Organizers are busy preparing for Friday’s #ShutDownCanada initiative, taking place between Walpole Island and Wallaceburg.
Theo Blackbird-John told the Sydenham Current they are hoping for a good showing at the “traffic slow down” scheduled between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Dufferin Avenue and Highway 40.
“Walpole Island Bkejwanong First Nation is going to be participating in solidarity with the nation-wide #ShutDownCanada initiative that is focused on raising awareness,” Blackbird-John said.
“For the past few years First Nations across Canada have been asking the Federal government to take deeper consideration into the stats of missing and murdered indigenous women across Canada.”
Blackbird-John said the numbers don’t lie.
“It is really remarkable when you look at it, our women are five times more likely to witness some sort of assault or abuse, or are going missing or murdered… it is pretty alarming,” he said.
Blackbird-John said residents will be handing out information to passing motorists during the traffic slow down.
“Trying to share, trying to create a relationship,” he said. “#ShutDownCanada is to grab the governments attention. We’ve asked so many times and we’ve had a lot of compassion and patience, and there has been no movement.”
Blackbird-John added: “It pretty much goes in one ear and out the other and the government tends to re-direct the conversation. The notion they give the average Canadian citizen through media and through what we see is that the government is handling the situation. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”
Steps have been taken to ensure everything is safe at the event, as the Chatham-Kent roads department and the Chatham-Kent Police Service have been notified, Blackbird-John said.
The amount of people expected to attend is uncertain.
“The weather is going to be cold,” Blackbird-John said. “We want people to dress warm.”
He added: “I’ve had six grandmothers call me today asking what we need in terms of donations. The community is supporting it wholeheartedly. The talk at the coffee shop was about tomorrows protest, all the Wallaceburg residents in there were saying that this is so wrong, that the Conservative government should be acting more efficiently on such a matter. There has been a lot of support everywhere I’ve gone.”
“This is a grassroots initiative from community members, but at the same time, our Chief and council supports it,” Blackbird-John added.
He said the focus on Friday’s initiative is the “missing and murdered indigenous women” but other injustices are taking place.
“This is an on-going cultural genocide,” Blackbird-John said. “The Indian Act is the most racist piece of legislation in existence. They had status cards in Australia and New Zealand and different places around the world where the British Empire came in, yet they don’t exist there anymore, but here in Canada they still do. It’s pretty astonishing.”
Blackbird-John added: “We’ve come to the point where we think everything is focused on making a dollar. When it comes to our relationship as First Nations with the Crown, there is treaties in place. The treaties are being broken. I think 99.9 per cent of treaties haven’t been upheld.”
“Tomorrow is going to be about demanding a national inquiry about our missing and murdered indigenous women, first and foremost, but unfortunately we have to show the government how serious we are about our sisters.”
Blackbird-John added the focus is on women, but the stats are high for men too.
“I see comments online such as saying, ‘oh on the rez they are a bunch of savages’ or things like that,” said Blackbird-John. “If you look at the stats it does happen in our communities, but at least 70 per cent is happening off the territories.”
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