October 11, 2013 - No. 114
250th Anniversary of the Royal
Proclamation of 1763
Idle No More Reiterates Call for
Nation-to-Nation Relations
Gatineau, October 7, 2013
250th
Anniversary
of
the
Royal
Proclamation
of
1763
• Idle No More Reiterates Call for
Nation-to-Nation Relations
• UN Special Rapporteur on Rights of Indigenous
Peoples Visits Canada
End the Killings of
Aboriginal Women and Girls! Take
Back
the
Night!
• Walking With Our Sisters Exhibit Opens in
Edmonton - Mary Joyce
• October 18 National Day of Action to End
Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada
• Sisters in Spirit Vigils Held
• Take Back the Night 2013
• Note to
Readers
250th Anniversary of the Royal
Proclamation of 1763
Idle No More Reiterates Call for
Nation-to-Nation Relations
October 7 marked the 250th anniversary of the Royal
Proclamation of
1763. A Day of Action was called by Idle No More to mark the
anniversary of the Proclamation on October 7 and events were held
across Canada and world wide.
The Royal Proclamation was issued in the context of the
British
acquisition of France's colonial territory in North America after
France was defeated in the Seven Years' War. The Proclamation was
issued by King George
III to officially demarcate what were considered the lands of the
British Colonies and lands considered the territory of the Indigenous
peoples (Indians), within the British Dominion. It states, "And whereas
it is just and reasonable, and essential to Our Interest and the
Security of Our Colonies, that the
several Nations or Tribes of Indians, with whom We are connected, and
who live under Our Protection, should not be molested or disturbed in
the Possession of such Parts of Our Dominions and Territories as, not
having been ceded to, or purchased by Us, are reserved to them, or any
of them, as
their Hunting Grounds; [...]"

Solidarity action
in London, UK, October 7, 2013.
|
The Proclamation recognized the
basis for
relations between the Crown and its subjects with the Indigenous
peoples of North America. This included the prohibition against
subjects of the British Crown encroaching on those lands designated as
those of the Indigenous peoples.
The Proclamation also states that only the British Crown can negotiate
treaties to acquire land from the Indigenous peoples. It also states
that the process for establishing such treaties must be done
publicly to so as to ensure that the "great Frauds and Abuses [...]
committed in the purchasing
Lands of the Indians" that had been occurring, considered contrary
to the interests of the Crown and the Indigenous peoples, were
prevented
in future. This Royal Proclamation was included in the Constitution Act 1982 when the Constitution Act 1867 was
repatriated.
The website of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
Development Canada,
in acknowledging the 250th anniversary, states that the Proclamation
"redefined the Crown-First Nations relationship, established the
treaty-making process and recognized First Nations rights in Canada."
However, it says nothing about the
reality of what the government is actually doing today, namely the
opposite of what is written in the Proclamation or interpreting it for
self-serving purposes. The Indigenous peoples
point out that whatever recognition of their sovereignty is enshrined
in the Proclamation has been rendered null and void in the present era
by the continued colonial practices
of the Canadian government, most recently the Harper dictatorship as
shown in its omnibus legislation Bill C-45 and other bills attacking
the rights of First Nations. The Harperites aim is to support monopoly
right by extinguishing
the hereditary, constitutional and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples.
It refuses to develop nation-to-nation relations of mutual respect and
benefit, as established originally in the Two Row Wampum.
The attacks on the rights of Indigenous peoples are part
of
attacking the modern conception of rights, namely that rights are
inherent and belong to people by virtue of their being human, and that
specific hereditary rights belong to the Indigenous peoples because of
their
being. The Canadian government in the recent period
is trying to dismiss the historic and unresolved issues brought forward
by the Indigenous peoples as "special interests" of just another
"ethnic group" that are part of a "diverse" Canada. This is
contemptible and nothing
could be further from the truth. The questions of rights and
nation-to-nation relations brought forward by the
Indigenous peoples for solution are fundamental to modernizing and
renewing the social and political arrangements in Canada and are of
concern to the entire polity. The slogan "Our Future Lies in the Fight
for the Rights of All" is confirmed by the broad support of the
Canadian polity for the widespread actions
by Indigenous peoples in the last year.
