For many years I have been organizing in support of First Nations communities working to stop the expansion of the Canadian tar sands and the associated infrastructure. This fight has seen the emergence of a powerful movement of First Nations and their allies. A new battle front is the 12 billion dollar, 4500 km+, 1.1 million barrel per day Energy East pipeline proposed by energy transport giant TransCanada.

We have come too far as Indigenous peoples to give up who we are. We have always been kind and we will share the wealth and abundance of our homelands with our relatives from across the pond. Instead of lessons on how to survive the harsh winters of our lands, today we are offering lessons on how to be resilient and to overcome the oppression from the archaic oil sector and in our own government who have lost their minds with power.

An edited transcript of a panel discussion organized by Canadian Dimension at the Peoples’ Summit on June 19, 2010.

My mother’s name is Gail Catherine Thomas and my late father’s name was Peter Sinclair Sr., both from the community of Pukatawagan Cree Nation located in northern Manitoba. Like many Native peoples at that time, my mother was raised in the bush.

Resources and effort must be placed into building the knowledge and capacity amongst First Nations and Métis leadership, including grassroots, elders and youth, to engage in both an Indigenous-led corporate-finance campaign and in decision-making processes on environment, energy, climate and economic policies related to halting the tar-sands expansion.