Halifax – Tobique – Fredericton – Wendake – Quebec – Montreal – Ottawa – Golden Lake – Kingston – Peterborough – Toronto – Six Nations – Kitchener-Waterloo – Winnipeg – Saskatoon – Regina – Yellowknife – Edmonton – Calgary – Lethbridge – Wet’suwet’en First Nation – Prince Rupert – Okanagan – Vancouver – Wsanec -Victoria
USA: Anchorage – East Lansing – Hampshire – Orono
All the events listed below are autonomously organized as part of the call for Indigenous Sovereignty Week. Defenders of the Land, a cross-Canada network of First Nations in land struggle and fighting for Indigenous rights, has issued a call to organize a cross-Canada week of educational events on Indigenous Rights and Indigenous struggles from October 25-31,
2009. The purpose of this week is to disseminate ideas of Indigenism and to contribute to building a cross-Canada movement for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and justice that is led by Indigenous communities with a broad base of informed support. Visit http://www.defendersoftheland.org/isw
RESISTANCE WITHOUT RESERVATION!
As part of Indigenous Sovereignty Week and building resistance to the Olympic Torch Relay, join us in an evening of powerful films, dignified food, inspiring speakers, and rebel performers…
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133963917949
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Thursday Oct 29. Free!
Doors and food served @ 6 pm
Event begins @ 6:30 pm
706 Clarke Drive (3 blocks south of Hastings)
Bus route #22, 10, 16, 20
Child-friendly. Bus tickets available
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* Coast Salish Opening by Kat Norris: founder of Indigenous Action Movement and survivor of the Kuper Island Residential School. Kat joined the American Indian Movement and has been a social activist since. Most recently, she has been organizing against police abuses and her biggest success is the Frank Paul Inquiry.
* Carol Martin: Nisga’a/Gitanyow and member of Downtown Eastside Elders Council, Sweetgrass All Nations Healing Centre, and Feb 14th Memorial March Committee. Carol is a long-time advocate and grassroots voice for Indigenous peoples and for women and men in the DTES, especially in the lead up to the Olympic Games.
* Dustin Rivers: a young and outspoken Skwxwú7mesh-Kwakwaka’wakw activist, artist, and writer.He’s had an obsession with history from a early age, but also raised in a time of cultural re-generation, he uses his ancestors legacy of political uprising to accomplish his vision of decolonization.
* Writing the Land (7 mins, Kevin Lee Burton): This 2007 film meticulously combines film language with Hunkamenum words to recreate Musqueam elder Larry Grant’s experience of rediscovering his language and cultural traditions.
* Resist 2010 (15 mins, Burning Fist Media with no2010): A short, fast-paced documentary focusing on the negative impacts of the 2010 Games and the ongoing resistance by Indigenous & other social movements.
As non-native multiracial supporters, we are allies of frontline Indigenous communities who organize in defense of their land, freedom, and autonomy. As a grassroots anti-racist and anti-imperialist migrant justice group rising to liberation, No One Is Illegal strongly believes that our movement must always be in active solidarity with self-determination
struggles of Indigenous communities who struggle across Turtle Island against centuries of imposed racist, sexist, criminalizing, impoverishing, and genocidal policies.
Our event is organized in this spirit of respect with the diverse realities of Indigenous peoples to survive and resist, especially in the face of our society’s apathy, the normalization of colonialism, and increasing state repression. We hope you will join us and we encourage
others to organize additional events and actions during Indigenous Sovereignty Week. No Justice on Stolen Land!
Organized by No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories.
For more information, email noii-van@resist.ca or call 778-833-4484
Visit http://noii-van.resist.ca
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UBC Colour Connected Film Series to Mark Indigenous Sovereignty Week
As racialized people originating from countries that have also suffered under the boot of colonialism, Colour Connected feels it necessary to respond to this call. There is much we have in common with our Indigenous brothers and sisters: a history of brutal colonial
violence, the theft of our lands, our cultures cast as backward and anti-scientific, forced displacement due to the climate chaos brought on by Western “progress”, the pillaging of our resources, and a long history of tenacious and uncompromising resistance to colonial aggression.
Please join Colour Connected Against Racism as we celebrate Indigenous Sovereignty Week with an engaging and compelling series of films that will speak to many of these issues.
