[R-G] Native Way of Life Vanishing into the Clear-Cut

[Anthony Fenton]

CANADA:  Native Way of Life Vanishing into the Clear-Cut
By Am Johal

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39576

First Nations protest in front of the Ontario legislature, Jun. 25,  
2007.

VANCOUVER, Oct 9 (IPS) - As the Ontario election draws to a close on  
Wednesday, a long-running land rights battle continues in the east- 
central Canadian province between First Nations groups and mining and  
logging interests that have been granted concessions to exploit the  
resources in a vast boreal forest known as Grassy Narrows.

Asubpeeschoseewagong, the indigenous or Ojibway name for Grassy  
Narrows, is situated 80 kilometres north of Kenora, Ontario. The band  
membership is approximately 1,000, and their traditional land use  
area spans some 4,000 kilometres. About half of the community still  
follows a subsistence way of life that relies on hunting, trapping,  
and gathering berries and medicines from the land.

The community says that 50 percent of their traditional lands have  
already been clear-cut by multinational logging companies, and the  
current licenses issued by Ontario authorities will permit continued  
clear-cutting for more than 25 more years.

"Mining issues continue and permits are handed out despite the  
Supreme Court decision around native land rights," John Cutfeet of  
the nearby Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nations near Grassy  
Narrows told IPS.

The Grassy Narrows First Nation is within an 1873 treaty that  
recognises the right of the Anishnaabe peoples "to pursue their  
avocations of hunting and fishing throughout the tract." Recent  
Supreme Court decisions have upheld the government's duty to conduct  
meaningful discussions with native groups before carrying out  
projects that impact their lands.

In early September, the Ontario government appointed former Supreme  
Court Justice Frank Iacobucci to facilitate a negotiated process and  
make recommendations to solve the impasse. Talks are expected to  
begin in November.

"Companies are drilling without following the rule of law," Cutfeet  
said. "There has been virtually no consultation or accommodation of  
our people. Treaty land was a fulfillment of the land claims process.  
The government and the companies have an illegal presence in our  
territories."

The Grassy Narrows community has suffered many traumas over the  
years, including forced attendance in Canada's notorious and now- 
defunct boarding schools, forced relocation away from their  
traditional living areas, flooding of sacred grounds and burial sites  
by hydroelectric dam projects, and clear-cut logging of their  
forests. Mercury waste from a paper mill constructed in the 1970s  
contaminated local rivers and created devastating long-term health  
problems.

Compared to other racial and cultural groups in Canada, indigenous  
people have the lowest life expectancies, highest infant mortality  
rates, most substandard and overcrowded housing, lower education and  
employment levels, and the highest incarceration rates. Native people  
lead in the statistics of suicide, alcoholism, and family abuse.

Brant Olson of the Rainforest Action Project told IPS, "Amnesty  
International and many groups have verified the problems at Grassy  
Narrows. The historical and political context is dire due to the  
logging industry. Since the mid-1960s, large portions of the  
community have been uninhabitable and there have been enduring health  
problems and 25 percent unemployment. That led to the Grassy Narrows  
group to call for a moratorium on development [in January]. We want  
to ensure that buyers of the wood honour the moratorium."

"The community doesn't trust the intentions of companies like Abitibi  
Consolidated and Weyerhauser," said Olson.

Jim Loney, a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team, which had a  
delegation in the region, told IPS that the traditional land use area  
where they hunt, trap and fish has been logged by the forestry  
company Abitibi-Consolidated. According to Loney, trap lines have  
disappeared into the clear-cuts, some of which are a kilometre long.

In December 2002, a group of people from the community, including  
high school students, formed a blockade to stop clear-cutting. Human  
rights organisations such as the Christian Peacemakers Team and  
Amnesty International came to Ontario at the invitation of Grassy  
Narrows Environmental Committee to be present at the site of the  
blockade.

International civil society organisations have since helped to build  
political support for the objectives of the blockade and have alerted  
U.N. authorities. "There has been a lot of reaching out, educating  
the public, building allies and alliances, and building solidarity in  
support of the Grassy Narrows community," said Loney.

Last month, environmental and aboriginal groups unfurled a 75-metre- 
long arrow-shaped banner on the lawn of the Ontario legislature that  
demanded "Native Land Rights Now." The public demonstration was  
organised by Rainforest Action Network and Christian Peacemaker  
Teams. Rainforest Action Network is organising a campaign to try to  
stop lumber giant Weyerhauser from obtaining wood from clear-cutting.

Loney added that provincial and federal governments should honour  
their commitments and responsibilities with First Nations people and  
consult on matters related to the use of native land. As mining and  
forestry companies are moving ahead with development, there are  
concerns about creating a high-profile and credible process to  
mediate the land rights dispute.

First Nation representatives at the Sep. 21 event described how such  
projects degrade the land, disrupt traditional cultural practices,  
and reverse economic rights guaranteed to them under the Canadian  
Constitution.

"We, the grassroots people of the Anishnabeg, have an obligation to  
protect the land and the culture and our way of life for the future  
of our children and grandchildren," Judy Da Silva of the Grassy  
Narrows First Nations said in a statement.