Words and Photos by Dana Dallavalle, Donor Relationship Manager
When will there be a campaign to bring back the Canadian First Nations people, just as they have done for the wolves and the moose?
Recently, I spent a long weekend at the Bioneers Conference in California, where Global Greengrants Fund grantee Judy Da Silva spoke about the dehumanization of Canada’s First Nations people. Judy is from Grassy Narrows First Nation in Ontario. She is known for leading a successful blockade that prevented logging in her community, pressuring the Ontario government to clean up nine metric tons of mercury that was dumped in the 1960s in the English-Wabigoon River system, and for being an environmental protector throughout the region.
Judy speaks at the Indigenous Forum at the Bioneers Conference.
Judy is only 54 years old, but she suffers from the effects of mercury poisoning, and is wheelchair bound as a result. She, and the other Canadian First Nations people at the conference, told me their story.
One young woman told me she recently traveled to Algeria to visit a refugee camp. She said, “This is just like the rez [reservation]. There’s government mandated aid, they control what food we can have, where we can live, and they built walls around us, too.”
From the late 1800s until the 1960s, generations of First Nations children were forcibly sent to residential schools. At these schools, children were beaten for speaking their native language, religion was forced on them, physical and sexual abuse was rampant, and they were “civilized” with Western education. As young adults, they were dumped back in their communities.
Throughout the years, this awful trauma inflicted on young people spread like a plague through the First Nations communities. People started to lose their language, alcoholism and drug use skyrocketed, rape and sexual abuse became normal, and violence against women was commonplace. Hearing young people talk about the challenges they still face as a result of this trauma will add a thousand pounds to your soul.
But then, those same young people start talking about hope.
The Native people of North America are in a revival. It was a powerful experience to feel their anger and determination, yet deep love for each other and their ancestors.
Judy prepares to lead a group of Global Greengrants Fund friends and supporters in a water blessing ceremony in the San Francisco Bay.
Just as a forest replenishes itself after being burnt down, the young people, and Judy too, are emerging from the ashes of a burned out forest. These brave people are fighting that dehumanization with force, and are bringing back their endangered language and people’s deep relationship to the Earth. They get law degrees while reviving their native culture and traditions, and at the same time, they plant resilient seeds in our nation’s children. The North American Native people are standing united at Standing Rock with thousands of non-native sympathizers to protest the Dakota Pipeline, and together, they are fighting to reclaim Native people’s land, rights, and most importantly, their humanity.
Judy told me how non-native people can help:
- Tell the truth: In schools, children are taught what happened long ago to the North American Native people. Teach them about what has happened since then and what is still happening now.
- Elect politicians who prioritize Native people’s issues in their platforms: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ran for office on the platform of supporting First Nations people. He launched a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for First Nations people to begin the long process of healing. There is much work to be done beyond this commission, but it is a step in the right direction.
- Support people on the front lines: Incredible activists are taking important steps to protect native environments. Global Greengrants Fund reaches grassroots activists, like Judy DaSilva, and ensures they have the opportunity to lead solutions to the problems they face. Click here to learn more about supporting courageous activists like her.
Together we can make the world a safe, healthy, and better place for all. We can do that by staying informed, demanding justice, teaching our young people, and standing in solidarity with Native people because the land we stand on really belongs to them.