What’s been happening around Turtle Island?
October 22 2021
A lot has been happening lately across Turtle Island. We know it can be hard to keep up, so we’ve compiled a list of news, events, and big stories related to Indigeneity and the climate crisis.
Check it out, and be sure to share with your friends, family, and community!
ANNOUNCEMENT:
We are preparing to leave for COP26 at UNFCCC in Glasgow! Watch our social media and website for the launch of our dedicated COP26 web page to stay up to date with what’s happening on the ground, negotiations, and news that will impact the future of all of us.
ICA SUPPORTS:
Indigenous Youth Mental Wellness Honorarium
October 22, 2021
We are happy to announce that we are re-launching the Indigenous Youth Mental Wellness Honorarium program to continue to support Indigenous youth engaged in climate justice and frontline direct action.
NEWS:
UN Human Rights Council adopts historic resolutions on the right to a Safe Environment, Climate Change and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Geneva, Switzerland, October 12, 2021: At the close of the UN Human Rights Council’s forty-eighth session on Friday, October 8, three resolutions in which the IITC had actively engaged were adopted. The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is now formally recognized at the global level through a resolution endorsed by over 1000 Indigenous Peoples, civil society organizations and UN Experts. This resolution affirms the right already recognized in Article 29 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Learn more.
Over 100+ groups urge global investors to stop financing Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada
For immediate release: October 19, 2021
The Coastal GasLink pipeline violates Wet’suwet’en rights and title, and lacks consent of Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs. The 37 investors and banks targeted by the campaign include Canada’s Big 5 Banks, which last month issued statements committing to justice for Indigenous peoples. RBC sponsored Truth and Reconciliation Week, which included broadcast programs on the Truth and Reconciliation Commmission’s calls to action. One of these calls is for corporations to commit to meaningful consultation and building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects. Against the backdrop of the banks’ recent public commitments to reconciliation, the banks’ hypocrisy in financing Coastal GasLink is especially striking. Learn more.
Violence at Fairy Creek Is Part of a Reckoning Over Police Brutality in Canada
October 21, 2021
For months, land defenders at the blockades say they’ve endured unwarranted violence at the hands of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Media outlets, including Teen Vogue, have linked to videos and witnessed instances of land defenders being shoved, dragged across the ground, pinned down, pepper-sprayed, and pulled by their hair. One person provided an X-ray documenting a bone fracture. Read more.
The Colonial Dimension of Climate Migration
Already forced from traditional lands, Indigenous peoples face relocation or disruption as the world warms.
We are being increasingly warned about climate migration within Canada. And these warnings are a critical reminder of the fragile state of the Earth and our relationship to it. But climate and weather events have already had a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities in settler states like Canada. Such disparities are the calling card of colonialism. Read more.
ICA welcomes new Community Engagement Lead, Nickita Longman
Nickita Longman (she/her) is a Saulteaux woman from George Gordon First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts - English degree from First Nations University of Canada, and continues to grow her writing portfolio as a freelance writer.
EVENTS:
Online Discussion: Women in Climate Policy
October 28, 2021
* Featuring Rebecca Sinclair, Research & Policy Analyst at Indigenous Climate Action!
Women experienced the worst effects of climate change. Shouldn’t they be at the highest levels of climate decision-making? Join Fair Path Forward for Women in Climate Policy, an online discussion on Thursday, October 28th at 12:00 PM EST. Register & learn more.
Invest-Divest 2021: A Decade of Progress Towards a Just Climate Future
Organised by: Stand.Earth
October 26, 2021
The movement to divest from fossil fuels, and invest in climate solutions, has reached new heights in the fight for meaningful, ambitious climate action. In the lead up to COP26, join a coalition of global organizations to announce a historic slate of groundbreaking divest/invest commitments, unveil a new “state of the movement” report, including an update of assets under management committed to divestment, and celebrate major victories. Sign up.
ACTIONS TO TAKE:
Fundraiser for Great-Grandmother Elder Mary Lyons - Ojibwe Elder from the North on Turtle Island
Many of you know me as one of the Grandmothers of the Sacred WE and Global Elders on Climate Change. It's been a long road with climate disasters. Well, I was invited to attend the United Nations COP26 Climate Sessions as an Elder Observer and Knowledge Keeper. I will be leaving Oct 26 and returning Nov 13, within this time being gone, I will lose some work that pays for my cost of living here back at home and these donations will help me secure these costs as well as help me out while I am gone. Gift what you can and just know that every bit helps and is so appreciated. Thank you all for always supporting me in these journeys of change. Help Elder Mary Lyons.
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In solidarity,
Erin & the ICA Team