Idle No More: Three years later On the anniversary of the world's largest indigenous movement we look at the legacy of the modern moccasin telegraph

A group of women in Saskatchewan got together to discuss omnibus legislation that would remove protection for Canada's lakes and waters and impact Indigenous sovereignty. On Nov. 10 2012 they held a teach-in so people could have a deeper understanding of these massive laws barreling through parliament and encouraged people to be idle no more.

Three years later #IdleNoMore has created a space in not only Canada's but the entire world's history.

Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, Sheelah McLean, and Nina Wilson were concerned after reading Bill C-45, particularly the removal of the term "absolute surrender" in Section 208 and the gross overhauling of the Navigable Waters Protections Act. They understood that the majority of Canadians didn't open these giant omnibus bills and read through each legal jargon sentence and so they decided to create a Facebook event and bring people together to make sense of the proposed laws that would impact everyone on Turtle Island. The teach-ins spread across the province using the hashtags #INM and #IdleNoMore on social media to keep people in the loop. Soon, Indigenous people and allies across the province and well beyond its borders started to pick up the hashtags and the message - it was like a modern moccasin telegraph.

The grassroots voice was strong and soon the Idle No More message permeated its way into the conversations of chiefs attending a National Assembly of First Nations meeting on Dec. 3 2012. They were asked to go to Parliament and demand the bill’s removal and they did.

Shopping malls, university hallways, gymnasiums and roads filled with the round dances and peaceful songs of the movement.

Next they organized a National Day of Action on Dec. 10th where thousands of people went to the streets standing against neo-colonialism and the actions of the Canadian government.

Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press files

By January 2013 word of Idle No More had traveled around the world and Indigenous people were demanding their rights be acknowledged on different continents. On January 10th, the founding women released an outline of the movement:

The Vision [...] revolves around Indigenous Ways of Knowing rooted in Indigenous Sovereignty to protect water, air, land and all creation for future generations. The Conservative government bills beginning with Bill C-45 threaten Treaties and this Indigenous Vision of Sovereignty. The movement promotes environmental protection and indigenous sovereignty. It plans to accomplish these goals by: (A) Implementing leadership structure and councils (Such as the Council of Women) (B) Taking training in coordinating rallies, media, messaging and safety issues as well as in identifying provocateurs, misinformation shills, and propaganda. (C) Placing key spokespeople and connecting with experienced experts in different areas; i.e. treaty research, indigenous rights and governance, environmental activism, writers, international spokesperson, national etc. (D) Creating chapters across Turtle Island under the umbrella of the main INM. (E) Requesting regular meetings with First Nations leadership to have ongoing discussions regarding third party agreements between the Government of Canada and industry corporations

Although they were by monitored by Aboriginal Affairs, RCMP, and even CSIS, only a few months after INM released their goals, media across Canada found something else to talk about and people started to say that the movement had petered out and was done because Bill C-45 had passed.

But that was not the case.

"Idle No More 2013 Ottawa Jan 11 th" by Moxy - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia

In the book #IdleNoMore and the remaking of Canada by Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Ken Coates released in Spring 2015, the lasting impacts of the movement become clear.

Coates argued that Idle No More was the most profound declaration of Indigenous identity and confidence in Canadian history and that even "when the drums slowed, a new and different Canada was left in its wake."

So what does this new Canada look like, especially in the wake of a federal election?

Leading up to the federal election, Indigenous activist across the country held panels around voting and information sessions to motivate what is usually a demographic with the lowest turnout in Canada.

Some aboriginal communities saw voter turnout spike by up to 270 per cent in the Oct. 19 election despite the Fair Elections Act which made it harder for someone to vote without approved identification. Some First Nations, including in Saskatchewan, even ran out of voter ballots, although Elections Canada said they made sure to respond so that everyone could vote.

A record 10 aboriginal MPs were elected.

Jody Wilson-Raybould was named Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. She is a former provincial Crown prosecutor and regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and now the first Indigenous person and woman named Minister of Justice.

Before the election two of the major parties laid out platforms specific to Indigenous issues and spoke about "nation to nation" conversations once they were elected. AFN Chief Perry Bellegarde said that indigenous voters could sway 51 ridings and the parties listened. It's clear that after the powerful message INM sent, the political parties heard and acted.

In 2014 the Supreme Court's Tsilhqot'in First Nation ruling was a complete game-changer. The unanimous ruling granted the B.C First Nation title to a 1,700-square-kilometre area of traditional land outside its reserve, marking the end of a decades-long battle. It also clarified major issues such as how to prove aboriginal title and when consent is required from aboriginal groups which will impact resource development and pipelines in Canada into the future. What that means is that First Nations have a clear judicial ruling to all and any development on their land, specifically clarifying the rules around "duty to consult".

It's not only in the legal and political world that we've seen Indigenous people speak up and be heard about their rights.

Look to the world of fashion, numerous music festivals across Canada, the U.S., and even Glastonbury in the U.K have banned festival goers from wearing traditional head dresses. When a Victoria Secret model strutted in her underwear and a war bonnet down the runway the internet exploded. The same thing happened when Dsquared came out with their fashion line #Dsquaw. They had to issue an apology but more importantly the fashion world started to look toward Indigenous artists and fashion designers to contribute to their line - hello Valentino and Christi Belcourt.

A Tribe Called Red. Photo by Brudder Falling Tree from the band's website.

In music there is no disputing that A Tribe Called Red is making it's name known from festivals to soundtracks on MTV. Tanya Tagaq and Buffy Sainte-Marie are the most recent Polaris Prize award winners - Canada's most prestigious music award . Hip hop artist Drezus counts INM as his reason for turning his life and music around and picked up a handful of awards for his most recent album.

By no means has Idle No More itself become "idle". The movement has continued its grassroots advocacy, recently starting a campaign to provide housing on reserve.

The campaign - called One House, Many Nations - aims to provide assistance to people living in desperate housing conditions. The campaign states:

Housing is a basic human right, a foundation to sustain a healthy, productive, and dignified life. However, due to a series of past and present Federal government policy decisions to move towards austerity rather than address housing, the governments have cut back on housing programs. As a result, Turtle Island (Canada) is experiencing a growing housing crisis that encompasses all people; it’s particularly affecting Indigenous women.

It's already raised over $13,000 dollars in funds which will go directly to housing

In everyday situations - schools, community councils, calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women, Walking With Our Sisters exhibits, questions around arrests and police action, inquiries into hospitals, inquiries into police investigations, questions around funding, a regular dude in a mall calling out a security guard for following him - Indigenous people have become empowered by the legacy of INM.

So, three years later there might not be round dances in malls but there is a new Canada with some of the credit going to the INM movement. Many of the books and thesis papers around the movement itself are just being written.

Created By
Kelly Malone
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Photos credited to photographer or website. Used through Wikipedia, Idle No More website, or Creative Commons.

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