EDMONTON - Idle No More demonstrators shut downtown streets Friday as they marched from Walterdale Bridge to Canada Place and held a round dance in the middle of Jasper Avenue.
About 400 aboriginal activists and supporters marched the distance in -20 C with a stiff wind, as more people followed in vehicles and joined the group along the way.
The grassroots movement, organized locally by teachers and law students through social media, was echoed in cities across the county and on Parliament Hill.
“We’re doing this peaceful, non-violent. There will be an escalation of peaceful, non-violent methods after this,” said Gitz Crazyboy, a member of the Piikani First Nation who drove to Edmonton from his job in Fort McMurray for the protest.
“We’re already seeing it across the country,” he said, pointing to numerous temporary highway blockades. “If Theresa Spence dies, I can’t tell you what will happen.
“If (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) is willing to let one of our beautiful leaders starve, what does that say about what he thinks of the rest of us?” said Crazyboy, after leading the group chanting their support for Spence outside Canada Place.
Spence, chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, has been on a hunger strike since Dec. 10.
She is living in a teepee just off Parliament Hill, calling on Harper and the Queen to meet with First Nations leaders and renew a more respectful relationship.
Idle No More supporters have been calling on the federal government to amend Bill C-45, an omnibus bill that delisted many rivers from environmental protection.
Protesters say the bill made significant changes to the Indian Act without consultation or support from First Nations leaders.
Signs at the downtown Edmonton event read, “Hey Harper, Your ‘Check Injun’ light is on,” “One nation, one tribe, one fire” and “Stop bill C-45.”
“I am here to support my people and keep my treaty rights,” said Caroline Houle, a nursing assistant who wrapped herself in a blanket to march.
“It’s so cold. It’s amazing to see the people standing here united,” added Melina Laboucan, a member of the Lubicon First Nation who also works with Greenpeace.
She helped organize the rally. “It’s amazing to see people across the country saying no, enough is enough,” she said.
Many non-aboriginal people joined the march, lending their voice to ask for change.
“It’s not just a First Nations thing. The treaties are signed by two entities. Everyone has the right to be indignant,” said university student Fraser Mah.
Occupy Edmonton members handed out free hot chocolate as the group passed McDougall United Church on 101st Street.
Michelle White said she was at the first protest earlier this month and she sees the movement growing as people share the news and become excited. “It (the news) spread like wildfire,” she said, crediting social media.
She comes from a long line of aboriginal activists, she said. Her sign reads “Bill C-45 sparked the revolution #idlenomore.”
Friday’s rally followed rallies across the country Dec. 10, as well as a week of highway blockades and shopping centre flash mobs.
Edmonton Journal