The Social Movement Of Idle No More

After the strangling claws of the Indian Act were felt, the Canadian government began to issue more laws that intruded with the aboriginals lives and took away their rights. The first of these was the “Potlatch Law” (Hanson, n.p.). It banned potlatches and other ceremonies of the aboriginals, all for the purpose of forcing the

Nobody deserves to be a ‘nobody’: unrecognized and unappreciated for their uniqueness. This is the reason why throughout history, Canada has been working to make sure that the Métis are not ‘nobodies’. Canada has provided enough recognition for Métis culture and rights through existing legislation. Historically, the Canadian government, or Dominion of Canada, has acted upon efforts to protect Métis land through legislation. Furthermore, Métis inherent rights to land, hunting, fishing and autonomy have been met with current and improved legislation. The Métis are now recognized as Aboriginal peoples and share the same rights through Section 35 of the Constitution. These pieces of legislation make it possible

Prior to the celebrations of Canada’s 150th birthday, and the protests against it, called Resistance 150, there was not much media coverage on the cultural genocide of the indigenous people in Canada. Resistance 150 opened up a conversation and increased media coverage about the issues of Canada’s dark past.

The Assembly then put pressure on political leaders to legally recognize Aboriginal rights. This led to Aboriginal rights being entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Bill C-31 being passed in 1985. This gave Aboriginal councils the power to choose who could live on Aboriginal reserves, which was a decision previously made by the Department of Indian Affairs in the federal government. People then started to argue for Aboriginal self-government so that they could manage recourses, culture, educations and their justice system. Then they could deal with health concerns and social issues within their communities. Initially this Assembly benefitted the First Nations peoples but distanced Aboriginals from other Canadians. By highlighting differences in rights and governments, anger would have erupted among Natives. They would have resented those who wouldn’t allow them their rights. On the other hand though, once they achieved some of their goals and observed that other Canadians could give in to their reasonable demands, their relationships with other Canadians would have improved. So, on the whole this Assembly was effective at improving Aboriginal and Canadian relationships with its successes and creating slight tensions with protests for

Often times, when it came to the discussion on equality within Canada, the actions of Canada were compared to those of the United States, and often times, a comment is made stating that the United States could learn from Canada’s example when it came to racial harmony. However, this idea was often criticized as the racial problems within Canada were just as severe. The respect and the livelihood of the First Nation were violated for years even before the start of the twentieth century. However, the issues of the First Nations were hardly ever brought to light by other Canadians because these issues were often hidden deep within the reserves that these First Nations were forced into. From taking their land away to disregarding their cultures, the government rarely ever acknowledged the needs of the First Nations until they could no longer be ignored. The government continuously stressed assimilation, especially with the Indian Act , and expected the First Nations

INM originated when four women — Nina Wilson, Sylvia Mcadam, Jessica Goredon and Sheelah Mclean — organized a work shop focused on how the conservative omnibus bill, Bill C-45, would affect first nations people. This bill proposed changes to various acts and regulations that would directly affect Aboriginal sovereignty. These include; the Indian Act, the Navigable waters protection act, the environmental assessment Act and the Fisheries Act (Graveline, 2013: 293). These proposed changes mobilized aboriginals and non-aboriginals across Canada to come together in solidarity and form the largest movement for indigenous rights in Canada since Oka in 2002. With an excellent campaign strategy involving social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the INM movement has been inspiring youth and women to come together collectively to demand change. Through rallies, protests, round dancing and road blocks, the INM movement has gained national coverage in the news media (not all of which has been sympathetic to the INM cause). In particular, the six week hunger strike of Chief Theresa Spence gained immense news coverage, and put pressure on the Prime Minister to quickly organize meetings with chiefs of first nation tribes (Graveline 2013: 293). While exposure in the news media, is necessary in order to win the

Throughout America's history, there have been numerous social and political movements that have had a profound and lasting impact on American culture. Movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Suffrage Movement have influenced and shaped American ideals and beliefs. These movements were typically driven by a cause. From the 1890s to the 1920s, a period of social and political reform flourished in America. This was driven by the desire to eliminate corruption in the government. People wanted to have a positive impact on society and they wanted to speak up for what they believed in. This era was a pivotal turning point in the history of the United States. This era was known as the Progressive Era.

