Idle No More contingent heading to Windsor

First Nation Peoples in southwestern Ontario will gather in Windsor on Wednesday supporting the call for a National Day of Action.

Eight regional First Nation communities, will be joined by First Nations and other supporters living in Windsor and Detroit for an Idle Know More – Unity Walk – to the border entrance of the Ambassador Bridge. “We are uniting our people to send a clear message to the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada that the time has come to implement their treaty promises,” says Greg Peters, Chair of the London District Chiefs Council (LDCC) and Chief of the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.

“This is a wake up call to Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada that they can’t keep infringing upon our rights,” says Peters. Every one of the 19 treaties reached between First Nations and the British Crown or Canada since 1764 have been violated in some way or another. Today, Canada continues to ignore Nation-to-Nation treaties. It also violated the rights of Indigenous people when it introduced Bill C-45 without First Nations‘ consent. “The government continues to disregard our Nationhood every time it introduces legislation or policies that chip away at our Indigenous rights,” says Peters.

Aboriginal and Treaty Rights are entrenched in the Canadian Constitution, and recognized internationally by the United Nations. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP – http://www.un.org) further defines the rights of First Nations. Article 19 reads: States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the Indigenous Peoples concerned…in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.

“All eight of our member Nations will be joining us for this Unity Walk on Wednesday, along with many Canadians who support our movement, including members of the Canadian Auto Workers Union,” says Peters.

The Unity Walk will begin at the corner of Huron Church and Tecumseh Roads at about 11:15am, Wednesday, January 16th, 2013. First Nations and their supporters will then walk to Huron Church Road and College Ave, for a round dance and rally at Noon.

The London District Chiefs Council (LDCC) is an association of First Nation governments in southwestern Ontario. It was formed in the early 1970s to address common issues of concern effecting their communities.The communities are Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Bkejwanong First Nation, Caldwell First Nation, Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Delaware Nation, Munsee Delaware Nation and the Oneida Nation of the Thames.