PBI-Canada begins the process of identifying sites of Indigenous resistance on northern Turtle Island

Photo: Camp Morningstar on Lake Winnipeg defends water and territory from sand mining. It is one of many sites of resistance on northern Turtle Island.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is beginning the process of identifying active resistance struggles and blockades on northern Turtle Island.

Our hope is to be able to amplify and build awareness of these struggles, extend our solidarity, and (as our capacity grows) to offer accompaniment as PBI field projects in Latin America do with “defenders of land rights, culture and natural resources who find themselves facing powerful interests and brutal opposition.”

We are informed by this quote by Secwepemc land defender Kanahus Manuel who has stated: “I really like what Amnesty International and some of those international organizations do by providing security for Native land defenders in South America. They don’t have that here, but we need to be able to provide it for our own land defenders to be able to have security for women and people, Elders who do want to go out and defend land, but they don’t have the security needed to do it because violence comes to us.”

To move forward with this process, we also plan to hold conversations and build relationships with the defenders engaged in these struggles.

Look for more on this in the coming weeks.