TML is posting below photos and a report from
the October 7 action in Gatineau as well as photos from around the
country and abroad.
Gatineau
First Nations leaders and activists gathered at the
Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. Speakers pointed
out that the anniversary of the Proclamation was not cause for
celebration.
The first speaker was Claudette Commanda from the
Algonquin Nation, whose traditional territory includes the
Gatineau/Ottawa area. She said:
"I cannot celebrate colonialism. I cannot. It is said
that the Royal Proclamation is the Magna Carta
of rights for First Nations. I as Anishnabe Kwe, I cannot see that. I
cannot. In 1763 it was pretty clear that the governments of the country
of France and the country of England, they recognized First
Nations, the original people commonly known as Indians, as nations. As
sovereign nations. They had to. Otherwise, treaties or agreements would
never have been entered into. So, we went from being nations, to the
creations of federal wards of the Crown. That's not sovereignty.
Because if the Royal Proclamation
truly, indeed, recognizes First Nations as sovereign nations then why
have we been displaced from our lands and natural resources? Why? Why
were we placed as wards of the Crown? Why were we placed under the Indian
Act?
Why? The Royal Proclamation says that you have to enter into this
treaty
between the First Nations and the colonists that became the settlers,
and eventually Immigration Canada. It was all for the purpose of
needing land for settlement. But at the expense of Indian people and
our lands.
"If Canada is truly,
indeed, genuine and honest about forging a new
relationship with First Nations and building reconciliation, it must be
always by the guidance, by the voice of First Nations. We must be
included and it must be done our way. Our way, our way, and no other
way. We need to do this for our
children. When our ancestors walked this land, every decision they
made, they made the decision for seven generations, because that is one
of our fundamental teachings and laws of the creator: to always honour
and respect and remember seven generations that are not here. And they
did so for us. That is why we
are here today. So, today, my responsibility is for the children and
the ancestors that are not here yet. Because in seven generations from
now there will be children and there will be ancestors. We must always
remember that, because it is called the circle of life.
"They talk about treaties, treaty-making. We know the
difference
between the Peace and Friendship Treaties, the pre-Confederation
treaties, the historic treaties, and there's certainly a big difference
with what are called the 'modern-day treaties.' It is not the same. It
is
very concerning [regarding] one of the important
responsibilities of my grandfather William Commanda. And what he said
is 'Protect the land, protect the land, protect the land.' Protect it.
We need the land. It is who we are as Anishnabeg regardless of what
nation we come from. We need the land for these children. It is their
birthright. We need the land for our
grandmothers. Our mothers. Our grandfathers. Our fathers. We need the
land. Mother earth -- it is her responsibility to provide for us, and
we must protect her. Without land, we are nothing.
"We cannot trade these lands, we cannot trade away these
lands. And
I, as an Algonquin person will not, will never, will never, agree to a
treaty of my land, my ancestral land of my ancestors! How can you sell
the bones of your ancestors? Never, never, never! We must protect our
ancestors. We must protect
the children. We must protect the land. Modern-day treaty is not a way
for First Nations people to gain their rightful place in society. We
don't need treaties. What we need is to be important, fundamental
decision-makers, equal partners, in revenue sharing and resource
sharing. We can gain that without treaties.
Do you agree with me? [Crowd agrees.] Absolutely. That is our
way. Land -- protect that land.
"I respect the various
nations. I respect their diversity. I respect
what they need to do in order to continue to survive. However, I cannot
accept one model for all that is going to be applied to us. I cannot
accept that. I have a great responsibility as an Anishnabe Kwe, as an
Algonquin woman, as a mother and
a grandmother. I have a great responsibility to protect this land. I
have a responsibility to raise the awareness that modern-day treaty is
not the way to go. Absolutely not. And the Royal Proclamation cannot be
celebrated as something that was so honourable and given to First
Nations. It cannot be celebrated that
way, absolutely not. And that is one lesson that I learned from my
grandfather when he was a Chief, when he carried that title as Chief.
