Tag: DAPL

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Arts

The war story of Standing Rock

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.
Article written by Maggie Hope and Olivia Deresti-Robinson

Michelle Latimer spoke about the importance of her new series with VICE at a recent screening

“It changed my life to be there. It’s very rare as a filmmaker that you actually get to revisit your heritage and what means the most to you,” said writer, producer and director Michelle Latimer at a recent screening of her films Sacred Water and Red Power. The films received a standing ovation from the crowd, which brought Latimer and several audience members to tears.

As part of their fall programming, Cinema Politica screened two films by Latimer on Oct. 2. Latimer, a graduate of Concordia’s film program, partnered with VICE Canada to make RISE, an eight-part series that showcases “Indigenous communities across the Americas […] protecting their homelands and rising up against colonization,” according to VICE’s website.

Cinema Politica screened the first two parts of the series, titled Sacred Water and Red Power, which document the events surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests that took place at the Standing Rock reservation in North and South Dakota last year. The screening was followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, who is in Montreal to be part of Cinema Politica’s jury at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema.

Sacred Water introduces DAPL and what its installation means for the Indigenous communities that live in its path. Essentially, if built in its entirety, DAPL would destroy about 380 sacred sites that are home to a variety of Indigenous tribes in the central United States. Additionally, the pipeline would threaten the water supply of all Indigenous tribes living along the Missouri River and in the surrounding area. Red Power expands on the political dynamics that surround the pipeline and uses historical footage to show how the Indigenous population in the area have been treated throughout history.

Latimer, who is Algonquin Metis, spent nine months at the reserve getting to know the growing community there and documenting their struggle to hold onto their land. At the screening, Latimer admitted that, although she knew the Standing Rock protests would be important to record, she did not anticipate the duration and size to which they would grow. The filmmaker chose to partner with VICE Canada for her films to reach a larger audience than she would have had on her own.

While the concept of land ownership is a point of contention between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, the basic premise of the first two films is that the land the pipeline is set to cut through is extremely important to a large population of Indigenous people. They do not claim to “own” the land, but instead emphasize that generations of their people have lived off of it and it is not the U.S. government’s to take.

In addition to running through sacred land, the construction of DAPL began without a building permit that needed approval from the Sioux tribe, who live on the Standing Rock reserve. The Sioux people, who call themselves water protectors, denied DAPL access to their land. In August 2016, however, the pipeline began construction despite not being approved.

How dire this situation became is something Latimer emphasized after the films ended. “In my nine months there, I realized I’m willing to die for this. It gives a kind of power and personal journey to those films. I think you see the importance of what people are fighting for and why,” the filmmaker said.

Unfortunately, less than a month after the water protectors’ short-lived victory on Dec. 4 2016, President Trump’s administration made the decision to follow through with the construction of the pipeline and everything the Sioux fought against. Latimer mentioned that DAPL is fully functioning today, already with a spill within the first three months of its construction.

Although it may seem like the battle is completely lost, Latimer encouraged viewers to find the positives in the situation. She emphasized that what happened at Standing Rock can give us power and hope for the future. The DAPL protests were just the beginning of a bigger battle that we must continue to fight. Latimer noted that there are other pipeline projects that need to be stopped—such as the Kinder Morgan and Line 3—and action is already being taken to do so.

The impact of the Standing Rock protests has already taken effect. “[What’s] happening since Standing Rock is people are mobilizing, and they’re connecting, and they’re already looking at how to mobilize against these larger infrastructure projects,” Latimer explained.

In times as dark as these, Latimer added, light is what brings people together and encourages them to keep going. An influential form of light, she said, is creating art. “Due to the onset of surveillance and undercover informants at the camp, there was a level of paranoia that started that was really scary to be a part of […] and art was the thing that lifted people’s spirits.”

She explained that there were drum circles and concerts which took place almost every night at the Standing Rock reservation, as well as poster and banner-making tents which helped ignite participants’ spirits and gave them hope. Latimer found that her filmmaking allowed her to express her point of view as an Indigenous person and “channel” the stories of those around her.

Latimer and the other Indigenous protesters in the film highlighted that the installation of these pipelines is not just an Indigenous issue—it concerns all of us. This is an environmental issue, a social issue, a global issue. “We have this planet to protect, and it’s all we’ve got,” she concluded.

