First Nations’ protest growing
Emil Bell drove two hours from his home in Saskatchewan to the Cole Bay First Nation on Tuesday to ask for his daughter’s permission to die.
The 72-year-old Creeman told Postmedia News he has given up eating and is willing to starve for the future of his people. Bell was inspired after Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence started her own hunger strike earlier this week aimed at forcing the federal government to negotiate a more equitable relationship with Canada’s aboriginals.
“It’s not a decision I’m taking lightly,” he said.
As Bell began his strike Wednesday, members of the Samson Cree Nation set up a temporary blockade on Highway 2A in Alberta to halt the flow of traffic between Calgary and Edmonton. They also acted in solidarity with Spence.
“You can beat a dog and keep beating it into a corner but eventually the dog bites back,” said Samson Chief Kirk Buffalo.
The roadblock was the latest in a series of actions co-ordinated with the help of a growing online community of aboriginal activists calling itself Idle No More. About a dozen similar protests were set up almost entirely via social media this past week, but experts are divided on whether the movement can survive without cash and experienced organizers.
So far, thousands have used the #idlenomore hashtag to communicate and organize on Twitter. News of the campaign’s latest events is compiled on the blog idlenomore.com.
Mik’maq lawyer Pam Palmater says the intense motivation behind Idle No More is enough to keep it alive without any large-scale financial support. Palmater stood alongside Spence when she announced her hunger strike on Parliament Hill.
“This is more than just people rallying behind a cause,” said Palmater, who ran for National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in July. “We’re all related, we’re all fighting for our land, our culture, our future as a people.”