And when he held his hereditary role as Chief, he said we can never
celebrate colonialism. Because those laws, through the Royal
Proclamation, through the Constitutions, those
were government laws, man-made laws.
"We must first and foremost always uphold the great law
of the
Creator. Always. And when we look at those historic treaties, not the
modern-day treaties but historic treaties, those treaties have to be
honoured and recognized for those nations that did enter into treaties
between themselves, the First Nations, and the settler
nations. Those treaties are higher than any Canadian law. It is
imperial law, and they have to be honoured and recognized. And it was
not about surrendering their land, or surrendering title to their land.
It was about co-existence and sharing. That's what it was about. And
that's what we have to educate Canadians
about. But when we look at today, today's campaign for modern-day
treaty-making, it is about surrendering the land. It is about
extinguishment. And we cannot extinguish the land. Because if we
extinguish the land, then we are extinguishing ourselves as human
beings. We cannot do that. Absolutely not. And we
are not upholding our great law and responsibility to the earth, our
mother.
"So all of you First Nations people, Aboriginal peoples,
Canadians:
we are all brothers and sisters in this. And we need to come together
to raise that awareness. And always remember, that the First Nations
people, we shared, we have been sharing since 1492. And in our great
creation stories, it's about coexistence.
About respecting life and human beings, respecting mother earth. We
share. We absolutely shared our land, we shared our ways to keep the
European people alive. And we must continue to share. We have been
sharing, now it's time that Canadians share with us. Share your
understanding with us. Share your energy,
and share the fight to continue to protect Mother Earth and that our
land, the Anishnabe-Aki, will continue to be what it is, free, free
land. We do not need treaties, modern-day treaties. We need free land
that's going to be held in trust for our children and by our children.
Chi miigwetch. Thank you very much."
The next speaker was Andrea
Landry, an Ottawa activist originally
from Pays Plat First Nation, located on the north shore of Lake
Superior. She said:
"When I first heard people were celebrating, that this
was an
anniversary, an anniversary of putting ownership to land, of
commodifying our culture and our territories, and anniversary of
desecrating our traditional livelihood as indigenous peoples, I became
confused. Commodification of land is not our way. The
desecration of our traditional livelihoods will not allow a sustainable
future for our people, for our younger generations, for our future
generations. To me, it's not about celebrating, it's not about the
anniversary of a document. It's about honouring and recognizing what
this land truly deserves, that we stand on, that
we walk on, what we live on. That those bodies of waters deserve, what
those women in our communities who honour those bodies of water
deserve. What our children in the next generations will deserve when
there's no more water for them to drink. When there's no more land for
them to hunt on. When there's
no more traplines that will be recognized in their territory.
"It's a matter of recognizing the importance of this
land, of no
longer enslaving that land with the commodification, with the dollars,
with the documents. Yes, we have these documents. But we see them
sitting on shelves and collecting dust. We can walk into boardrooms,
have meetings with the Prime Minister,
have meetings with Members of Parliament, have meetings with MLAs. And
we're doing it in their settings. We're following their rules. So when
we walk into those offices and we speak our truths, our truths are not
being recognized. And that has occurred since colonization occurred on
this so-called territory of
Canada. It's a matter of having it with our own ways, with our own
communities, with ceremony. Because when you look at our people, when
you look at our territories, when you come to our First Nations
communities, you see the beauty of our people. You see that we do not
want to put a price on our territories.
