On December 11 Theresa Spence, the chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, began a hunger strike near Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa. She is protesting recent federal legislation that she and other aboriginal leaders say violate their treaties.
Chief Spence is living in a teepee on Victorian Island, a piece of land within sight of Parliament Hill that belongs to Canada’s First Nations. Since she began her strike — one of the oldest forms of protest — one of the newest types of activism came to her aid. The rallying cry of “Idle No More” became a meme, #idlenomore, and a grassroots movement quickly developed across Canada. Yesterday, December 21, First Nations activists and supporters bused in from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away to show their support for Chief Spence on Parliament Hill, despite blizzard conditions.
Susanne Ure, an employee of Amnesty International Canada, an avid photographer, and a good friend of Osocio, was also there to document the coming together of native people to declare their rights. See the rest of them after the break.
Canada - Hunger strike