 “Grassy Narrows is leading the way towards respect for Indigenous land
rights and defending the forests that provide clean air, fresh water, and a
more stable climate for all of us,” said Leah Henderson of Earth Justice
Action, a Toronto based group that supports Indigenous land defence.
“People across the continent are inspired by what the Grassy Narrows
blockade has accomplished, and we join with them as they protect their
forests, their health, and their culture.”

On December 2, 2002 in the depth of winter Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy
Narrows) people put their bodies in the path of industrial machinery to
stop logging in their territory, protect their culture, and safeguard their
children's future. Against all odds the community has now stopped logging
trucks from passing for 10 full years and has gained commitments from
logging companies Resolute (formerly AbitibiBowater), Boise, Domtar, and
Ainsworth to respect their right to say 'no' to logging.

But U.S. Lumber giant Weyerheauser continues to seek access to Grassy
Narrows' territory against their will, and Ontario has released a 10 year
logging plan that includes dozens of clearcuts in the forest on which
Grassy Narrows people depend.

Massive industrial logging operations by some of the world's largest lumber
and paper companies have degraded much of the forest that Grassy Narrows
people depend on for food, culture, and livelihood. Logging practices and
industrial waste have also poisoned Grassy Narrows' river with mercury, a
potent neurotoxin that has taken a devastating toll on the health and
livelihood of three generations of Grassy Narrows people. The logging and
associated mercury poisoning compound the trauma of hydro damming, coerced
relocation, and residential schools in Grassy Narrows.

“When we go out to protect the land in minus 42 degree weather we are
following instincts that are like teachings from our ancestors,” explained
Grassy Narrows mother and blockader Judy Da Silva. “We are defending the
source of life for all people.”

For more information go to: FreeGrassy.org <http://www.freegrassy.org/>


-- 

In Solidarity,
IPSMO
on unceded Algonquin Territory
--

Web Site: http://www.ipsmo.org
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ipsmo
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/indigsol/attachments/20121202/aa2bba49/attachment.html>