SHARBOT LAKE: Indigenous interests are a light to our path
March 5th, 2008
CPTnet
5 March 2008
SHARBOT LAKE: Indigenous interests are a light to our path
by Kelley Haldeman
On 24 February 2008, we walked through wetlands of spruce, ash, and alder, and woodlands of cedar, pine, and fir around Sharbot Lake. We saw tall, colourful rocks and last summer’s dry cattails, buds chewed off by deer, and the tracks of unknown animals in the deep snow. As beautiful as it all was, I know I did not understand it or appreciate it as deeply as others who have lived on this land. I am a settler.
Robert Lovelace, a First Nation leader recently sent to prison for demonstrating against uranium exploration on historically Algonquin lands, testified, “Algonquin identity is tied to the relationships that we maintain with the land.” In refusing to consult with indigenous peoples over the use (and exploitation) of their lands, we—the settlers and our institutions— not only hack away at the earth’s sacred gifts to us, but also throw away one of our few last opportunities to hear and understand a perspective on life that is radically different from our own.
We need the ancient insights of indigenous communities to challenge our “modern” ideas of self-worth and identity through material goods, resource consumption, and dominance over other living things. When we are blind to the inherent worth and personality of the landscapes—seeing only mineral deposits or lumber—we ultimately become blind to our own worth as human beings.
To view life and land in this way, as the indigenous people do, and then watch as frenzied, impatient people plunder, drill, cut, grind, and burn away that life and land, must be vulgar and violating experiences for a community. That the members of the Shabot Obaadjiwan and Ardoch Algonquin communities are demonstrating nonviolently against Frontenac Ventures uranium mining and asking for negotiations with our settler institutions, I find inspiring. I am also hopeful that, in the process, we will begin to recognize and consider indigenous interests not just as a legal obligation, but also as a light on the path to our own holistic development.
[Haldeman was part of a Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation to Algonquin Territory near Sharbot Lake, Ontario, where two First Nations communities are struggling to protect their unceded land from uranium mining.
Members of the February 24 -March 1 delegation were Nermin Bahcetepe (Toronto, Ontario), Randy Bond (Beulah, Michigan), Paula Marie Deubel (Sterling Heights, Michigan), Kelley Haldeman (Bellbrook, Ohio), Rebecca Johnson
(Toronto, Ontario), Allan Slater (Lakeside, Ontario), and Margaret Sumadh (Toronto, Ontario).]
5 March 2008
SHARBOT LAKE: Indigenous interests are a light to our path
by Kelley Haldeman
On 24 February 2008, we walked through wetlands of spruce, ash, and alder, and woodlands of cedar, pine, and fir around Sharbot Lake. We saw tall, colourful rocks and last summer’s dry cattails, buds chewed off by deer, and the tracks of unknown animals in the deep snow. As beautiful as it all was, I know I did not understand it or appreciate it as deeply as others who have lived on this land. I am a settler.
Robert Lovelace, a First Nation leader recently sent to prison for demonstrating against uranium exploration on historically Algonquin lands, testified, “Algonquin identity is tied to the relationships that we maintain with the land.” In refusing to consult with indigenous peoples over the use (and exploitation) of their lands, we—the settlers and our institutions— not only hack away at the earth’s sacred gifts to us, but also throw away one of our few last opportunities to hear and understand a perspective on life that is radically different from our own.
We need the ancient insights of indigenous communities to challenge our “modern” ideas of self-worth and identity through material goods, resource consumption, and dominance over other living things. When we are blind to the inherent worth and personality of the landscapes—seeing only mineral deposits or lumber—we ultimately become blind to our own worth as human beings.
To view life and land in this way, as the indigenous people do, and then watch as frenzied, impatient people plunder, drill, cut, grind, and burn away that life and land, must be vulgar and violating experiences for a community. That the members of the Shabot Obaadjiwan and Ardoch Algonquin communities are demonstrating nonviolently against Frontenac Ventures uranium mining and asking for negotiations with our settler institutions, I find inspiring. I am also hopeful that, in the process, we will begin to recognize and consider indigenous interests not just as a legal obligation, but also as a light on the path to our own holistic development.
[Haldeman was part of a Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation to Algonquin Territory near Sharbot Lake, Ontario, where two First Nations communities are struggling to protect their unceded land from uranium mining.
Members of the February 24 -March 1 delegation were Nermin Bahcetepe (Toronto, Ontario), Randy Bond (Beulah, Michigan), Paula Marie Deubel (Sterling Heights, Michigan), Kelley Haldeman (Bellbrook, Ohio), Rebecca Johnson
(Toronto, Ontario), Allan Slater (Lakeside, Ontario), and Margaret Sumadh (Toronto, Ontario).]
