UNsettle Canada 150: Webinar

Details: Published on Friday, 16 June 2017 05:30; Written by editor

... Paov --

The #UNsettleCanada150 Webinar will be moderated by Kanahus Manuel with presentations and discussions from land defenders Ellen Gabriel, Russell Diabo and Beatrice Hunter.

As a lead up to the #UNsettleCanada150 July 1st National Day of Action, this webinar will celebrate our Indigenous rights to self-determination, our lands, territories, and resources. It will also educate Canadians regarding the impact of the creation of the
Canadian State and 150 years of white settler colonialism.

The link for this webinar will be posted on the Facebook event page an hour before the webinar begins. Click here: INM Webinar Event Page.

Moderator: Kanahus Manuel

Kanahus Manuel, Secwepemc/Ktunaxa, a member of the Secwepemc Women Warriors Society and a mother of 4, (her unceded Territory lies within so-called British Columbia, Canada) she was born into Indigenous Resistance and Land Defence, coming from a high-profile political family known for bringing their fight for their Traditional Territories into the spotlight from the local to the International Level. Kanahus’ has been imprisoned for fighting for her lands and water at the Sun Peaks ski resort and has been at the forefront in the battle against the largest mine tailings disaster in Canada, at Imperial Metals Mount Polley mine within her Secwepemc Territory. Kanahus’ and her Peoples have declared their opposition and NO Consent for the Trans Mountain Kinder Morgan pipeline proposing to cut through her Territory, the largest Territory that this project proposes to cross through. Kanahus’ promotes decolonization reviving and becoming a Secwepemc traditional birth keeper and a traditional hand poke tattoo artists, her activism also includes prison justice work, including heading the campaign to advocate for the freedom and exoneration of Orlando Watley, a wrongfully convicted Chickasaw man being held in the California prison system for the past 23 years.

Webinar Panelists:

Kanien’kehá:ka Nation - Turtle Clan
Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory Indigenous Human Rights Activist
Ellen Gabriel was well-known to the public when she was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanehsatà:ke to be their spokesperson during the 1990 “Oka” Crisis; to protect the Pines from the expansion of a 9 hole golf course in “Oka”.
For the past 22 years, she has been a human rights advocate for the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples and has worked diligently to sensitize the public, academics, policing authorities and politicians on the history, culture, and identity of Indigenous peoples.
She has made numerous public presentations on Indigenous rights and history, including presentations to Parliamentary committees and the National Assembly on legislative amendments affecting the rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
She has been active at the international level participating at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues, negotiations on the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biodiversity and most recently, at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
She has traveled across Canada, to the Hague in Holland, Strasbourg, France to address the European Parliament, and to Japan to educate people about the events in her community during the 1990 “Oka Crisis” when she was chosen by the Longhouse and her community to be their spokesperson.
Ms. Gabriel has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University where she graduated in May 1990. She worked as an Illustrator/Curriculum Developer for Tsi Ronteriwanónha ne Kanien’kéka/ Kanehsatà:ke Resource Center in Kanehsatà:ke and also worked as an Art Teacher for the Mohawk Immersion School for grades 1-6. Ellen has also worked on videos illustrating legends of the Iroquois people and the local community stories. She is presently an active board member of Kontinón:sta’ts – Mohawk Language Custodians and First Peoples Human Rights Coalition.
In 2004, Ellen Gabriel was elected president of the Quebec Native Women’s Association a position which she held for 6 ½ years, until December 2010.
Awards: In 2005 Ms. Gabriel received the Golden Eagle Award from the Native Women’s Association of Canada; 2008 International Women’s Day Award from the Barreau du Québec/Québec Bar Association and as well in August 2008 Ms. Gabriel was the recipient of the Indigenous Women’s Initiative “Jigonsaseh Women of Peace Award” for her advocacy work.
She believes that decolonization will be achieved by implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples. She believes that education controlled by First Nations peoples based upon our languages and culture are paramount to the revitalization of our institutions damaged by the Indian Act, the Indian Residential School and colonial legislation and policy. Our traditional knowledge is precious, is one of the key components for Indigenous peoples in overcoming colonial oppression. She is an advocate for gender equity, the revitalization of Indigenous languages, culture, traditions and Indigenous governing structures.

Beatrice Hunter is an Inuk grandmother and land protector who hails from Hopedale, Nunatsiavut. Today she lives in Happy Valley-Goose Bay Labrador, where she and others are resisting the Muskrat Falls hydro project which threatens local communities' water, food, safety and way of life. Beatrice faces charges related to the indigenous-led occupation of the muskrat falls Site last year and was recently jailed in a maximum security men's prison for more than a week after refusing to promise a judge she would stay away from the Muskrat Falls site.

Russell Diabo is Editor and Publisher of an online newsletter that covers First Nations political and legal issues, the First Nations Strategic Bulletin. He is a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, Quebec, and has been an activist on First Nation issues since the age of 16 and is part of the Defenders of the Land Network. He works closely with Idle No More under a joint agreement between these two networks to work together.

For more information on the July 1st National Day of Action: INM UNsettle Canada150 Event Info

The link for this webinar will be posted on the Idle No More Facebook event page, an hour before the webinar begins. Click Here: INM FB event page

Idle No More Info
http://www.idlenomore.ca/ Idle No More · Canada
This email was sent to s6. To stop receiving r46. Developed by cStreet Campaigns Created with NationBuilder