RELEASE: Pipe ceremony feast marks 10 years of the Grassy Narrows logging blockade
Grassy Narrows Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek
Sunday Dec. 2, 2012 riverr...@gmail.com
Pipe
ceremony feast marks 10 years of the Grassy Narrows logging blockade
Threat of
logging looms as Ontario approves dozens of new clearcuts in logging
plan
Toronto,
ON - Today, Grassy Narrows Blockaders and their supporters
are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of what is now the longest
running Indigenous logging blockade in Canada. Grassy Narrows people
are holding a pipe ceremony feast in a new long house built at the
Slant Lake blockade site where grassroots youth, mothers, and land
users have denied passage to logging trucks seeking access to
community's territory for the past decade. The ceremony is one of 25
coordinated events happening in cities across North America to
celebrate this major milestone in the fight for Indigenous land
rights and environmental justice.
“When we go out to protect the land in minus 42 degree weather we are following instincts that are like teachings from our ancestors,” explained Grassy Narrows mother and blockader Judy Da Silva. “We are defending the source of life for all people.”
On December 2, 2002 in the depth of winter Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) people put their bodies in the path of industrial machinery to stop logging in their territory, protect their culture, and safeguard their children's future. Against all odds the community has now stopped logging trucks from passing for 10 full years and has gained commitments from logging companies Resolute (formerly AbitibiBowater), Boise, Domtar, and Ainsworth to respect their right to say 'no' to logging.
But U.S. Lumber giant Weyerheauser continues to seek access to Grassy Narrows' territory against their will, and Ontario has released a 10 year logging plan that includes dozens of clearcuts in the forest on which Grassy Narrows people depend.
Massive industrial logging operations by some of the world's largest lumber and paper companies have degraded much of the forest that Grassy Narrows people depend on for food, culture, and livelihood. Logging practices and industrial waste have also poisoned Grassy Narrows' river with mercury, a potent neurotoxin that has taken a devastating toll on the health and livelihood of three generations of Grassy Narrows people. The logging and associated mercury poisoning compound the trauma of hydro damming, coerced relocation, and residential schools in Grassy Narrows.
“Grassy
Narrows is leading the way towards respect for Indigenous land rights
and defending the forests that provide clean air, fresh water, and a
more stable climate for all of us,” said Leah Henderson of Earth
Justice Action, a Toronto based group that supports Indigenous land
defence. “People across the continent are inspired by what the
Grassy Narrows blockade has accomplished, and we join with them as
they protect their forests, their health, and their culture.”
High
resolution photos available.
For more information go to: FreeGrassy.org