Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a teepee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 30, 2017.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a teepee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 30, 2017.
Photo Credit: PC / Justin Tang

Prime Minister Trudeau visits Parliament Hill protest teepee

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he visited a group of Indigenous protesters who have set up a traditional aboriginal tent on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to deliver a message of respect and reconciliation ahead of Canada Day celebrations.

The Bawaating Water Protectors from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, had arrived Wednesday night to erect the teepee and engage in what they are calling a “reoccupation” to draw attention to the history of Indigenous people in Canada during the 150th birthday celebrations this weekend.

Originally the group clashed with police, who arrested nine people and refused to allow the teepee, but all nine were released and the structure was moved to a more prominent position.

Trudeau and his wife Sophie arrived at the site near the central stage that has been set up for Saturday’s festivities, which are expected to draw around half a million people into the downtown core.

The prime minister spent some 40 minutes with a handful of activists and left without speaking to media.

Members of the Bawaating Water Protectors have said they have the right to “reoccupy” Parliament Hill, which is located on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.

“I’m overwhelmed right now,” Candace Day Neveau, a spokeswoman for the water protectors, said after the meeting. “We let Justin know that we want to hold him accountable [on his promises]. We’ll be coming back if we don’t feel like we’re being honoured, and we’ll be exerting our inherent right to be here as Indigenous people.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a teepee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 30, 2017. Trudeau had a brief meeting this morning with indigenous activists who have set up a demonstration teepee on Parliament Hill ahead of Canada Day celebrations.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a teepee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 30, 2017. Trudeau had a brief meeting this morning with indigenous activists who have set up a demonstration teepee on Parliament Hill ahead of Canada Day celebrations. © PC/Sean Kilpatrick

The Bawaating Water Protesters are just one of many Indigenous groups planning protests this weekend to draw attention to the fact that the last 150 years have given Aboriginal Canadians very little reason to celebrate anything but their own resilience.

Many Indigenous people also feel that the celebration of the country’s last 150 years of history, ignores the millennia-old indigenous history and their presence in Canada before colonization.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said he will be in Ottawa on July 1 but he is in no mood to celebrate.

“We won’t be celebrating but if we are going to participate, we’ll be participating on July 1st to celebrate our resiliency, because in spite of the genocide of the residential school system, and in spite of the colonization and oppression of the Indian Act, which controlled all aspects of our life, we are still here as Indigenous Peoples, and you can still hear our languages being spoken even though they were tried to be eradicated within Canada,” said Bellegarde.

Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said Friday the government respects the fact that not all Canadians will be celebrating on Saturday.

“In the context of Canada 150, it is our time to reflect on the darker chapters that happened in our history and also work towards reconciliation and make sure that the next 150 years are way better when it comes to relationships with Indigenous Peoples,” she said.

With file from CBC News and The Canadian Press

Categories: Indigenous, Politics
Tags: , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.