Grassy Narrows First Nation 'not victims,' says advocate

The people of Grassy Narrows First Nation have been coping with and resistingthe violence of ongoing dispossession in their homeland for the last 100 yearsor more.

Like other indigenous communities in Canada,they have survived theirchildren being takenaway from them in the residential school system. They havemaintained their community through successive versions of the Indian Act, which at times restricted their movements on and off the reserve, removed womenfrom political processes,and made it illegal for them to hire lawyers or organize politically.

They have maintained their families despite being corralled into thereserve system and relocated to facilitate flooding for hydroelectric development.

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Then for eight years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a paper mill in Dryden,Ont.,dumped 20,000 pounds of mercury into the English-Wabigoon River, thelifeblood of local Anishinaabe people.

The impacts of this contamination are stillbeing felt in the bodies, hearts and minds of the people of Asubpeeschoseewagong(Grassy Narrows), Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) and Wabauskang First Nations.

Fortyyears later, the mercury is not out of the ecosystem and it is still causing severehealth impacts on the land and in the bodies of the people.

Unfortunately, this is not the only poison these communities are facing. Theirterritory is regularly sprayed with pesticides for new tree plantations afterdeforestation.Their rivers are still being polluted with pulp mill effluent, and their trap lines, hunting grounds and ceremonial spots are also being clear-cut.

People of Grassy Narrows are not victims

Members of Grassy Narrows have conducted their own scientific studies documenting heavy metals, dioxinsand furans and organochlorines in their fish and wild meat. They have undertakenseveral health surveys. They have participated in every conceivable provincial andfederal process to address these issues.

They have presented at the United NationsPermanent Forum on indigenous Issues. They have protested and developed long-term relationships with allies and activists all over the world. They have hostedworld-renowned medical doctors and scientists specializing in mercury poisoning,as well asa variety of academics, activists and allies at countless community gatherings.

Grassy Narrows First Nationhasorganized and maintained the longest-running logging blockade inCanadian history. They have fought the dismissal of their treaties rights in court.They have done endless media interviews, workshopsand educational campaignsdesigned to educate Canadians about these injustices.

They have sung, danced,created art, taught their children their language, breast-fed, done their ceremonies,fished,hunted, trapped and picked medicines, anyway.

Treaty 'not a bill of sale'

Grassy Narrows has been fighting to hang onto what it means to beAnishinaabegnow for more than 100 years.

All the while,Ontario and Canada continue to enact policy designed to removeAnishinaabe people from the land so they can hyper-develop natural resources.

All the while, Ontario facilitates the clear-cutting of their territory without theirpermission or consent, and the poisoning of their waterwayswithout theirpermission or consent attacking not just their ability to feed themselves,but their ability to live as a people.

Grassy Narrows has the right to say no to development, and Canada and Ontariohave the responsibility to hear and respect that no.

Grassy Narrows has the right and the responsibility to live as Anishinaabeg peoplehunting, fishing, trapping, collecting medicines, picking berries, conductingceremonies, singing, dancing, telling stories, teaching their children and loving eachother and their homeland.

Their ancestors signed Treaty 3 to ensure that their coming generations wouldbe able to live as Anishinaabeg in their homeland. Their ancestors were brilliantdiplomats. It took four years to negotiate this treaty because of the strength andcommitment of those Anishinaabeg negotiators.

They intended to protect their self-determination as a nation. They intended to share some of their lands with Canada and to accommodate Canadian interests, and they intended to protect others so their people could live out unharassed and undeterred in their homeland.

Canada simply cannot set asideAnishinaabegpolitical traditions and ourunderstandings of the treaty because its convenient, they have the power to doso, and they want the land.-Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Theyintended to forge a political relationship, a mutually benefiting reciprocal andproportional relationship based on respect.

Contrary to the position of Ontario and Canada,and now the Supreme Court ofCanada, treaties are not a bill of sale. Treaty 3 lands are not ceded.

Canada simply cannot set aside Anishinaabeg political traditions and ourunderstandings of the treaty because its convenient, they have the power to doso, and they want the land.That is not fair or honourable and it serves only to perpetuate a dysfunctional relationship between Canadians and indigenous peoplesinto the next generation.

The Anishinaabeg way of life that Grassy Narrows has been fighting so hard to protecthas never been a threat to Canada. This beautiful and powerful way of being in the world is a gift, and a key to our sustainable future.