As Shay lynn steps into a new adventure, read her parting words as she wraps up with ICA

I am writing to you all as I move into a new phase of my journey and my time as ICA’s Youth Engagement Lead comes to a close. I have worked with ICA for just over a year now and have learned so much along the way, and have had opportunities working with some amazing people on this team, as well as telling stories from my perspective to many people from around Turtle Island and the world. 

When I started in this position I was still actively living on the frontlines to fight off extractive industries from sovereign Indigenous territories (where I am moving back to now), and was welcomed onto the ICA team. Since I became involved in climate justice and Indigenous sovereignty work, I have been so inspired by the Indigenous youth that pick up these ancestral struggles. I have seen the passion that flows through our peoples when we have the truth behind us, and the ancient ways of knowing that lead us to protecting our homelands and our people. I have seen the hurt, the trauma, and the violence that comes with rebuilding our communities from the harm of colonization, but I have also seen the hope in our youth for new tomorrows. 

Canada will try to sell reconciliation to Indigenous youth, but as I have heard many youth say over the last few years: Reconciliation is Dead. There is a roar coming from our young people- that we will no longer be idle, we will not accept genocide, we will shut down what needs to be shut down in order for our voices to be heard. We have never been voiceless, but we have been silenced. Indigenous youth are the power of our peoples; we are the warriors of this generation, we are the ones that will further the fights of our Elders and our ancestors. You can see young people standing up in our communities, on frontlines across Turtle Island, on international stages, in the lobbies of government offices, and on the steps of legislatures and parliaments. Blockades of highways, ports, and railways are only the beginning of what our people can and will accomplish. Colonial infrastructure is not allowed to dispose of, destroy, and exploit our people and our lands to turn a profit and then continue to oppress us. Our people deserve to live our ways of life without the threat of violence, without militarized police raids, lengthy court battles, and without the real possibility of going missing or being disappeared. Indigenous youth see a future that upholds this.

I have the honor of being born into the House of Spookw of the Wolf Clan of the Gitxsan Nation, to be in relation to the Wet’suwet’en, and to be connected with Indigenous people from all over that have become family to me. This is the strength that we must follow; we have power in being connected to one another and picking up this fight. With every generation, we follow this ancestral knowing in order to protect the generations to come so that maybe one day we no longer have to fight. We can still hear the prayers of our ancestors echo through the feast halls that were burnt down by the indian agents, by the rcmp, and legacy of colonialism in so-called ‘canada.’ And still we rebuild. 

No nation should have to lose their salmon, or rivers, or territory. No colonial government will ever be sovereign on Indigenous lands. As Indigenous people we are tied to our territories, this is something that can never be severed- and we will always stand up and we will always fight back.

I want to thank the team at ICA for supporting me on my endeavors. I look forward to following the amazing work that the new Youth Engagement Coordinator will take on, and I will be watching once again from the frontlines. If you are a young Indigenous person reading this: connect however you can, wherever you are with your culture. Find your passion in picking up the work of defending your homelands, whatever that gift may be. Stay critical of the government, the police, and any and all colonial infrastructure that attempts to criminalize, dehumanize and sacrifice Indigenous people and culture and land. Lastly, get on the ground and organize if you can. Get to the frontline, and if that doesn't work for you then bring the frontline to wherever you are. We are always stronger together. 

Hamiya’a

Shay lynn Sampson