Indigenous tribes have always honored life including nature; conserving natural resources for the long-term benefit of humanity (Talbot 273). With the present global capitalism, natural resources are under threat as a result of over-commercialization. Communities that guarded the sacredness of nature are also being controlled with the aim of making them extinct (Talbot 281). Over time, governments have gained control of the indigenous populations and their lands to gain commercially (Cosmic Vision News 1). The massive destruction of the environment and exploitation of natural resources through mining, pollution negatively affecting a specific ethnic group way of living constitutes an ethno-ecocide (Hitchcock and Twedt 533). Ethno-ecocide policies are the measures taken to protect the environment from exploitation. Crimes against nature pose a great danger to humans and the sustainability of future generations (Hitchcock and Twedt 540).
Before the present Canada, during the American Revolution, the Mohawk Indigenous nation was deeded a piece of land by the British monarchy for helping them fight the Americans. The British had stolen the land from the indigenous of northern 'Turtle Island', the land mass now known as 'Canada' (Talbot 276). Most of the indigenous communities feel that recent governments have stolen most of their land without legal agreements. They claim they never surrendered their rights and freedoms to the assembly of first nations reason they oppose the federal treaties (Cosmic Vision News 1). They oppose the corporate structure of land exploitation as they consider themselves to only being custodians of the land which they wish to reclaim and have sovereign control on it (Cosmic Vision News 1). Though the current policies purport to advocate for the progress of the majority, the policies have come at the expense of others. The First Nations feel that these policies go against past treaties made between the indigenous communities and the British monarchy (Talbot 282). The policies are sometimes formulated without the indigenous communities’ consultation. The government has approached its understanding of treaties in a superficial way, taking only the written words into account (Hitchcock and Twedt 608).This approach has led to an interpretation that First Nations should surrender their inherent rights and titles, for example, Tom Flanagan’s refers to them as “first and foremost land-surrender agreements” (Thornton 1) which typically contained “an explicit surrender of Indian title to land” (Thornton 1).
In the project to move 1.1million barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta to refineries in Eastern Canada, the Mowhakian community views the project as dangerous and risky to their survival (Authier 1). They want their right to make decisions respected and have a control of their environment. They want amendments done to the existing policies to allow indigenous communities to carry out their independent assessments of the impact of projects on land (Authier 1). The communities cannot trust corporate companies; their promises on putting in place safety measures like the automatic spill detection systems and jobs creation have not materialized (Authier 1). The construction of the pipeline has its economic benefits but according to the Mohawk community, it violates treaty rights, and the eminent toxic spillages are risky to their health (Authier 1).The government has gone ahead to give TransCanada the go-ahead to carry out more seismic testing on the Outaouais River, despite the Environment Minister David Heurtel call for a news conference to complain about TransCanada refusal to respect Quebec’s environmental laws (Authier 1).
Movements like the ‘Idle No More’ are now recognized globally for fighting for a revolution which respects Indigenous sovereignty in protecting the natural resources like land and water. The movement calls for the recognition and acknowledgment of treaties by the Canadian state (Thornton 1). Also, the movement calls people to reject and oppose all federal government imposed legislations. These national bills are a violation of the original treaties made between the ancient peoples of Turtle Island and the British Crown (Thornton 1).
Works Cited
Authier, Philip. "Mohawks Threaten To Block Energy East; Says Project is Threat to Their Way of Life." Montreal Gazette 2016: 1. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Cosmic Vision News, "The Mohawk Initiative - Cosmic Vision News." Cosmicvisionnews.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Hitchcock, Robert K. and Tara M. Twedt. "Physical and Cultural Genocide of Indigenous Peoples." Century Of Genocide. Samuel Totten and William S. Pearson. 3rd ed. Tailor and Francis, 2009. 530-608. Print.
Talbot, Steve. Native Nations of North America. United States of America: Pearson. Print.
Thornton, Jessi. "Idle No More- An Essay Introducing Treaty, Internal Colonization and Native Nationalism." Ecopost 2.1 (2013): 1. Web.
