River Run for Grassy Narrows
OPIRG McMaster is sponsoring this upcoming event, hosted by the 2016 Grassy Narrows River Run Support Committee:
To all land defenders and people in struggle for indigenous liberation,
Please join us in Toronto on June 2nd, 2016 at noon at Queen's Park, for a rally to force Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario government to take action.
More than fifty years ago a paper mill in Dryden, Ontario began to dump murderous amounts of mercury into the Wabigoon River, upstream from the community of Asubpeechoseewagong (Grassy Narrows). This was one of many genocidal moments in the Canadian settler state's relationship with traditional Anishnaabe lands and people. The people of Grassy Narrows, and all the life that supports their traditional territories, have lived with the immense health effects of that crime ever since, with no responsibility taken on the part of the Ontario government that allowed that to happen.
There is new evidence that mercury levels in some areas are rising, which continues to brutally impact the residents of Grassy Narrows, especially young children. Grassy Narrows has always fiercely resisted colonization and genocide, defending the land for all of us, human and non-human. The community is known for having sustained the longest running blockade of illegal logging in Canadian history, and is now demanding that Ontario clean up the mercury it allowed to be dumped years ago.
Join us in Toronto on June 2nd, 2016 at noon at Queen's Park, for a rally to force Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario government to take action. This will be the fourth River Run since 2010, which has seen mass actions (including hunger strikes) that have successfully asserted Grassy Narrows sovereignty. The River Run will be led by Grassy Narrows Women’s Drum Group, with an accompanying week of events from May 30th to June 3rd. We need your organization’s material support for these events - get your people to the rally and other events, invite us to do workshops beforehand in your spaces, have your organization endorse the events, circulate this callout, and send urgently needed direct financial support through the online fundraiser http://riverrun2016.causevox.com/ .
You can also support River Run 2016 on Facebook by circulating the event page. If you would like to endorse River Run - or better, request a workshop! - please email: riverrun2016@gmail.com
For more information go to: http://freegrassy.net/2015/12/22/river-run-2016-healthy-river-healthy-people/
See you in Toronto soon!
In solidarity,
The 2016 Grassy Narrows River Run Support Committee