Throughout history, First Nations rights and privileges has been a highly controversial subject in Canada, and remains a debatable topic in society, even in the present-day. Whether it has been the controversies surrounding the missing and murdered Indigenous women or the funding of First Nation’s education, concrete results have yet to be achieved. Consequently, the above forces have delayed the restorative process for the First Nations People. That said, the Canadian Government, whether it is the Conservatives or the Liberals, have attempted to take an active approach to aid the Aboriginal community in their healing process. While the Conservative government failed to address the concerns of the First Nations community such as launching a public inquiry for the missing and murdered Indigenous women and raising funds to increase the literacy rate within the Aboriginal community, the Liberal government has acted in accordance with the above requests from the First Nations community. Although the Liberal government has agreed to provide proper funding to further Indigenous education and to launch a public inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women, the federal government has failed to acknowledge that to achieve a sense of reconciliation, the First Nations community requires complete self-government.

In late October of 2012, Jessica Gordon, Sheelah McLean, Sylvia McAdam, and Nina Wilson – a group of friends from from Saskatchewan – unknowingly sparked a social movement after their discontent with the introduction of Bill C-45 turned into a nationwide protest for Indigenous rights in Canada. As an omnibus bill introduced by the Conservative government in March 2012, “Bill C-45: A Second Act to Implement Certain Provisions of the Budget Tabled In Parliament on March 29, 2012, and Other Measures” proposed 64 new regulations in a variety of existing acts. The women from Saskatchewan were concerned about the bill’s amendments to the Indian Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Environmental Assessment Act which they

Roscigno and Danaher’s use of quotations, lyrics, and pictures at various points brings human faces and voices to their description. “Factory Girl” and “Cotton Mill Man” were two famous songs that were included in the book to represent the grievances of the workers. The strike of 1934 is perhaps the largest collective mobilization of workers in the U.S. so Roscigno and Danaher’s attempt to examine the makings behind the protest was risky. Roscigno and Danaher improved their book with the use of work of historians such as Allen Tulos and Pamela Grundy (Roscigno & Danaher, p. x). In addition, to providing strong supporting evidence to how music brought the workers together, this book discussed the emergence of radio. One of the main goals was to observe how consciousness was developed through FDR’s use of radio and how radio could even be considered as a tactical innovation. “The sense that a new regime in Washington… provided government support for mill worker empowerment complemented this techno-cultural thrust to create a powerful, cohesive mass movement that triggered the mass strike” (Zieger, 2005). While there is a brief analysis of how FDR’s fireside chats influenced the structure of the movement, a large part of the book focused on the social structural change through generalized

Shortly after these amendments were introduced, four women from Saskatchewan began communicating via social media to discuss Bill C-45. The main concern these women had were if the bill was going to further oppress Indigenous rights and destroy environmental lands across Canada. A movement was formed in an attempt to stop the government from introducing more legislation that will erode Indigenous rights. On November 10, 2012, an event was organized to raise awareness regarding this bill. The movement was to be known as the Idle No More movement.

In the reading “Small Change : Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” Malcolm Gladwell discusses the act of four brave college students and their act of social activism. The four freshmen from a local all black college sat down at a counter in a diner near Greensboro, North Carolina and were denied service because of their race. The students refused to leave and instead started a protest there at the restaurant. The numbers of people protesting with the four young men increased as the story spreaded across states. The story of the sit in was done without the use of any technology or social network. Gladwell discussed the effectiveness of the sit-in because of the relationship between

This photo emphasizes the importance of silent protest and the power of gesture, political climates experience incredible shifts with movements such as these.

“When individuals choose to participate in these kinds of political demonstration, they commit themselves to physical action, whatever form it takes.”

Buechler, Steven M.. Social movements in advanced capitalism: the political economy and cultural construction of social activism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.