Protesters put personal freedom on the line

Indigenous people in North America are standing together in Ottawa and Washington to deliver the same message: Unchecked oil development is destroying Mother Earth.

“(The solidarity) just shows the cause for concern, the severity of these projects and how widespread these issues are. The implications for these types of projects are dire and they need to actually be addressed,” said Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Greenpeace spokesperson and member of the Lubicon Cree First Nation.

Greenpeace, Council of Canadians and the Indigenous Environmental Network officially endorsed a rally on Parliament Hill on Sept. 26, which resulted in more than half of the 212 people who crossed police lines being arrested.

Lionel Lepine, territorial environmental knowledge coordinator for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, was one of 117 people arrested in Ottawa.

“This goes to show (that) this government, when people watch out for their rights and what they believe in and try to stand up to fight for it, automatically they’re either arrested or they’re muzzled somehow,” said Lepine. He added that his arrest angered him, but it also provided an opportunity for him to speak to the media.

Laboucan-Massimo also participated in a Washington rally, which occurred at the end of August and into early September. Protestors were back in Washington in October as the final hearings for the Keystone XL pipeline took place Oct. 7.

While the U.S. protests focused on pressuring President Barrack Obama to not approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which will run through both the U.S. and Canada, the focus of the Ottawa demonstration, said Laboucan-Massimo, was on the larger picture of the impact of tar sands development and related infrastructure.

The Ottawa demonstration was comprised of the rally on the Hill and civil disobedience, which was expressed as a sit-in in front of the police line. Arrested along with Lepine were former Mikisew Cree Chief George Poitras, Athabasca Chipewyan member Gitz Deranger, and Fort McMurray First Nation Elder Roland Woodward. They were each fined $65 for trespassing and banned from Parliament grounds for one year.

“I think (the rally) went great,” said Laboucan-Massimo. “People I’ve spoken to, older than me, say they’ve never seen over 200 people willing to risk arrest through massive disobedience on Parliament Hill.”

Laboucan-Massimo explained that as an official spokesperson she couldn’t take part in the sit-in, however.
Dene Chief Bill Erasmus and Chief Jackie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation addressed the crowd, which stood about 1,000 people strong at the height of the demonstration. First Nations members from Alberta, B.C., Ontario, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories were among those counted.

“We’re trying to keep the same representation, ensuring that people are present (in Washington) as well,” said Laboucan-Massimo.

One day in the two weeks of protests in Washington saw an Indigenous Day of Action, with Indigenous keynote speakers, including Erasmus and Poitras. The day was organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network.

“The impacts (of these types of projects) are vast and it’s important that First Nations and tribal nations are coming together,” said Laboucan-Massimo. “People are very much aware of these types of issues and spills and the ramifications that these types of projects entail.”
Erasmus and other representatives from the Dene Nation hand-delivered The Mother Earth Accord, a solidarity document, to representatives of the U.S. government in Washington.

Action undertaken by the First Nations has been endorsed by the Assembly of First Nations.

“We support the efforts of Indigenous rights holders, including First Nations and Tribal Governments, impacted by TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline development,” said AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo.

The Keystone XL pipeline would run from Hardisty, Alta. south through Montana and South Dakota to join the main pipeline in Nebraska. It will branch off from there to Texas and possibly join the U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast.

The Obama government is expected to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline by early November.