Indigenous Struggles Solidarity Day in Sudbury

Check out the media release that went out yesterday regarding a public education event on Saturday being held in support of indigenous struggles:

INDIGENOUS STRUGGLES SOLIDARITY DAY IN SUDBURY

SUDBURY, ONTARIO, June 28, 2008 – The Government of Canada recently offered an apology to the indigenous survivors of the residential school system. But, according to some Sudbury residents, an apology is about more than words. "Really being sorry is about supporting indigenous peoples as they struggle against racism and for the land," said Alexis Shotwell, professor of Philosophy at Laurentian University. "And being supportive means educating ourselves."

To learn about current indigenous struggles, Sudbury Against War and Occupation (SAWO) is inviting all residents of Sudbury to a free public education event called Indigenous Struggles Solidarity Day on Saturday, June 28th, from 11 am to 5 pm at Myths and Mirrors community artspace in Victory Park, located off of Frood Road, north of Kathleen Street. The event will feature food, speakers, workshops, videos, drumming, and other music.

SAWO regards the Government's apology as an important step won through decades of struggle by indigenous people, but still just a single step on the long road to dignity and justice for indigenous peoples. "The powerful institutions that benefit the most from stolen land will only make genuine efforts to forge a new relationship with the original peoples of this land if they are pressured to do so, and it is the responsibility of settlers to join with indigenous people in applying that pressure," said SAWO member Clarissa Lassaline. "To do that well, we all must learn about struggles going on in the region and across the country."

Highlights of the June 28th event include:

• Sudbury resident John Moore, of the Serpent River First Nation, will speak about his decades-long quest for justice from a racist criminal justice system, after a wrongful conviction for murder.
  
  
• Local First Nations educator Ed Sackaney will use the Story Telling and Teaching Blanket to teach about indigenous struggles for the land.
  
  
• Eric Landry, a local native performer, will offer a youth-oriented workshop on Native Music and will also perform some of his music.
  
  
• Sadakii Drum from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake First Nation) will open and close the day.
  
  
• A video will be shown of Andrea Smith, Cherokee feminist and acclaimed author, discussing the colonization of North America and sexual violence.
  
  
• There will be other workshops, videos, and opportunities for discussion and participation.

This day of education and solidarity occurs in the context of recent attempts to criminalize indigenous struggles and indigenous activists at Six Nations, Tyendinaga, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (or KI) First Nation, and Ardoch Algonquin Nation and in the context of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake First Nation) claim on mineral resources wealth in the Sudbury area.

Sudbury Against War and Occupation is a group of Sudbury residents, both indigenous and non-indigenous, concerned with all forms and consequences of war and occupation. While this includes working against Canadian involvement in war and occupation abroad, SAWO sees it as central to recognize that Canada itself exists as an occupation of indigenous land and that struggles by indigenous peoples against that occupation must be supported.

For more information about SAWO or the June 28th event, please call XXX-YYYY.

See also this advance coverage in Northern Life, a local paper, based largely on the media release:

Indigenous solidarity event to take place in Sudbury

Residents of Greater Sudbury are invited to participate in an Indigenous Struggles Solidarity Day June 28.

The event, organized by Sudbury Against War and Occupation, will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Myths and Mirrors community art space in Victory Park, located off Frood Road, north of Kathleen Street.

The group says the federal government's recent apology for the suffering caused by the residential school system is an important step, but many things still need to happen before indigenous peoples receive dignity and justice.

"Really being sorry is about supporting indigenous peoples as they struggle against racism and for the land," said Alexis Shotwell, professor of philosophy at Laurentian University.

Highlights of the June 28th event include:

Sudbury resident John Moore, of the Serpent River First Nation, will speak about his decades-long quest for justice from a racist criminal justice system, after a wrongful conviction for murder.

Local First Nations educator Ed Sackaney will use the Story Telling and Teaching Blanket to teach about indigenous struggles for the land.

Eric Landry, a local Native performer, will offer a youth-oriented workshop on Native Music and will also perform some of his music.

Sadakii Drum from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Whitefish Lake First Nation) will open and close the day.

A video will be shown of Andrea Smith, Cherokee feminist and acclaimed author, discussing the colonization of North America and sexual violence.

There will be other workshops, videos and opportunities for discussion and participation.

If you are in the area, please come on out!