Sacred Water, Red Power and the rest of the RISE series can be found on VICE’s website. For upcoming Cinema Politica screenings at Concordia, visit www.cinemapolitica.org/concordia. Screenings are held in the Hall building in room H-110 every Monday at 7 p.m. Entry is by donation ($5 to $10 is suggested).

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News

Pipeline mobilization via phone calls

Climate Justice Montreal held their event in the CSU lounge in the Hall building. Photo by Savanna Craig

Water activists held a phone-in day to hold banks and PM Trudeau accountable to divest

A small, yet determined group of environmental activists congregated around a table on the seventh floor of the Hall building to make phone calls to banks and urge them to divest from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and the Trans Mountain Pipeline on Wednesday.

Climate Justice Montreal (CJM), a group that supports climate and environmental justice by virtue of educating, calls to action and standing in unity with communities affected by environmental issues, organized the phone-in.

The event, which began at noon, housed participants at a table located in the Concordia Student Union (CSU) lounge, adjacent to the long, winding line of students waiting for People’s Potato to open.

Callers were offered scripts, which explained why activists would like banks to divest from pipeline projects. The importance of prioritizing the environment and communities threatened by the Trans Mountain and DAPL pipelines was outlined in the scripts as well.

Three Canadian banks are currently funding the DAPL construction—TD Bank, Scotiabank and RBC.

Political representatives and agencies were called to push for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to no longer support the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

“All together, TD gave $2.5 billion to the Dakota Access Pipeline and I don’t think any resistance [for] these pipelines is going to come from the government at this point,” said Maya Provençal, a participant involved with CJM.

“Especially with Donald Trump—he’s very pro-fossil fuel, pro-pipeline—so I think one of our only hopes is to get big banks and big companies to pull their money that they have invested in these pipelines,” said Provençal. “Without that money, the Dakota Access can’t go forward,” Provençal said.

She said she thinks targeting the banks is one of the most effective things activists can do.

“TD is the biggest investor by a lot,” said Provençal, explaining that as the largest funding body of the DAPL, CJM are focusing primarily on targeting TD Bank right now. “I could see us targetting other banks in the future.”

The Trans Mountain expansion project, imposed by Kinder Morgan—an American energy infrastructure company—will enable the construction of a new pipeline to run alongside the existing Trans Mountain pipeline—which runs between Edmonton, Alta. and Burnaby, B.C.

“We have this website where you can find your member of parliament, your representative, by entering your postal code and then we have a script,” said Provençal.

Provençal said Amy Miller, a participant in CJM, sent an email out last week in order to advocate for more mobilization around pipeline projects. This resulted in formulating this event framed around calling TD Bank and political representatives.

“I think sometimes people don’t realize how easy it is to just make an event like this. Really it’s a matter of just pulling a couple of chairs together, having a script, having the numbers organized,” said Miller.

Miller hopes to have mobilization take place each week.

“Whether it’s pickets at different TD Banks every week—which will probably be what’s next—or doing another march, doing another action at TD Bank, we definitely plan on keeping the pressure up,” said Miller.

Provençal said CJM hopes to take on an entire campaign dedicated to bank divestment in the near future. “We’ll see more action around that in the city soon,” she said.

“It’s not about just divesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, but it’s about stopping fossil fuel extraction at the source for all projects,” said Miller. “We can’t have greenhouse gas emissions rise, we can’t have the tar sands continue to expand.”

“It’s 2017, there’s no more time for talk, the time is now—we need to keep it in the ground,” said Miller.

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News

Resistance rises back up against DAPL

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Activists marched along Ste-Catherine Street, delivering a petition for TD Bank to divest from DAPL

A crowd of approximately 40 people, small but united and loud in their fight against pipelines, gathered in Norman Bethune Square at noon on Feb. 1 to deliver a petition to TD Bank, urging the bank to remove its investments from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The petition had more than 143,000 signatures on it.

“We’re here to honour what’s going on over there in Standing Rock with the Sioux Nation,” said Dan Parker, a representative from Climate Justice Montréal, the group that organized the event.

Parker introduced the event’s first speaker, Sierra Segalowitz, a Native youth ambassador. “I’m Inuit, Dene and half French, and I’ve been involved with these types of things since I was a baby,” Segalowitz said.