We do not want to put dollars on our land. We do not want a document to
rectify and recognize that this is our land. The reality is: we do not
and cannot own our lands. If we say we own our land, that's like saying
we own an individual, we own a child, we own a person. That's
enslavement right there. So why
are we having these discussions of saying, 'I own this land'? They want
to own this land. It's not about ownership, it's about living with the
land, breathing with the land. and recognizing our inherent rights, our
traditional livelihoods, our ways of life and living.
"So with the Royal Proclamation, I'd like to see the
discussion
change. I would like to see people really recognizing what it's all
about. I would like to see Canadians having open minds and realizing
why it's important that indigenous people are involved in all these
discussions. Why indigenous peoples are holding
these meetings on their traditional territories. No longer do I want my
people going into the colonial buildings and having these
conversations. If we're discussing the land, it should be held on the
land that we're having the conversations about. We need to get rid of
these ways. We need to get rid of the colonial
ways of doing a meeting. We talk about decolonization, but me, myself,
as an indigenous person, I will never say I need to decolonize. Because
when I'm home, I'm not colonized. When I'm home, I'm living my ways,
I'm living my ways. When I'm home, I'm learning my language, and when
I'm in the city, I
am finding ways to remain true to my roots as an Anishnabe Kwe.
"It's up to the Canadians to join these conversations of
decolonization, to really recognize why it's important that they need
to decolonize, that they need to know the history. [...] The big
corporations want to own the land. We need to get rid of that concept.
We need to get rid of those discussions."
Tony Belcourt, Métis
Rights activist and leader spoke, saying he
appreciated the opportunity for Idle No More to bring together all the
indigenous people, Métis, First Nations and Inuit:
"If it weren't for the Royal Proclamation of 1763, I
don't know that
we would have the historic treaties. But it's a fact, because of the
Royal Proclamation of 1763 British Subjects were under the rule of law
that they could not enter into the territory of the Aboriginal peoples
without their consent. That had to
bring about some kind of an agreement. Those agreements rested on the
historic treaties. For the Métis people, the important thing
today is
that that very principle was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in
2003, in our Métis hunting rights case. What the Supreme Court
of
Canada said was that because the
Métis people were blocked from participating in the Robinson
Superior
Treaty in 1850, our rights were never extinguished, and therefore our
rights are still existing, they are still constitutional rights. And
the Métis right to hunt and fish for food was an existing right
and it
is now allowed for our people to go out
and get their traditional foods without having to hunt at night and in
danger. If our existing rights to hunt and fish for food were not
extinguished, what other rights were not extinguished? None of them. In
the case of Riel and his people in 1869/1870 in Red River, when Sir
John A. MacDonald sent out a governor
and some surveyors to govern the land because the Hudson's Bay Company
sold it to Great Britain for a million bucks and Canada was going to
buy it back, Riel and his people stood on their chains and said, 'You
go no further. You have no right to be here.' Sir John A. MacDonald
wanted to send out troops, but
first, he was still under the laws of the imperial Parliament in Great
Britain. What he had to do was get consent from Great Britain before he
could move. And Great Britain said, 'No. You do not have the right
because you have not entered into agreements with the First Peoples in
that territory.' It's a territory that's
huge. All of the waters that flow into James Bay and Hudson's Bay.
That's the whole territory of Rupert's Land, that's what was at stake.
Riel and his people entered into negotiations for a treaty for the
Métis people, but one of the things he said is that you cannot
just
have a treaty with us, you have to have a treaty
with the full-bloods. And as a result of that, every numbered treaty
took place. [...] Treaties are a two-way street. Canadians have an
obligation to understand their obligations. They can't just pick and
choose what it is they like about the law, or they don't like about the
law. [...] If the laws are there, they're there
for everybody. Now is the time for all of us, and this Idle No More
movement gives us the opportunity, to work towards a new partnership. A
new partnership that First Peoples and Canadians can develop based on
mutual understanding, mutual respect and equality."
