Host Organisation:

Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), Coastal Indigenous Leadership Alliance

Description:

This event will involve a short presentation about colonialism and climate change, with a panel discussion to follow that centers Indigenous future building. Canada is proposing false solutions for climate change mitigation, and continues to use these false solutions to hide their bigger problems. 

The province of British Columbia (B.C.) and the Canadian state are illegally occupying Indigenous land, and have made declarations of being climate leaders. Canada claims to celebrate multiculturalism and “Indigenous” peoples, however, this ‘celebration’ is a tactic in the larger strategy of genocide and assimilation. How can these colonial governments be climate leaders when their plans depend on the genocide of Indigenous peoples?

UNDRIP has been incorporated into provincial and federal level legislation, however, there has been little to no change in the material conditions Indigenous people experience. This is an example of a false solution that manufactures consent and/or forces Indigenous people into British colonial legal and Canadian regulatory institutions.

These colonial entities cannot survive without Indigenous land and exploitation, and killing Indigenous people along the way. We will be speaking to Indigenous leadership that challenges colonial violence, and what it would take to end this violence on our lands. 

So, where can we go from here? 

We believe our future exists outside of colonialism, and know we can get there together. If there is interest, we would like to make space for the audience to share stories or experiences from their lands and relatives.

Speakers:

ʷ is xʷ čaa (Kati George-Jim), TSUK & W̱SÁNEĆ SȽÁNI¸

Willo Prince, Nak’azdli (Northern British Columbia)

Janelle Lapointe, Stellat’en First Nation & David Suzuki Foundation

Languages:

English