Segalowitz recites a speech from Black Elk Speaks. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Segalowitz recited a speech from the book Black Elk Speaks, written in 1932 by John Neihardt, an American writer and poet who often wrote about European-American immigrants and the indigenous peoples they frequently displaced. The speech had been delivered by the Black Elk, an elder from the  Lakȟóta people, which is an indigenous tribe living in North and South Dakota

“If the old camp circle, the sacred hoop of the Lakota, and the old days have been rudely shattered by the machines of a scientific era and if they can be no more in the traditional sense, the universality of the images and dreams must testify to the emergence of a new sacred hoop, a new circle of intense community among Indians far outdistancing the grandeur of former times,” she read.

“He’s not alive, but he predicted this hundreds of years ago,” said Segalowitz, referencing ongoing pipeline conflicts throughout North America, including the one at Standing Rock.

“This was meant to happen. It doesn’t mean it is right, [but] it is happening right now,” said Segalowitz. “In thousands of years, we are the people who are going to be in these history books.”

“We are standing strong and we are standing for our Mother,” said Segalowitz.

Video by Savanna Craig.

Kristian Gareau from Climate Justice Montréal reminded the crowd why they had gathered.

“We’re Climate Justice Montréal, we’re people who fight for the respect of the Earth. We see everything that’s going on around us—it’s very discouraging,” said Gareau.* He said what inspires him and other members of Climate Justice Montréal is seeing the protectors of water and people from First Nations communities all over the continent who are standing up against the constructors and powers behind these pipelines.

This is a solidarity action for indigenous people who are mistreated and have had and continue to have their treaties violated, said Gareau. “We want to make noise and we want to make sure these people are heard.”

Gareau said the demonstrators would march to two TD Bank branches in Montréal to deliver petitions insisting the bank remove its funding from the pipeline project.

Kristen Perry from Climate Justice Montréal told the crowd they were responding directly to a call from Standing Rock that urged activists across North America to petition the banks in their area that are funding the construction of the DAPL.

“We have TD Bank right here in Canada that is the largest funder in Canada of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Perry told the crowd. “As we’re taking action today, it’s really important to think of the destructive nature of this pipeline and what we’re doing here today to say that we are not okay with that.”

Police gathered outside TD Bank location at Ste-Catherine and Guy. Photo by Savanna Craig.

“You can’t eat money, you can’t drink oil, give it up TD, leave it in the soil,” chanted Parker, along with the crowd.

Representatives from Kahnawake’s People’s Fire marched alongside activists down Guy Street towards their first stop at the TD Bank on the corner of Ste-Catherine West and Guy.

Gareau delivered the petition to representatives at TD, as demonstrators sang together outside the bank, which was heavily guarded by police officers. As Gareau exited the bank, he told the crowd he had informed the bank’s representatives that they do not want TD to fund public money into dangerous and toxic infrastructures that infringe treaty rights.

“City by city, block by block, we stand with Standing Rock,” chanted the crowd as they marched towards Place des Arts, to the TD Bank on Ste-Catherine West and de Bleury.

“They actually had heard about Standing Rock, which is good. I think it’s something that’s been in the media a lot,” Perry told the crowd after delivering the second petition.

 

“We talked about how, as we go into the future, pipelines are not going to be good investments,” Perry said after meeting with the TD representatives. “We’re seeing that the current administration in the U.S. is trying to push through pipelines, but there’s a growing resistance across the world—as you can see with all of the people here today.”

“We’re calling on TD again to take their money out of Dakota Access Pipelines,” said Perry, as she urged participants to close their TD Bank accounts.

Protesters gathered at the TD Bank location on Ste-Catherine West and de Bleury. Photo by Savanna Craig.

“I don’t think the pipelines are good for the Mother Earth,” Segalowitz told The Concordian.

“[Climate Justice Montréal has] three main motives: we do mobilization, like today, we do education—where we give workshops—and then we do direct action,” Parker said. He told The Concordian that, in the three years since he joined Climate Justice Montréal, they have not organized a lot of direct action. However, Parker said recently they have been organizing protests against Line 9, which has a refinery located in Sarnia, Ontario—close to a reserve home to members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation—running all the way to Montréal. Parker said Climate Justice Montréal has been helping indigenous land defenders, such as Vanessa Gray, who shut off a Line 9 valve in December 2015.

