Through social media and old-fashioned word of mouth, Northern Minnesota Ojibwe joined their Canadian brethren Saturday afternoon in International Falls for a unity demonstration against a host of laws opponents say erode age-old treaty rights and destroy the environment for profit.
The latter presents a clear danger to both sides of the border and Borderland residents of all races, speakers said.
At least 200 people gathered at Border Bob's parking lot about 1 p.m. for the “Idle No More Solidarity Round Dance.”
Participants called for the revocation of Parliament's and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recently passed omnibus budget Bill C-45 and the prevention of any future laws like it. They also tried to convey how it will not only negatively impact Canadian but also Borderland waters and lands.
“It's passed now, but we can still fight against it... for future generations,” said Karla Bluebird, an event organizer from the Red Lake Indian Reservation near Bemidji, Minn.
Bluebird and other northern Minnesota tribal members and their supporters joined mostly Couchiching First Nation members for an American version of Canada's Idle No More grassroots movement. The indigenous organization has spawned numerous other unity demonstrations like Saturday's in I. Falls across the globe for weeks, according to published reports.
Speakers said the issues also transcend the American-Canadian border, in part, because the Ojibwe or Anishinabe are one people separated by a line on a map. During the roughly two-hour event in the freezing cold spokespeople passed along a megaphone to convey that their intentions are peaceful and meant to be educational for everyone, not just Anishinabe.
“We're here to shed more light on how Bill C-45 affects the American side,” Bluebird told The Journal.
The bill will open the land up to drilling and mining and as a result carry poisons to America through shared streams and lakes, speakers said.
“They care about paychecks, and that's all,” said Sara Mainville of Couchiching. “The tailings from the gold mines will pollute Rainy Lake.”
During the round dance, participants also sang and beat hand drums as they circled a cluster of traditional drummers, whose instruments were surrounded by burning sage, tobacco pipes and other symbolic items such as eagle feathers and shells.
Bluebird shouted: “What are we?”
The crowd replied: “Idle No More!”
“What do we want?” she said.
“Human rights,” they said.
Making sure the next generations are cared for is the utmost priority, supporters said repeatedly, many of whom brought with their young children. Changes made today and in the near future could dismantle the Indian Act of 1876 and over time eventually erase a proud and active culture with a rich and living history, they said.
Some also called on the crowd not to sink to racism while expressing their views and instead rise above the negative rhetoric of those who want to eliminate the Indian Act.
James A. Henderson traveled from Mitaanjigamiing First Nation on the Canadian side of Rainy Lake for the event. He also said he wants everyone to know this is not just about preserving indigenous rights.
Some non-natives today say treaties are antiquated and unfair privileges, despite the extraordinarily high rates of education inequity, substance abuse, poverty and other problems on Canadian reserves and American reservations.
“I think it's (Idle No More's) been a spiritual awakening for so many, really for a lot of young people,” said Henderson, who's drummed at several similar events.
Without money for high-priced lobbyists and major political contributions, Devery Fairbanks, a college instructor from Bemidji, said “all we can do is the best we can.”
That means making themselves heard at events like Saturday's, educating the public, gathering supporters, organizing and more.
“This is about everyone,” Henderson also said. “We all need water after all.”
For the American Idle No More demonstration, Bluebird said they choose not to walk the short distance and possibly temporarily block the narrow border crossing, so no one who was headed back to Canada “would get into any trouble.”
While there clearly was heightened security as police, sheriff and border patrol vehicles rounded city streets, participants said authorities never confronted them. In fact, Bluebird said that International Falls police politely asked if the crowd wanted to march through town and offered to provide an escort.
She and others said they were grateful for the offer and treatment.
Mainville, an attorney who has assisted the movement, warned Bill C-45 is just the beginning. She was part of the Dec. 21 march that attracted hundreds of Idle No More supporters in Fort Frances, just blocks away from Saturday's demonstration.
Mainville said she was part of a Couchiching First Nation delegation who met recently in Kenora, Ontario, north of Lake of the Woods, with Conservative MP Greg Rickford. Mainville said Rickford told them the bill, which is now law, is just one of a lot more anti-treaty rights and environmental measures now in the works.
Rickford holds significant political sway over First Nation communities as parliamentary secretary to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (AAND). She claimed Rickford told the leaders either to join future discussions or they'll be left out.
“It felt more like a threat than a request,” she said. “I think that kind of unilateralism is just bad for relations,” Mainville said.
For a year, Rickford has been meeting with aboriginal stakeholders across Canada about its still-stagnant economy to find ways to boost revenues with their help, according to the AAND website. And just this week, he spoke publicly in favor of Harper's positions.
"Increasing Aboriginal participation in the economy is the most effective way to improve the well-being and quality of life of Aboriginal people in Canada,” Rickford stated in a news release. “It is also important to Canada's future economic prosperity."
Several of Saturday's I. Falls' participants said they came out as well to show support for Chief Theresa Spence, who's been on a hunger strike since before the holidays.
Harper has declined to meet with Spence but scheduled a summit for Friday with the Assembly of First Nations, a collective of chiefs. Some have said the gathering will delve into government relations, treaty rights and environmental fears, while others say it's a Harper publicity stunt considering the time constraints and no actionable agenda items.
Mainville said Saturday was a “a good show of support” but they'll need to keep up their momentum to effect real change.
Bluebird and co-organizer Tito Ybarra, of Redby, Minn., utilized a Facebook page to help coordinate the event and transportation. To view event comments, photos and video, go online to www.facebook.com/events/399425550131879/?fref=ts.
To learn more about Idle No More, go to idlenomore1.blogspot.com/. Harper and his supporter's reasoning and rebuttals also are widely available on the Internet.
