Steve Fobister is a representative on the Grassy Narrows Band Council with Forests Portfolio. After the Earth Justice Gathering July 10-14 he composed this summary of his thoughts about the actions as well as about the injustices faced by Indigenous people when dealing with the Canadian Provincial government or the logging industry.

This post has been edited for spelling and grammar, while Steve’s thoughts and ideas are preserved.

Anyone would have predicted an instant reaction from the police. They are facing law suits against them in Caledonia for on-action from a citizen group. As it happened, the police came the day after the action and could misbehave a lot more because media were not present. The video documenting the arrests make powerful political statements. In most cases, I believe non violence is the route to go, however there are times when conflict maybe justified because reason does not exist.

We should remind the Prime Minister that he went to a far away nation trying to save and evacuate Canadian citizens. He had to do this because injustice and the rule of law are not working for the people in that region. I hope he learned from this ordeal and will vow to make those changes to restore justice and promise in this land. The weak and threat of oppression cannot be expected to remain the same for long.

It’s always easier for Canada/Ontario to simply send in the clowns to resolve resistance to the old colonial ways of thinking in our country. How can we stand arrests following peaceful movements? Perhaps the next step is surprise blockades.

For decades now Abitibi has clear-cut in our territory in the Whiskey Jack Forest without any clear consent from our people. Today much of the logging is driven by Weyerhaeuser’s demand. The hardwood trees are being logged on our territory for the benefit of Weyerhaeuser Corporation from Seattle, Washington. This multinational giant has a clear track record of cut-and -run operations (Indonesia, the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the B.C. coast, and Saskatchewan). Weyerhaeuser consistently clear-cuts the best of a region’s forest, exports the profits and then abandons the area – leaving behind them a wake of closed mills, devastated communities, and destroyed forests. By its very structure and law a company is bound to think only of profits and accountable only to their foreign shareholders. This company has no long term commitment to people or the forest in the area.

We cannot sit by and become another casualty of Weyerhaeuser’s global profits. Our primary life supporting value is our attachment to the land and our ability to enjoy the wildlife, forest, waterways and our Anishinabe way of life- hunting, fishing, harvesting-living off the land as our families have for hundreds of years. The land is what sustains us, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our elders tell us that we need to focus on the land.

It’s time that Abitibi be stripped from the Forest license in our area. Abitbi has shut down it mill in Kenora. This company has justified this violation of our inalienable rights as Indigenous people by claiming to provide jobs for local people and support local economy. We see none of these benefits and neither does the town of Kenora. They are not contributing anything anymore, only taking, depleting and destroying. It’s not anybody’s interest to have Abitibi logging and feeding mills in other areas across Ontario.

We don’t see how the Provincial Government can stand by and allow this to happen. The Federal Government is willfully blind. Well people in Grassy have spoken, they have tested our patience and abused our generosity to long. Abitibi must go are the strong sentiments here. They have continued to ignore us but we have no choice but to take direct actions to stop the logging in our territory. People in this region need to take back what was theirs before. The forest should be protected for our children’s future and whatever trees that are here should remain for our purpose and survival as people. People have given Abitibi this eviction notice……..awsa

- Steve Fobister