Patrick Etherington, an
activist who supported Chief Theresa Spence
on Victoria Island during her 44-day fast, said he walked this summer
from Cochrane, Ontario to Alberta for treaty rights and for the
government to "keep their word." He said:
"We chose to walk away from Ottawa, we didn't want to
walk to
Ottawa. We wanted to go to where real power was, the people. So we
chose not to walk to a building, we chose to walk to the mountains.
[...] In the Constitution, our treaty rights are supposed to be
honoured, but that's not the case really. That's
just writing on a piece of paper to them, I guess. And now, the Idle No
More movement and everything that's going on across the country, I
think that the government should actually start listening." He noted
that "Everything has been said. It's time for action now."
Brock Lewis, an activist and Cultural Ambassador who
hails from
unceded Wikwemikong territory on Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron,
brought up the example of Shingwaukonse, a hereditary Anishnabe chief
who was a signatory to the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850. Shingwaukonse
was asked to fight in
1812 return for land given by the British. He bought alongside Tecumseh
and Isaac Brock. Lewis pointed out:
"In the late 1840's, Canada
was giving away lumber leases and mining
leases in [Shingwaukonse's] territory. In the mines about an hour away
from Sioux Ste. Marie he could hear explosions. [...] Him and a few
other people they walked to Montreal. [...] When he walked there, to
Montreal, he asked the government
why they were giving away all these leases to the mining and lumber
companies. And the government simply shooed him away, just like they
did with Idle No More, just like they did with the Nishiyuu Walkers.
[...] When he went back home, he decided to take action for himself.
And what he did, he went to those
mining companies with an armed group, and he said 'You're not supposed
to be here. This is my land. It was given to me after that war that I
was in, for being in friendship, so please leave.' And they left. And
then the next day he was arrested. He was sent to Toronto. After that,
he pleaded for a treaty, he knew
that it was important to have his own land because that Royal
Proclamation didn't mean anything. [...] He pleaded for a treaty, and
in 1850 he finally got it. Shingwaukonse, among 17 other chiefs along
the northern coast of Lake Huron all signed a treaty for an individual
piece of land. His was 8 x 12 miles long.
There are others 3 x 6. And they all have a little section. And then in
between there, it was all sold. Basically, the King said. 'I thank you
for being in the war and I thank you for everything that you have done,
but there's nothing I can do about the land that was sold.' I just want
to recognize the history behind
him, and the history that I stand for. Because he did a whole lot, for
me, and for all of you here today. It shows me that you're able to
stand for what you want. It shows me that it's not just him in this
battle, it's a lot of us that all need to stand together and unite."
Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick
Barriere Lake, Quebec
Toronto
Windsor
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
La Ronge,
Saskatchewan; Lethbridge, Alberta

Vancouver
Victoria
Oklahoma City, United
States
London, UK

UN Special Rapporteur on Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
Visits Canada
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of
indigenous peoples, James Anaya, is visiting Canada from October 7 to
15 to investigate the situation of indigenous peoples. The
Rapporteur's visit had been postponed since
February
2012 by the federal government whose permission
is required for such visits. This visit follows up
a mission to Canada by the previous Special Rapporteur in 2004.
Anaya is travelling to remote communities and urban
areas in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba. He is holding discussions and consultations with Indigenous
peoples and their representatives and meeting with federal and
provincial government officials.
At the end of the seven-day mission, on October 15, Mr.
Anaya will hold a press conference, from 2 to 3 pm, at the National
Press Theatre, on the first floor of the National Press
Building in Ottawa. Following the visit, the Special Rapporteur will
prepare and make public a report on the visit's findings, which will be
presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2014.
Anaya stated that during his visit "I will be looking at
the issues faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in
Canada .... including in relation to matters of reconciliation,
governance and self-government; lands and resources; and health,
education and economic development."
He emphasized that the mission "aims at assessing the
human rights concern of Indigenous peoples in light of international
standards to which Canada has committed, and at identifying good
practices in Canadian law and policy as well as needed reforms."

End the Killings of
Aboriginal Women and Girls! Take Back the Night!
