[Indigsol] This Wed: Barriere Lake events in Ottawa

[ipsmo at riseup.net]

Harvest greetings!

Please remember to spread the word and come out if you can,
for two Algonquins of Barriere Lake events this Wednesday Oct 10!

The big one is a fundraiser with food and live music as well as special
ABL guests, at the Odawa Native Friendship Centre 6-8pm, and earlier in
the day is a lunchtime discussion hosted by Octopus Books Centretown.

- IPSMO



OUR LAND IS OUR IDENTITY: THE ALGONQUINS OF BARRIERE LAKE FIGHT FOR
SURVIVAL Fundraiser

6 ~ 8 pm, Oct. 10
Odawa Native Friendship Centre, 12 Stirling Ave. Ottawa Unceded Algonquin
Territory

With Michel Thusky (Elder) and Norman Matchewan (Councilor and Youth
Spokesperson)
and Music by David and Aurora Finkle and Andy Mason.
A light meal will be shared.

Sliding scale suggested donation $10 – $20

To invite your friends via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/109267862562163/


“I am a survivor of a residential school. I don’t want that kind of life
experience for my children. I want my grandchildren to have a face and a
mouth that they will be proud of, not an empty face. I want them to have
an identity. This is what we are fighting for.”
- Michel Thusky (from CounterPunch: Sustainable Colonialism® in the Boreal
Forest)


Just a few hours up the Gatineau River from Ottawa is the Algonquin
Community of Barriere Lake. Access to the forests lakes and rivers of
their territory is a vital to this Algonquin community’s identity and for
generations they have fought to protect it from destructive resource
projects, while also finding ways to co-exist with Quebec and Canadian
society. Though there have been many challenges, the language and
traditions in Barriere Lake remain strong.

In 1991 the community signed a landmark and historic agreement with Canada
and Quebec that should have created a process for co-management of their
territory and modest revenue sharing with the community. As with many
other agreements made with Indigenous peoples in Canada, Barriere Lake’s
tri-lateral agreement has not been respected.

This summer, Resolute Forest Products, a logging company based in
Montreal, has been clear cutting in an environmentally and culturally
important area of the Barriere Lake’s territory without consultation and
consent of the community. After 3 weeks of protest against the
clear-cutting the community is going to court to assert their rights and
jurisdiction to protect their land. They are asking for your moral and
financial support! It is a difficult situation for the community since
they have few financial resources.


“You know, this land is important to us, especially the people who harvest
off this territory. Because right now they’re destroying a huge moose
habitat, bear dens, sacred sites. They don’t care about the stuff that is
out there, our medicine. And when the land is destroyed, we’re destroyed.
- Norman Matchewan (from Dominon Paper Issue #84: September/October 2012)


For background information about the Algonquins of Barriere Lake:
http://www.barrierelakesolidarity.org/2008/03/resources.html and
http://ipsmo.wordpress.com/barriere-lake-posts/.


The fundraiser event is SPONSORED BY: Canadian Union of Public Employees,
Public Service Alliance of Canada, Indigenous People’s Solidarity Movement
of Ottawa, MiningWatch Canada and the Friends Service Committee of Ottawa.

More info contact Ramsey Hart, ramsey at miningwatch.ca / 613-298-4745.



~~ LUNCHTIME EVENT ~~


PROTECTING OUR IDENTITY: THE ALGONQUIN OF BARRIERE LAKE

12 ~ 1 pm, Wed Oct. 10
at Octopus Books Centretown,
251 Bank St., 2nd floor, Ottawa - Under One Roof Building

Join us for a lunch-time round table with Michel Thusky, Elder, Algonquin
of Barriere Lake.

A slow-motion crime is taking place in Barriere Lake, three hours north of
Ottawa-Gatineau.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake are a First Nation who hunt, fish, trap,
and harvest on more than 10,000 square kilometers of territory. Their way
of life is under threat by multinational logging company Resolute Forestry
Products and the complicity of the Quebec and Canadian governments.

Michel’s talk on “Protecting our Identity” will reveal how the Algonquins
of Barriere Lake are resisting threats to their survival from logging
companies and governments. Come hear how they are pushing back against
logging encroachment on their territories and fighting section 74 of the
Indian Act.

For more info about Octopus's Critical Engagement Series:
http://octopusbooks.ca/events

For background information about the Algonquins of Barriere Lake:
http://www.barrierelakesolidarity.org/2008/03/resources.html