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Opinions

Editorial: Concordia students need to fight for what they believe in

You probably thought we were going to run an editorial denouncing the results of the U.S. presidential elections. To be frank, though, we are exhausted and sick of talking about it. The dirty campaign feels like it lasted a decade and, at The Concordian, we thought it’d be best to focus on another issue.   

On Thursday afternoon, our news team reported on a demonstration staged by a group of students and faculty in the mezzanine of the Hall building. Their intent was to protest the expanding of the Dakota Access Pipeline (also referred to as DAPL). The group consisted of individuals from a First Peoples elective class, as well as the Indigenous Student Association at Concordia.

If you haven’t heard about DAPL, then you need to get your head out of the sand and head right over to Google search. The situation is currently unfolding in North Dakota, where protesters are trying prevent the construction of a giant oil pipeline that would go straight through several indigenous territories and severely impact the environment in the regions.

This is why you probably saw a ton of people on social media checking in at Standing Rock, a Hunkpapa Lakota and Yanktonai Dakota reservation located in both North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States. The pipeline runs through this indigenous reservation and threatens the region’s only water supply. Protesters from around North America have gathered at Standing Rock, where they continue to challenge authorities as they wage a defiant fight to protect their rights and lands.

Local police units were using Facebook as a means of tracking and arresting protesters. This triggered a social media movement across the world, where individuals checked in to Standing Rock in an attempt to thwart the authorities.

While we applaud social media users for their efforts, checking in to a location with the click of a button is simply not enough. More needs to be done to send a strong message that a major pipeline which can cause severe environmental repercussions is unacceptable and inhumane.

This is why The Concordian fully supports the efforts made by the First Peoples elective class and the Indigenous Student Association during their protest on Thursday at Concordia. We encourage the rest of the student body to emerge from their hibernating states of disillusionment and mobilize towards the cause.

We also applaud the efforts of the Concordia Student Union and Divest Concordia to push for the university’s divestment from fossil fuel investments. If we are to stop pipelines from being built in the future, we need to move towards sustainable energies that won’t pollute our planet.

We know this week has been shocking and tough to say the least. But we cannot give up fighting for our rights, and the rights of others around the world. Even if you aren’t fully behind stopping DAPL or don’t really understand the situation, we encourage you to educate yourself and get behind a cause you believe in.

In the words of author Stephen King, “get busy living or get busy dying.”

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News

Mobilization against the DAPL strengthens in Montreal

Participants on the Nov. 13 demonstration walk in a criss-cross formation. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Three demonstrations have been held in Montreal in opposition of the DAPL

The sound of drums and singing filled Phillips Square in downtown Montreal on Nov. 13 as participants held hands and walked in a criss-cross formation along the square to raise awareness about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The gathering sought to shed light on the violence directed at protesters in the Standing Rock reserve in North and South Dakota and the threat the proposed DAPL project poses to the environmental state of the land.

This was the third event this week in downtown Montreal in opposition of the DAPL and the lack of human rights extended to protesters in Standing Rock. The previous events were held on Nov. 7 in Victoria Square in downtown Montreal and on Nov. 10 in the Hall building of Concordia’s downtown campus.

“It’s not just only in support of Standing Rock, but the first idea is to bring awareness,” said Jesse Achneepineskum, a participant at the event in Phillips Square. He said there has been a lack of media coverage in Standing Rock, a reoccurring trend for issues concerning indigenous communities.

Jesse Achneepineskum marches towards the banks on Nov. 7. Photo by Savanna Craig,

“I first heard of it through Facebook only,” said Achneepineskum, referring to the treatment of  protesters in Standing Rock. “On Facebook it tends to be shared—news of native people amongst native people.” He said the wave of organized protests in different cities is due to the constant sharing of information on social media platforms such as Facebook.

“People around here started organizing marches and protests to force CBC and CTV to send people to cover the events and to bring awareness to the general public,” said Achneepineskum, adding that in the U.S., the rising tensions in Standing Rock were not adequately covered by American media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC.

The flag referred to as the “Mohawk Warrior Flag” or either the “Unity Flag.” displayed at the DAPL protest on Nov. 7. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Craig Blacksmith, a participant of the Montreal protest on Nov. 13 and member of the Dakota tribe, said if the Indian Act was abolished and indigenous people had control over their land, corporations would not be threatening their land with pipeline projects.