Walking With Our Sisters Exhibit Opens in Edmonton
- Mary Joyce -

"Walking With Our Sisters" is an art installation
on exhibit at the Telus Building at the University of Alberta from
October 4 until October 13.
Comprised of 1,700 pairs of vamps, or moccasin tops, created by 1,200
caring and concerned artists, it commemorates the missing and murdered
Indigenous women of Canada and
the United States. Its opening coincided with the annual Sisters in
Spirit vigils organized for the same purpose on October 4.
The exhibit is a
crowd-sourced and crowd-funded project
led by Christi Belcourt, a Métis artist from Espanola, Ontario.
The Edmonton showing is the first of 25 Canadian bookings running
into 2018. Belcourt began the work only a year ago. Idle No More
activist Tanya Kappo, "Keeper of the Vamps," first
announced the project at International Women's Day celebrations in
Edmonton last March.
Upon entering the foyer of the
commemorative exhibition
"Walking With Our Sisters," the viewer is welcomed, asked to remove
their shoes, and invited to take a handful of tobacco whilst beginning
the
walk through 1,700-plus pairs of vamps. With eyes fixed on the
dazzling display, one walks slowly along the red cloth because each
small piece of decorated
hide or cloth is so exquisite. Displayed in groupings according to the
dominant colour, the multitude of images, suggestions, symbolic and
direct meanings can be overwhelming. One is struck with the realization
that this is an embodiment and memorial
for the 600-plus women, who over the last 20 years, have disappeared or
have been found murdered, while their killers have never been
apprehended. As a simple visual experience the show is powerful, and
in
its presentation, with the viewer embodying the mourner, with 1,200
artists mindfully preparing the
vamps for these disappeared women, the quiet, understated content
becomes a massive chorus for justice.
The installation is brilliant. The Telus Building has a
section shaped like the prow of a ship, so that the memorial, laid out
on cloth, takes beautiful advantage of the vamp-shaped floor. The red
cloths make a pathway through hundreds of pairs of vamps laid
out on grey cloth. Some vamps are made of tanned
moose and deer hides with designs stitched, beaded, embroidered or
prepared with quill work,
pine-needle weaving, fish-scale art and button-blanket techniques from
the Northwest coast. Others designs are stitched into stroud cloth,
feathered,
painted, furred, some bearing photographs of the eyes of a lost sister,
many carrying animal representations
or symbols, flowers, birds, texts, some delicate, many ornate and heavy
with beading.
At the apex of the walk stand two
staffs with white
feathers. Families who have lost a sister, a mother, a daughter, a
cousin, a grandmother, an auntie, a friend or a lover are invited to
tie a feather to one of the staffs to pay their particular respects to
them.
The booklet given out with the show refers to the work
of the Native Women's Association of Canada and states: "In Canada,
more than 600 Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered in
the last 20 years. Many have vanished without a trace... This is a
travesty of justice....Only 53 per cent of murder
cases involving indigenous women and girls have led to charges being
laid, compared to the national 'clearance rate' for homicides in
Canada, which was last reported as 84 per cent."
The reality is that aboriginal women in Canada are at
least five times more likely to die of violence than non-aboriginal
women, the brutal legacy of "colonial justice" in Canada. The racist
and sexist government policies, stereotypes of Indigenous women, a lack
of media attention, cuts to funding and police negligence
all contribute to, and indeed perpetuate this violence.
As this show travels for the next five years, it will
significantly contribute to the many initiatives which are going to
make it harder and harder for the Harper dictatorship to push this
outrage under the rug or justify cutting off funding the Sisters in
Spirit project, the first wholehearted attempt to document the
numbers of missing and murdered aboriginal women throughout Canada. The
United Nations has requested that Canada conduct an inquiry into the
deaths and disappearances of Aboriginal girls and women to maintain
its human rights record. To date, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not
done so, and Canada's representative at the UN rejected the request
outright. This stand
must be reversed and the government held to account for its failure to
act to protect the safety of aboriginal women.
