Teck Rejected! Support Youth Rising! Join us in raising $50,000!
Friends & Cousins,
This has been a deadly week with the success of the Reject Teck campaign that was launched by ICA. As a new organizer with the team, I have been very inspired by how well we are able to hold space as the only Indigenous-led climate justice organization in so-called Canada and ensure that the concerns of our community members are heard and respected.
When I was at the COP25 in Madrid, I was just starting as the Youth Engagement Lead for ICA. I was tasked with supporting a delegation of youth to show up in the international climate summit and help amplify the concerns about Canada’s failures to respect Indigenous rights and take action on climate change. This is where we launched #RejectTeck - creating a ripple effect that ultimately resulted in Teck Industries rejecting itself.
ICA did a deadly job of supporting the campaign to be centered on the larger issues of colonization and fossil fuel expansion while also supporting front-line communities. Although we wanted the Teck tar sands mine to be rejected, our approach addressed our larger mandate - building community power. We held true to practices of showing up in a good and kind way, and doing our best to take the time to host strategic gatherings, amplify community voices, provide tools and resources, and respect Indigenous sovereignty by engaging with members of the Dene Nation, Tiny House Warriors, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).
Some big names like Joaquin Phoenix, Jane Fonda, and Martin Sheen showed up in support, but it continued to be the Indigenous youth who really threw down and responded to our call to action. As also seen in the demonstrations for Wet’suwet’en solidarity, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth across the territories have provided a critical show of force that can not be understated.
In Victoria, at the BC Ministry of Energy, I witnessed eleven Indigenous youth arrested in support of Wet’suwet’en. In my conversations, I learned that many of these same youth were committed to a hunger strike to Reject Teck. Photo by Matthew Reid
As we look to the future, we know it is the youth that will continue to uphold the values of Indigenous rights and climate justice that are critical to the vision of ICA.
As ICA’s youth engagement lead, I am looking to raise $50,000 to embark on a strategy to support an Indigenous youth gathering for us north of the medicine line. We will keep exploring how ICA can continue to nurture those who have been throwing down and the many new voices fighting for climate action and the earth.
Will you join me to support ICA in continuing to ensure Indigenous youth voices are driving climate justice in so-called Canada?
Our Reject Teck campaign has proven that there are increasing numbers of our community members who want to be engaged in campaigns to protect our territories. As well, it has highlighted that having a climate-justice movement in Canada that is Indigenous-led allows for our voices to be amplified and respected as they deserve.
Moving forward we want to support more land defenders in holding the line against fossil fuel and extractive industry expansion - with your support we can make our vision a reality.
Mussi Cho. Land Back.
Nigel Henry Robinson
Youth Engagement Lead
Indigenous Climate Action