FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2012
Grassy Narrows Youth Walk more than 2000 km to Raise Awareness about Mercury Poisoning and Native Land Rights, Arrive in Toronto for River Run 2012
- 2:30pm – Today, Etienne Brulé Park (Catherine St parking lot)
Walkers will be starting their walk into the city
- 4-6pm – Today, Grange Park
Community meal and potluck
Allies from Toronto, Six Nations and across Southern Ontario will be welcoming Grassy Narrows youth to Toronto with a Community BBQ and Potluck today at Grange Park.
Toronto—Today, a group of youth from Grassy Narrows First Nation will be arriving in the city after walking more than 2000 kilometers from their traditional territory in Northwestern Ontario. They will be welcomed by members of the April 28 Coalition—Six Nations land defenders and non native allies—along with other Toronto allies, who will be holding a community potluck and barbecue this afternoon at Grange Park.
Today the walkers will be commencing the final leg of their journey at 2:30pm from Etienne Brulé Park, just north of the mouth of the Humber River. Having entered city last night, coming in from Barrie, this afternoon they will walk south along the Humber, then east along the lake shore, and finally north through downtown, arriving for a community meal at Grange Park after 4pm.
Media are invited to attend at either or both parks.
The youth have been walking since April 29, visiting communities all across Ontario along the way. They have been walking “to raise awareness about chemical dumping and mercury poisoning [of the English River System] that the government and corporations have caused over the past decades, and to keep that message strong for the next generation, to carry on that message so that people don’t forget that the water is still being poisoned,” says Edmond Jack, one of the walkers.
Mercury poisoning from industrial logging at the Dryden Paper Mill in the 1960’s still has dire effects on both adults and children in Grassy Narrows, Wabauskang and White Dog First Nations. Meanwhile, industrial scale clearcut logging continues in their territories.
The youth, finishing more than a month of walking, are arriving in time for River Run 2012, a week of events in Toronto that started yesterday with a press conference featuring Judy Da Silva, a mother and blockader from Grassy Narrows, and Dr. Masanori Hanada, a mercury poison expert from Japan, amongst others. The week will climax with the River Run Rally and March on June 8.
The walkers have stopped and participated in public speaking events, feasts and other community events in more than a dozen communities including Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, and several First Nations communities over the past weeks.
This evening’s BBQ is being hosted by the April 28 Coalition—Indigenous land defenders from Six Nations as well as native and non native allies—along with other Toronto activists, supporters, and community members. The gathering is being held “to welcome the walkers, and to build bridges between communities engaged in anti-colonial struggles to protect the water and land, to support the empowerment of a new generation of young leaders, to connect multiple generations of land defenders from different communities, and to build solidarity and unity in support of Indigenous sovereignty and land rights.”
After today’s BBQ, there is a speaking event at 25 Cecil featuring Judy Da Silva and Dr. Hanada, with Lee Maracle and Joanne Webb.
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Contacts
· Welcome BBQ & Potluck in the Park – MakadeMakwaWaterWalk2012@
More info:
· Makade Makwa Walk for Water 2012 https://www.facebook.com/
· Makade Makwa Walk for Water 2012 – Welcome BBQ & Potluck in the Park https://www.facebook.com/
· Grassy Narrows River Run 2012 https://freegrassy.net/2012/03/
· River Run 2012 on Twitter: #GrassyRiverRun
· Grassy Narrows background: https://freegrassy.net
· April 28 Coalition https://april28coalition.