“If we focus on this Indian Act and we get it abolished, it’s going to open up a whole new dialogue,” said Blacksmith. He said this is because removing the Indian Act will enable Indigenous communities to have authority over their land, as opposed to the government. This would result in giving them the power to decide whether or not the pipelines will be allowed to go through their land.

Blacksmith is from Manitoba, however his Dakota tribe is one of the tribes which make up the Sioux Nation—many of whom reside in the Standing Rock reservation. The Dakota tribe is spread across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska.

Participants show support for Standing Rock protesters at Nov. 13 event. Photo by Savanna Craig.

According to Jean-Philippe Warren, a Concordia professor from the department of sociology and anthropology, the DAPL has struck a strong reaction from Montrealers because it ties in with an issue close to home.

“The [DAPL] project is immediately conflated with the TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline,” said Warren. Keystone XL is the official name for the pipeline proposal that includes the DAPL. “Opposing one is opposing the other.”

Warren said people in Quebec are more likely to be against the expanded use of crude oil, regardless of whether they use a car or not. “Quebecers are much more opposed [to] the oil energy because they believe that everything should be electric,” said Warren. “Hydro-Quebec convinced them that hydro-electricity is the best source of energy.”

“In the case of the TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline, Alberta’s or the rest of Canada’s interests do not seem to serve Quebecers’ interests,” said Warren.

On Monday, Nov. 7, Concordia First Peoples studies professor Louellyn White spoke out against the DAPL at a demonstration in Victoria Square, downtown Montreal.

Concordia professor Louellyn White at the Nov. 7 event. Photo by Savanna Craig.

The purpose of the demonstration was to encourage participants to close their accounts with RBC, TD or Scotiabank until these banks remove their investments in the DAPL.

White said the DAPL raises the issue of sovereignty of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, whose land the pipelines are proposed to run through. She added that, for centuries, their sovereignty has been ignored by governments, states and individuals.

White discussed the Fort Larry Treaty of 1851, an agreement between settlers and people of the Sioux Nation which gave settlers ownership of their land in exchange for protection, food and education for the Sioux people.

White said this treaty has repeatedly been broken. She said none of these promises to the Sioux people were kept. “That land was further and further diminished.”

A separate protest against the DAPL took place in Concordia’s Hall building on the downtown campus on the evening of Nov. 10. Participants chanted “water is life” to express concern for the effects the DAPL will have on the environment, as well as the issues the DAPL pose to indigenous rights.

First Peoples Studies elective class and Indigenous Students Association mobilize in the Hall building on Nov. 10. Photo by Savanna Craig.

This initiative was brought forth by Concordia First Peoples studies professor Donna Goodleaf, the students in her elective class, “Haudenosaunee Peoples” and Concordia’s Indigenous Student Association.

The events  on Nov. 7 and Nov. 10 informed people on how to help protesters involved in the Standing Rock protests. Students in the Indigenous Student Association and Goodleaf’s elective class handed out pamphlets on how you can financially aid protesters in this initiative.

Donations in aid towards the Standing Rock protesters are being accepted to the following address: Sacred Stone Camp, P.O. Box 1011, Fort Yates, N.D. 58538. These donations will be used for food, propane, water, blankets and other supplies.

Climate Justice Montreal shared forms which state the problems with banks investing in the DAPL. The forms indicate how people can close their accounts with their bank as a way to encourage them not to invest in the DAPL.

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News

Powering strong against the DAPL

Hundreds take to the streets of Montreal to denounce Canadian banks investing in the DAPL

A group of approximately 100 people gathered in Victoria Square in downtown Montreal on Monday, Nov. 7 to stand in solidarity with the protestors in Standing Rock, an indigenous reservation in both North and South Dakota, against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and to oppose Montreal banks TD, RBC and Scotiabank for providing investments to the DAPL.

Throat singers and drummers initiate event in Victoria Square. Photo by Savanna Craig.

The gathering, hosted by Climate Justice Montreal, began just after noon. A few First Nations performers initiated the meeting by singing and drumming in a small circle as protesters watched.

“The brutality of the police force out there is unforgivable,” said Kenneth Deer, secretary of the Mohawk Nation in Kahnawake and former publisher and editor of the Eastern Door newspaper in Kahnawake. “There is no need for peaceful protesters, who are just defending their water, defending their land and territory and defending their treaty rights, to be tear gassed, to have rubber bullets being fired at them or bean bag rounds.”

