Listen to a series of interviews about the ongoing blockade at Grassy Narrows an indigenous community in North-Western Ontario resisting clear-cutting of their traditional land use area.
Producer: Stefan Christoff christoff@tao.ca
Uploaded by: Stefan Christoff christoff@tao.ca
Listen to a report about the ongoing indigenous blockade at Grassy Narrows. Since December 3rd 2002 the Ojibway community living at Grassy Narrows in North Western Ontario have successfully maintained a road blockade to fight against the clear-cutting of their traditional land use area by Abitibi Consolidated, a Montreal based paper corporation. The blockade at Grassy Narrows have been a source of inspiration for many indigenous communities throughout the world as an example of indigenous resistance.
Grassy Narrows Chief William Fobister explained "The issue... is the further erosion of our culture by eradication of the last remaining areas of old growth forest in our Traditional Land use Area. This area lies outside of our reserve. It has sustained us and our culture for thousands of years. The liquidation of the forest will restrict our culture and traditional activities and even eliminate many aspects of it (berry picking, hunting, trapping, medicine gathering)".
This report which features interviews with community members of Grassy Narrows, Roberta Keesick a Ojibway activist from Grassy Narrows, Dave Brophy from Friends of Grassy Narrows Winnipeg, Antoine Libert of the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement (Montreal) & Carolyn Perez of the No One is Illegal Campaign. The interviews in this report focus on the national day of action held across Canada on October 16th in solidarity with the ongoing blockade at Grassy Narrows. Actions were held in Thunder Bay & Kenora Ontario, Victoria BC and in Montreal. The national day of action was focused on building resistance to the ongoing environmentally devastating clear-cutting of Abitibi Consolidated which violates the Grassy Narrows community's aboriginal and treaty rights.
To get more information about Grassy Narrows visit:
http://www.friendsofgrassynarrows.com
http://www.thunderbay.indymedia.org
