THE FACES OF IDLE NO MORE

Idle No More movement demonstrations were held across the country Monday, as natives joined other activists to oppose the federal government’s changes to environmental oversight and to urge action on native rights. took his camera to Parliament Hill and s

ANDREA MONKMAN, 59, Windsor, Ont.

‘I’m here to let (the prime minister) know that we’re not happy with the way that things have gone for us native people, as well as all of Canada. The Idle No More movement … is not going to stop. As days go by we’ll get stronger, and we’re trying to do this in a peaceful and respectful way.’

ROBERT, 66, Ottawa

‘Everyone has their reasons for being here, but I would like to see the general public become better educated to the fact that we’re not inferior, that we have our way of life and we want our right to be Indian and be accepted in the nation as such. I don’t know if Idle No More will do that, but I’m here anyway.’

TIM MCGREGOR, 58, Whitefish River, Ont.

‘I’m here to stand up for the rights of our people. My daughter’s here — she’s going to carry on. I’m happy to lend my one spirit to the total spirit here so we can send a message out to our government that we need a different way of doing things with our people.’

CLAIRE ALBUSCHELLER, 18, Windsor, Ont.

‘I’m bothered by the water treaties and how they want to take over the lakes and pipelines and all that. ‘I’ve always been proud of who I am, and I want to support anything that helps with being native — or even not being native; we need to do this for Canada. It affects everybody.’

ELLEN SAMANTHA CORBIERE, 42, M’Chigeeng First Nation

‘I’m here for the jingle gathering. We’re here for healing for our communities, and for Chief Spence, and to get Bill C-45 recognized so that we still keep our rights for the waterways, and rights for our grandchildren. I’m hoping this protest will do that.’

GORDON ODJIG, 57, Manitoulin Island, Ont.

‘We’re here to let (the prime minister) know that we have inherent rights, we have our treaty rights. For me, this movement shows the beauty of our people, it shows that we do have a culture, it shows that we care about our children’s future. That’s why we’re here.’