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Deer said everyone has a right to peaceful protest. “All of you here are exercising your right to peaceful protest,” he said to the event participants.

“We’re going back to our days of cowboys and Indians in North Dakota,” he said, referring to the lack of human rights Standing Rock protesters are facing. “The police forces are just playing cowboys and shooting Indians.” Deer said, though the police are not currently using real bullets, they may want to. “They’re absolutely violating the rights of people in Standing Rock,” said Deer.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

He said the United Nations sent down an observer from British Columbia named Ed John, a member of the United Nations Reform on Indigenous Issues, to review the condition of protesters in Standing Rock. According to Deer, John made a report detailing a lack of action taken by the United States government at the federal level towards the treatment of protesters in Standing Rock, which must be addressed. “The United States must be reminded of the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the support from the UN declaration of rights of Indigenous peoples,” said Deer. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a treaty imposed by the UN in 1996, enforcing the equal rights to all humans for the order of freedom, justice and peace.

“If the U.S. does not act on these alarming actions, the rhetoric in the halls of the UN are just more empty and meaningless promises.” He said the United States is the leader of the free world, yet it oppresses the original peoples inside its borders.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Deer said the pipeline proposal is in violation of treaties of the Sioux people, who currently obtain land known as The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This is one of the six reservations they currently have power over within both North and South Dakota.

Louellyn White, a Mohawk from Akwesasne and an associate professor of First Peoples Studies at Concordia University, said the situation in Standing Rock is really frustrating, devastating and emotional. “I’ve had friends at Standing Rock—friends who were there when the dogs came,” said White.

Concordia professor Louellyn White discusses sovereignty issues of the Sioux people. Photo by Savanna Craig.

White said often, the issues lie with sovereignty of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and the sovereignty of First Nations peoples. “That sovereign status has been ignored by centuries from government, from individuals, from states,” said White. She said there has also been a lack of nation-to-nation consultation regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

White said the power over their land was challenged by the Fort Larry Treaty of 1851, which set boundaries for the Great Sioux Nation, as settlers took some of their land. She said this treaty has repeatedly been broken and the land has since greatly diminished. “The provisions of that treaty said, ‘in exchange for use of your land, we will protect you from white settlers and we will provide annuities—education, food,’” said White. “None of that happened.That land was further and further diminished.”

Photo by Savanna Craig.

“What people are protecting today is that unceded territory—they never willingly relinquished their rights to that land,” said White. She said the people of Standing Rock are also standing to protect the burial grounds of the Sioux People.

“None of this is new to Indigenous peoples who have been fighting for centuries against outright genocide, colonialism at the hands of those who want to marginalize and oppress, and those who want to wipe us off the face of the Earth in the name of progress, capitalism, greed,” said White.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

“But we are still here, and we are here because of the Indigenous laws and the knowledge we have that instruct us on how to live in harmony with the earth,” White said. “Those instructions acknowledge that we are connected to all living things.” She said this view goes far beyond the typical Hollywood portrayal of Indigenous peoples.

“It’s about oil, but it’s also not respecting treaty rights,” said Tama Sandor, a participant of the Montreal protest. “It’s so amazing that there’s enough momentum and feeling of empowerment at this time that they’re resisting,” she said. There are much similar things happening in our province, she said, considering the proposal of the Energy East Pipeline which will run through Montreal.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

As the march began, the gathered crowd was much larger than it was when the event first started. A crowd of almost 300 people followed the assembly, lead by Indigenous people, some of whom were drumming, singing, burning sage and holding a sign saying “We stand with Standing Rock.”

“We stand, we stand, we stand for Standing Rock,” protesters chanted as they marched from Victoria Square to the intersection of René Lévesque and Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, where  TD, RBC and Scotiabank branches are located. These three Canadian banks have given investments to Enbridge towards the DAPL.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

The event concluded in front of RBC, as participants dispersed into either of three banks they had an account with, to close their accounts until the bank removed their investments towards the DAPL.

Protesters also gathered to oppose the fact Canadian banks are investing in the pipeline. “Banks should not be funding human rights violations,” said Deer.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Cathy Inouye, a speaker at the event, said RBC has invested $341 million towards the DAPL, while TD invested $365 into the pipelines.

