OTTAWA — The Mushkegowuk Council of Chiefs passed a resolution at a meeting in Ottawa July 15 designating the Ring of Fire as a “protected homeland.”
The resolution outlined how development and any projects or activities in support of development on the land could not be undertaken without first acquiring the free, prior and informed consent of any impacted Mushkegowuk First Nations. The council represents seven Cree First Nations in northeastern Ontario.
The motion was drafted and passed following a presentation to the chiefs by Jeronimo Kataquapit, a 21-year-old Attawapiskat resident, according to a media release issued by the council on Wednesday.
“Everything that we’re doing isn’t just about the minerals in the ground,” the release quoted Kataquapit as saying during a presentation to the chiefs on Tuesday.
“That’s not the only thing that’s at stake here, but it’s the very essence of who we are as Indigenous people, as Mushkegowuk people, as people of the land.”
It was the first time in 27 days that Kataquapit, who recently formed a grassroots movement called Here We Stand, was away from the banks of the Attawapiskat River, where he, his parents and supporters set up a camp to reassert the Omushkegowuk presence.
“Everything comes from the land, all of it," he was quoted saying.
"The language, the stories originate from the land, our history comes from the land, the very essence, the very spirit of who we are comes from the land. We are the land. The land, the water — it’s our identity,” Kataquapit added.
Being on the land and starting Here We Stand was more than a choice, he said.
“It’s a responsibility — a responsibility our people have passed down from generation to generation to generation,” Kataquapit said.
The council subsequently passed three resolutions, where it voted to support the efforts of Here We Stand along with the rights of all Mushkegowuk people to take steps to protect the traditional territories of the Omushkego and to designate the Ring of Fire as a protected homeland.
The final resolution also reiterated “demands that Bill 5 and Bill C-5 be withdrawn and repealed and that inherent, Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Omushkegowuk be fully protected.”
“If we don’t do anything in response to Bill 5 and Bill C-5 and let whoever come into our home and do whatever they want, then everything our ancestors have fought for … would have been for nothing,” Kataquapit said.
“They endured years and years of hardship and suffering, just for us to be here, just to give us the opportunity to utilize the lands, to utilize the waters — to protect it.”
In addition to the resolutions, the chiefs also agreed to provide $8,560 in financial support to Here We Stand, matching the amount raised as of Wednesday through a GoFundMe campaign and adding to the more than $35,000 donation that the council committed through its lands and resources and CreeGeo departments.
Here We Stand will use these funds to help cover the costs of food, supplies and any additional miscellaneous transportation expenses.