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Thursday October 29th, 2009
12:30-2:00pm
Norm Theatre
UBC Student Union Building,
6138 STUDENT UNION BOULEVARD
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**The Mystery of Chaco Canyon**
This documentary investigates the colossal prehistoric remains at Chaco Canyon and highlights the advanced and complex astronomical knowledge of the people behind the constructions at the site. The film challenges the notion that Chaco Canyon was primarily a trade and redistribution center. Rather it argues that it was a center of astronomy and cosmology and that a primary purpose for the construction of the elaborate Chacoan buildings and certain roads was to express astronomical interests and to be integral parts of a
celestial patterning. Directed by Anna Sofaer, produced by The Solstice Project, & narrated by Robert Redford
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Friday October 30th, 2009
11:30am-3:30pm
Conversation Pit
UBC Student Union Building,
6138 STUDENT UNION BOULEVARD
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**Finding Dawn**
Acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh presents a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy: the murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years. This is a journey into the dark heart of Native women’s experience in Canada. From Vancouver’s Skid Row to the Highway of Tears in
northern British Columbia to Saskatoon, this film honours those who have passed and uncovers reasons for hope. Finding Dawn illustrates the deep historical, social and economic factors that contribute to the epidemic of violence against Native women in this country.. Written and directed by Welsh and produced by Svend-Erik Eriksen.
**Kanehsatake – 270 Years of Resistance**
In this documentary about the Oka crisis of 1990, renowned director Alanis Obomsawin places the conflict within the larger context of age old Mohawk struggles for land rights. The barricades might have come down, but the issues have not gone away.
Organized by UBC Colour Connected Against Racism. Colour Connected Against Racism is an AMS resource group that provides support and information to students who feel alienated and disempowered due to discrimination. We organize events on various issues pertaining to ‘Peoples of Colour’, and lobby the University and other institutions to implement necessary
changes. We also address issues of sexism, homophobia, poverty, domestic and global exploitation and other social injustices. Our centre is filled with resources where students can learn about their history, and share their experiences in a supportive and positive environment. We also organize and hold socials which we’re infamous for. We’re always looking
for new members and energetic people to be part of the group, the executive, and have fun in an supportive, safe space. For more information, email cconnect@club.ams.ubc.ca or call 604-264-8954
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GET UP AND FACE IT!
Friday, October 30, 2009
6:00pm – 11:00pm
The Towers, 2128 Graveley @ Lakewood
— << confronted >> —
New and Reworked pieces by Marika Swan
Conflict and adversity are powerful teachers that test our patience, endurance, courage, and alertness as Ku’aas people. We have been born into the physical realm during these tumultuous times to benefit from some deeply meaningful lessons. The faster we run the harder they will hunt us. It is time to stop, turn around, and face them. Tla-o-qui-aht artist,
Marika Swan, explores the impossibility of evading creation’s tougher teachings through mixed media, relief prints, and live visuals.
Marika Swan BIO: I was born out in the wilds of the west coast, on the beach of a little island called Echachist, in a spot where our whaling chiefs used to bring the whales in. Northern lights stretched out into the north the night before I came into this world. I believe in a deeply
profound relationship with the land that I come from and a responsibility to it’s survival, health, and freedom. I have been working with Redwire Native Youth Media Society for 4 years now and am currently acting as it’s lead coordinator. I find great fulfillment in creating space for our young people to explore their creativity so that when we seek justice, our voices are strong. I am also developing my own artistry and have been involved in a variety of film, printmaking, and writing community art projects.
&
— << Get Up Clothing >> —
Redwire Media Fundraiser! The Human Billboard project
Check out our new line of radical clothes, featuring designs by Carrielynn Victor, Ernest Swanson, En Paa Uk, Marika Swan and Bracken Hanuse. Upcoming designs by Tania Willard, Louis Cruz, Ostwelve and Gabe Hill. Range of prices start at $30 for a basic T to $65 for lush organic cotton hoodies
GetUP Clothing is a fundraising effort by Redwire Media, artists are paid 15% of the retail sales. Email manager@redwiremag.com to submit or donate designs. All other proceeds go to honorariums for Native youth media artists involved in Redwire projects.
Redwire Native Media Society Backgrounder: We are a collective of Native youth creating uncensored spaces for youth to find their own voice. All of our media projects are initiated and led by youth, inspiring creativity, confidence, motivation and action. Our journey began as Redwire Magazine; we then incorporated as Redwire Native Youth Media Society in 2002. We are a media and arts organization dedicated to the power and healing of unhindered expression. We maintain a youth staff and board fostered with the support of elders, past staff and community mentors.
Our goals are to:
– offer opportunities for youth to learn practical skills in media
– facilitate community access to film, print, radio, podcasting, websites and performance
– create space for Native youth to educate each other on the issues facing their communities
– support and promote Native youth artists, writers, activists, performers and musicians
– encourage creativity and critical perspectives
We are currently volunteer driven and are focusing on creating online resources through our soon-to-be-relaunched website www.redwiremagazine.com contact info@redwiremag.com to learn more about getting involved.