Participants lined up outside of RBC to close their bank accounts in protest of RBC investing in the DAPL. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Climate Justice Montreal handed out forms at the protest and shared a copy on the event’s Facebook page that people can present to their bank manager or teller in order to withdraw from their bank invested in the DAPL. The form outlines the issues concerning the building of the DAPL—describing the lack of human rights protesters are facing, how it infringes sacred indigenous land and the environmental implications the pipelines will cause. Forms are available online through Climate Justice Montreal.

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News

Worries about Dakota Access Pipeline echo in the halls of Concordia

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Chants filled the mezzanine of the Hall building Thursday afternoon as students shouted “Water is life, water is life, water is life!” to spread awareness about the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

First Peoples Studies elective class and Indigenous Student Association mobilized in the mezzanine of the Hall building. Photo by Savanna Craig.

A few dozen of the students who gathered on Nov. 10 were part of a First Peoples studies elective class, titled “Haudenosaunee Peoples,” that had decided to use their class time to spread awareness about the negative impacts of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which if installed, would run approximately 1,886 kilometres, expanding a new pipeline from a North Dakota oil refinery to Patoka, Illinois and carry an estimated 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Members of the Indigenous Student Association and First Peoples Studies both collaborated to initiate this event. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Donna Goodleaf, the instructor of the elective class and a First Peoples studies professor, said the mobilization was a collaboration between her elective class and Concordia’s Indigenous Student Association. She said the purpose was “to support our brothers and sisters in North Dakota.”

Goodleaf said DAPL does not respect Indigenous land rights, as the pipeline would run through sacred Indigenous territory. She also discussed the violation of human rights towards protestors at Standing Rock—stating that they were being attacked with rubber bullets and tear gassed.

Participants bared posters in protest and pamphlets to hand out with education on the pipelines and how to help DAPL protestors. Photo by Savanna Craig.

“[Due to] what’s happening over there, we’re going to be affected [here],” said Goodleaf. She said pipelines are already directly affecting communities worldwide, referencing the Energy East Pipeline. However, she said Canadians are currently being distracted by what is happening in North Dakota. Goodleaf said we have a responsibility to be educated on all pipeline projects imposed in the U.S. and in Canada, and to spread awareness about what is happening inside and outside of our communities when it comes to pipelines.

“There are science communities sending probes to Mars, a planet that’s 55 million kilometres away from Earth—and here we’re not solving any problems on our own planet,” said Nicolas Athanassiou, a Concordia environmental geography student in the class. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Some participants stood out front of the escalator to grab the attention of those leaving the building. Photo by Savanna Craig.

“We are still using fossil fuel technology—this technology is over 150 years old,” said Athanassiou.

“Water is life for everyone. People in North Dakota, they’re not only fighting for themselves, they’re fighting for everyone,” said Athanassiou. “The vast majority of people don’t see that—they’re too busy with their jobs.”

Kayla Ali-Joseph, a student in First Peoples studies, said although she is not an Indigenous person, as a black woman she feels she has a connection to the marginalized group of Indigenous people affected by this issue.

A list was created encouraging people to sign their ideas of alternatives to DAPL. Photo by Savanna Craig.

There are many mobilizations against the DAPL in the city of Montreal, said Tina Petawabano, a member of the Cree community and a student at Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs, minoring in First Peoples studies. On Monday, a mobilization took place downtown as community members gathered in Victoria Square to speak and march in solidarity with activists in Standing Rock and to denounce banks TD, RBC and Scotiabank from their investments in the DAPL. Another protest in opposition of the DAPL will take place this Sunday, Nov. 13, in Phillips Square at 1 p.m.

“I think it’s important to spread the word and also to encourage everyone to be aware,” said Petawabano. She urges people to read and educate themselves on the pipeline issue.

“Our planet doesn’t have too much longer,” said Nicolas Anthanassiou, photographed holding the sign at the left bottom. Photo by Savanna Craig.

Students involved in the mobilization in the Hall building initiative handed out pamphlets with information about the pipeline and how to help aid supporters at Standing Rock. Suggestions included spreading awareness in public or private conversations or through social media, and sending donations to the people at Standing Rock—to the address of Sacred Stone Camp, P.O. Box 1011, Fort Yates, N.D. 58538.

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