Sovereign Summer
My name is Vanessa Gray and I am Anishinaabe Kwe from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. I am a grassroots organizer and public speaker, sharing my experience of growing up surrounded by Chemical Valley. I’m grateful to have recently joined the Indigenous Climate Action team as the Divestment Campaign Coordinator. I only really understood my role in the community when I attended the Healing Walk 12 years ago in August 2010 and watched the powerful leadership from Indigneous women leading the Healing Walk through Canada’s Tar Sands extraction sites directly impacting communities in Treaty 6 territory.
Indigenous Climate Action supported part of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in efforts to protect the Yintah from Coastal GasLink’s pipeline and future projects on their unceded territory. Dini ze’, Ts’ako ze’ and Sky ze’ led the Strengthening Our Sovereignty Nation-to-Nation Tour. Hereditary Chiefs and Wet’suwet’en community leaders set out to connect to nations across Turtle Island in ceremonies and events to build solidarity support for each other.
I am honoured to have taken part in this opportunity to engage with communities along this tour and especially the community I come from. I have visited the Wet’suwet’en Territory and organized in solidarity with Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en for several years. I share the love for all the sacred creatures on the territory and the drinkable water that the Wadzin Kwa provides. I deeply value the leaders who defend Wet’suwet’en territory and hope to strengthen those relationships.
Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Aamjiwnaang First Nation is surrounded by Chemical Valley, home to more than 60 chemical plants and oil refineries. Dow Chemical. Shell. Imperial Oil. About 40% of Canada’s entire chemical industry is clustered around my community and the nearby city of Sarnia. The historical and continued under regulated releases of emissions massively contributes to the climate crisis. Indigenous communities like mine, facing daily chemical exposure from industrial projects, understand how isolating it can feel to struggle with generational impacts to our land, water and community.
On August 3rd 2022, community members from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, along with support from ICA, hosted the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and community members. It was the second stop of the Chiefs’ summer tour. The weather was hot and humid when the Wet’suwet’en guests arrived at the Aamjiwnaang community center, Maawn Doosh Gumig. The day started with a Toxic Tourof Chemical Valley. Elder Mike Plain, Beze Gray, Ashley Maness and myself led the tour of the industries surrounding our community. The Wet’suwet’en Chiefs would see, hear, and smell the refineries, tailings ponds, pipelines, and flares that my community endures every single day
Winnipeg (Treaty 1)
I joined the Nation-to-Nation tour in Winnipeg on August 9th. Supporting travel needs gave me the opportunity to spend time joking around with Auntie Janet, Chief Na’moks, Jennifer Wickham, and Gaylene Morris. We began the day with a ceremony with Chickadee Richards and a small group of women at the Oodena Celebration Circle. After the ceremony, a community event was hosted by Indigenous community organizers in collaboration with ICA team members at the Turtle Island Neighborhood Center. I felt at home in the space with delicious food and gathering with so many natives in the city was comforting. We shared a meal and heard from Janet, Na’moks, Jen and Gaylene on apanel. Community members also shared their experiences from their communities.
Regina (Treaty 4)
The next stop on the tour was in Regina on August 11th. This was my first visit to treaty 4 territory. The travel time gave us time to talk about continuing our Nation-to-Nation relationship beyond the tour. While we were in between events, Gaylene was hard at work organizing the 10 days of ceremony on the Yintah after the last stop on the tour. The event was held in the theater at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. The event opened with traditional dancers who brought a sense of celebration of our cultures to the space. Chief Na’moks invited me to be on the panel with him, Janet and Gaylene to share a few words. The event ended with fry bread and saskatoon berry tarts.
Edmonton (Treaty 6)
The last tour stop I joined was in treaty 6 territory on August 13th. It was a hot and beautiful day in the city of Edmonton when we marched through the streets led by Chief Na’moks, Aunty Janet, and Gaylene. Our march ended at a RBC branch, we heard speeches and held a banner drop. We went to the library and gathered in the beautiful PÎYÊSÎW WÂSKÂHIKAN (Thunderbird House). We had a feast including soup, fry bread and berries. Every tour stop extended the invitation to go to the Yintah.
While our communities are far from one another, the struggle to protect the water is close to home for all of us. The solution to the same problem we all face is connection, tradition, and solidarity. We all share the rights to self-determination, free, prior and informed consent. Finding ways to come together in how we do this as sovereign nations and in solidarity with each other is essential to our collective successes.
Learn more about the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their fight to protect Wedzin Kwa by visiting their website. Continue to stand in solidarity, share their story and if you have the capacity, please consider donating.
Vanessa Gray is a queer Anishinaabe Kwe from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. She is a water protector, environmental researcher, and community organizer for the Great Lakes region. She is also a respected land defender emphasizing Indigenous peoples inherent and legal rights and sovereignty within climate justice. Vanessa continues to take part in a diversity of strategies and works within ICA as our Divestment Campaign Coordinator.