And it gives me great pleasure to introduce this short film to you.
It's called, Idle no More, the voice of a movement, and it was shot by Michael
Anderson, a non-indigenous law student at the University of Ottowa.
As he says, it it's meant to be one voice among the movement's many And it's aimed
to inform Canadians of the major pillars of the Idle No More movement.
It was brought to my attention by Michael himself, who is one of your peers taking
this course in Agoriginal Worldviews and Education through Course Era.
And he wanted to let me know he had shot this video not that long ago.
And watched it with Brendan and Angela. We agreed it was an excellent way to
close off the course along with the words of our elders, Dave Courchene and
Jeanette Armstrong. But to be aware of this movement, Idle No
More, which really took off in the fall and early winter last year.
And it's still going strong despite the, the lack of media attention recently on
the movement. It certainly it is still going on.
It's very exciting as it is a grassroots movement and it takes into account many
of the voices of youth and the women and the elder who have all been.
Coming out to various locally organized Idle No More events, whether they are
flash mob round dances held in shopping malls and shopping centers, or in large
major intersections, blocking traffic to bring attention to the the attack on
treaty rights in Canada and the United States.
There have certainly been many parallel events staged across the continent under
this this banner of Idle No More. one thing to say, of course, is that the
people haven't been idle. That's an implication of the title, but
people have never been idle, but it certainly has been a very useful
catchphrase to draw attention to the various events going on, to bring people
out in their localized reactions to these different activities, and a very positive
one too. I've found that most of the events that
I've seen people are starting from a very positive place, from the place of the
culture. From looking at the songs, the dances,
the ceremonies and bringing them forward as a way to address all of these various
crisis that that we feel indigenous world views hold part of the answer to solving.
So so the people have come out with a, a pride in culture, with a sense that that
returning to these teachings is a very important way of addressing what has gone
wrong with the way that we've been organizing and structuring our economies
and our relationship with Earth. So please take a look at Michael
Anderson's short film. I think it's an excellent introduction to
the the many ways of participating in Idle No More.
And seek out Idle No More events in your local area, or start one up yourself, and
and raise attention to all of these issues.
Jean-Paul RestouleAssociate Professor
