October 6: An evening with Chrissy Swain of the Grassy Narrows First Nation

Young Defenders
An evening with Chrissy Swain of the Grassy Narrows First Nation
Preceded by the film: ‘The Scars of Mercury’

FREE! Donations appreciated.
Presentations in English; whisper translation into French.
If you need childcare, please contact us by phone 48 hours before the event.

Chrissy Swain of the Grassy Narrows Anishnabe First Nation in northwestern Ontario will speak about ongoing efforts against logging and mining in her community. Chrissy helped to begin a logging blockade in 2002, and will have just completed the 2nd Walk for Mother Earth from Grassy Narrows to Ottawa, an 1800 km journey undertaken with youth.

‘The Scars of Mercury’ (40 minutes) explores the processes that threaten the destruction of a traditional and contemporary Indigenous hunting, fishing and gathering way of life, through residential schools, relocation, treaty violations, and clear-cutting, with a special focus on mercury poisoning.

Presented by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee, a working group of QPIRG Concordia, and No One Is Illegal-Montreal.
INFO: indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com – 514-848-7585

thwey will be talking saturday on parliament hill,

They would also like to thnk all  who helped them get this far….

Please make donations to:
Chrissy Swain
Kenora Lakewood Credit Union
Account #: 287003-31
Transit #: 10182
Institution #: 828

2nd Walk for Mother Earth from Grassy Narrows to Ottawa

***Please send all the support you can to these grassroots leaders in their journey to Ottawa to raise profile of Indigenous Rights, awareness out the treaties and MOther Earth, they are almost in Sault Ste.Marie and need funds for food and gas. They can be contacted at the contact information below!***

For the Land and Peace,

Youth Leader to Embark on 2nd Walk for Mother Earth from Grassy Narrows to Ottawa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kenora, Ontario – Today youth from Grassy Narrows First Nation began their walk from their small community in northwest Ontario, 8o kilometers north of Kenora. The Anishnabe youth are walking to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and plan to get to the Capital on October 3, 2009.

Youth leader Chrissy Swain and the other walkers will be carrying a copy of the Paypom Treaty—an alternate version of Treaty Three—a document which is recognized by the Treaty Three Grand Council as containing a truer representation of the negotiations leading to the signing of Treaty Three whose anniversary is October 3, 1873.

The youth are hoping that the walk, and their arrival at Parliament Hill with the treaty will serve as a reminder to the Canadian Government and Public, that they have an obligation to respect and uphold the treaties. The youth also hope to draw connections between environmental destruction and the destruction of communities, to open dialogue about protecting and healing the earth, as well as healing communities and the relationships between them

The walk is to be a spiritual journey inspired by dreams and recent incidents. Swain, along with Grassy Narrows community organizer Judy Dasilva visited the site of the Macintosh Residential School near Kenora. There, behind the old school site, instead of a memorial, they found several large hydro towers right at the site of the graves of those children who died at the school, disrespecting their memory. Following the visit, Chrissy had dreams telling her that this was to be a symbol of the connection between the destruction of Indigenous lands, and the destruction of their communities.

Last year, Chrissy led a group of 22 youth from Grassy Narrows (and a few other First Nations communities), on the Protecting Our Mother Walk—over 1800 kilometers from Grassy Narrows to Toronto—which became a catalyst for the Gathering of Mother Earth Protectors and Sovereignty Sleepover in May ‘08 at Queens Park, where the message was: no exploitation of Indigenous lands, no criminalization of land protectors.

“The government does not understand that words are not good enough. Talking ‘green’ and making empty apologies that don’t actually deal with real issues is not good enough. We have to protect the land—protect our Mother Earth,” said Chrissy Swain. “I want to tell Harper that apologies are not good enough. Canada needs to give proper respect to the victims, families and survivors of the residential schools. We need Canada to recognize the damage those schools have done to our communities and cultures, and we need an end to the destruction of our lands, and an end to native people being criminalized when they stand up for their rights to protect their lands, their cultures, and their communities.”

Chrissy Swain recently completed a speaking tour of south-western Ontario.

Contact Info:
Chrissy Swain
(Grassy Narrows First Nation)
519-732-4135

Alex Hundert
(AW@L Solidarity Working Group)
519-500-1878

They can be reached by this number shortly:  519-732-4135