The power of "Walking With Our Sisters"
resides in the
use of tender, ancient and family-motivated women's work together with
the most modern methods of crowd sourcing and crowd funding, to seek
redress. Like the installation "REDress" of spring 2012, it smashes the
silence on the situation and calls for
justice for indigenous women and girls and all First Nations peoples in
Canada.
For the venue schedule, as well as contact and donation
information, see the show's website at: walkingwithoursisters.ca.

October 18 National Day of Action to End Violence
Against Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada
The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the
Assembly of
First Nations (AFN) have declared October 18 as a National Day of
Action to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada.
People are being called to organize actions on this day,
including
signing the petition
or sending postcards to the Federal Government to demand a National
Inquiry into the crisis of missing and murdered
Aboriginal women and girls, contacting local newspapers about the issue
or holding meetings about how to address this issue. NWAC will also be
participating in a
webinar on this subject with the AFN on October 18 from 2:00-3:00 pm
(EST). A link to this event
can be found at the AFN website, www.afn.ca.

Sisters in Spirit Vigils Held
Parliament Hill
On October 4, vigils were organized in 216 locations
across the country and others held internationally to honour the more
than 600 missing and murdered aboriginal women across Canada and to
smash the silence surrounding their disappearances. The vigils,
initiated by the Native Women's Association of Canada
(NWAC), are organized yearly by the National Sisters in Spirit Vigil
Committee.
A statement issued by the
organizing committee this year
stated that one year ago "NWAC launched a petition calling for a
National Public Inquiry. Completed forms have arrived each day, filled
with signatures as well as messages of solidarity. More than 10,000
signatures have been collected and the petitions
will be submitted to the Federal Government on October 18th 2013 as
part of a National Day of Action. An inquiry would be a crucial step in
implementing a comprehensive and coordinated national action plan. As
our organizations have repeatedly urged, such a response is necessary
to address the scale and severity
of violence faced by Aboriginal women and girls. Together, we must
demand action and secure commitments from all levels of government."
A series of resolutions calling on the Canadian
government to launch such an enquiry was formally adopted in September
by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and still the Harper
government is refusing to take action.
The statement, which was read out at vigils across the
country, further states that, "October 4th is dedicated to honouring
the
lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls and supporting
families who have been tragically touched by the loss of a loved one to
violence. Vigils take many forms: a rally,
a candlelight vigil, a workshop, a moment of silence, a walk, or a
gathering of people to share memories and a meal. Together, the October
4th SIS vigils have become a movement for social change and a reminder
that our sisters will not be forgotten."
One of the largest vigils was organized on Parliament
Hill by the Families of Sisters in Spirit. The callout for the event
emphasized
that Families of Sisters in Spirit "believes that no decisions can be
made on behalf of Indigenous women, families, communities, and Nations
without our free, prior, and informed consent.
This demands our DIRECT leadership in any/all processes." Hundreds
participated in the vigil and march, including many family members of
the of the missing
and murdered.
 

Take Back the Night 2013
Toronto
Starting with the "Take Back the Night" march in
Hamilton on September 12, marches and rallies have taken place across
the country through which women affirm their right to live in safety
and security in their communities. The marches continue to early
October.
Most of the actions are organized by local women's
centres, shelters and rape crisis centres which for years have been
working to end violence against women and children and have valiantly
taken up providing care for those suffering from violence. They do this
as governments cut funding to social services
and deny adequate housing, employment and health care for all which
leads to a worse situation for women and girls.
In Toronto, this year's Take Back the Night rally and
march were held under the banner "Honouring and Reclaiming
Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples," and opposed in particular
the
murder and disappearance of Aboriginal women and girls.
St
John's; Cornerbrook
Toronto
Hamilton; Chatham
 
Calgary; Kelowna
 

Note to Readers
TML Daily will
not be published on Monday, October 14, 2013.

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Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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