It was a regular day at RAN today, full of meetings and discussions with my ever so talented colleagues. Until about 3pm when David Sone, my fellow Old Growth campaigner, interrupted a meeting that I was in to tell me that AbitibiBowater had just announced that they will pull their logging operations out of Grassy Narrows Territory.
We couldn’t believe what we were reading. A wave of emotion rushed over David and I – AbitibiBowater is the largest paper company in the world, and the company responsible for all of the logging currently happening on Grassy Narrows territory. Weyerhaeuser buys the wood that they use for construction materials from AbitibiBowater, and Boise Inc. announced in February that they would stop buying pulp from AbitibiBowater because it was sourced from the Grassy Narrows territory.
AbitibiBowater’s announcement today means that, when they stop logging, there will be no logging in Grassy Narrows. We can only hope that AbitibiBowater’s announcement will influence ongoing negotiations between the Grassy Narrows community and the Province of Ontario, and allow the community to achieve the moratorium of all industrial activity that they’ve been demanding for the past year.
RAN has worked with the Grassy Narrows community for several years, campaigning for the right of Indigenous people to give their free, prior and informed consent for industrial projects on their territory. This announcement sets the groundbreaking precedent that a relatively small Indigenous community in a remote area of Canada can demand control over what happens on their land – and win.
The current Old Growth campaign team would like to send heartfelt thanks to past Old Growth campaigners, our organizational allies in the United States and Canada, the staff at RAN, and all the wonderful interns, volunteers and organizers who have worked so hard to make this win possible.
-Annie
Twitter Updates
What an incredible milestone.
Congratulations on this amazing victory!
hell yea
WE DID IT!!! If you ever wanted proof that hard work, dedication, unity and passion can change the world, here it is!!! This campaign was a long and hard struggle, and with the help of the Grassy Narrow’s Community, RAN Activists, SEARAG Activists, and Environmental, Social and Human Rights Activists all around the world; WE DID IT!!! Thank you to all that made this a success! We have won a huge battle in making this world a better place for everyone!!! We still have a long ways to go, but this is clear proof that we are on our way into a better tomorrow for everyone! WOO HOO!!!
Peace-
Cedar Kejick
OG!!!! So so so so proud of you guys for seeing it through. Congratulations team – honoured to be a part of it. :)
Congratulations!!!!!!!
love and peace!
faith moves mountains!
we moved a mountain.
thank you for all your hard work.
love to all.
Here here to Jocelyn and Cedar and all the others who helped with this! And also to all the people in Grassy Narrows who’ve had the courage to fight the good fight for so long.
Really really great work! Congratulations to all of you and to the Grassy Narrows people on this outstanding victory.
All of us at Markets Initiative are dancing today! :)
Our children and grandchildren have won the opportunity to experience and celebrate the dynamic wonder of wildlife and the scenic treasures of North America!
The value and significance of this hard-fought victory will be celebrated for generations to come- that communities and wildlife preservation is a gift for our progeny and legacy not yet born!
THANK YOU, RAN, for your tirelesswork and your altruistic commitment to what is GOOD about the human spirit! Long may these values live beyond this 21st century!
I am a Metis public policy researcher from Canada an I wonder about what this all means as well. While as an Aboriginal, I believe that First Nations deserve the right to determine what type of development occurs on their territory, I wonder what environmentalists like yourselves are really interested in. What about when First Nations approve industrial activities on their territories, do you still support unequivocally?
You need to understand some things. I am from Nortern Ontario, which is a resource-dependent, rural region. Because we are not a sprawling metropolis, we do not have many alternative bases for our economy. Our trees and our mineral resources are what built our region. Many of our communities owe their very existence to logging and mining. Your opposition to Old Growth forestry in principle is bothersome to me because this is an essential part of our economic growth.
It is nice to discuss these things in isolation in your urban environmentalist offices in large metropolitan centres, but you need to see that our industries are our natural resources and they are our survival.
I support the First Nations of Grassy Narrows in their decisions. But, I wonder about your motives, to be honest. Would you support for Aboriginal rights extend, for instance, to the rights of many First Nation communities who desire to develop forest resources in the Far North in the Boreal forest?
Hi Joseph,
Thank you for your comments and important questions. Certainly the history of relations between enviros and First Nations has been far from perfect. RAN has been thinking hard about these questions, and we are developing a protocol to guide our work with First Nations and to help answer questions like yours. It is currently under review by our Indigenous partners and we look forward to sharing it publicly soon. Until then, here are my thoughts on the matter…
RAN supports the right of First Nations to GIVE OR WITHOLD consent for industrial projects on their traditional territories.
That said, First Nations who want to log or mine get relatively huge amounts of support (from corporations and the government in the form of impact benefit agreements, revenue sharing, job sharing etc.) compared to First Nations communities who say ‘no’ (who get jailed or ignored). Since we believe in responsible use of resources that respects both Indigenous rights AND the ecosystems that support life, we focus our limited energy and work on working with First Nations and other frontline communities who have invited us to support them in putting forward a vision of a just AND sustainable future.
While RAN won’t ever actively campaign to promote clearcuts, strip mines, and dams, we do support the rights of Indigenous communities to determine their economic priorities and path. I know of no situation where RAN has actively campaigned against a First Nations economic development project.
I have been told, and I know clearly, that even for communities like Grassy who have said ‘no’ to clear-cutting, the ultimate issue is their desire and right to control their traditional lands. I respect this.
David (RAN Campaigner)
I believe that long-term economic prosperity for communities and sustainable resource-use are mutually reinforcing values, but the current status quo forest and mining economies of Canada serve to undermine both of these with devastating consequences for future generations. The corporations running these industry sectors are currently shipping more jobs and wealth out of these communities and country than could ever bring sustained and equitable benefits to both First Nations and Canadian communities, eh!
As a counsellor at an Aboriginal shelter for women and children in Toronto the women in our Life Skills group were excited about attending the September 21/07 rally at Queen’s Park. It was a beautiful, empowering day. We had the honor or meeting and singing with Linda from Grassy Narraows. It was the first rally for a couple of the women.
What brought tears of joy to my eyes was when one of them said “Did you see how the people moved for us when we came in with our banner?”…How happy they will be to hear this wonderful news! Nya:weh/Miigwetch and Thank you to Creator and all who fought and won for the future of Mother Earth ahd those she provides for!!
Thank you everyone who worked on the Free Grassy Narrows Campaign.
Great job everyone!
Cheers.
It is terribly sad, how some, believe that so-called “progress”, always trumps conservation and the environment. Do we not care enough about our future generations, living in a healthy planet?
It is time that Euro-American government and corporate leaders honored Indigenous rights. This is a great turn around for the Ojibwe people of Grassy Narrows. I am proud of them. Thank you RAN for having the courage and endurance to stand by them.