#IdleNoMore - !Ya Basta!: The wind from below coming from the north

#IdleNoMore - !Ya Basta!: The wind from below coming from the north

The #IdleNoMore movement has grown to call for nothing less than the unfettered sovereignty of First Nations in Canada. Called for by Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence whose hunger strike has now surpassed 35 days, #IdleNoMore has mobilized indigenous peoples and allies all over the world demanding that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reverse the omnibus Bill C-45 legislation and immediately reinstate treaty rights made between Canadian authorities and the sovereign representatives of First Nations across generations of colonial invasion. 

As a movement, this spontaneous response (known by some as the Aboriginal Spring) is both an anomaly of cyber-organizing and a continuity of centuries old demands for peace with justice and dignity by Indigenous Peoples in Canada. As a strategic historic moment, #IdleNoMore stands to put to the test the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As such, everyone concerned for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples anywhere must take concerted steps to support our brethren in Canada through direct action calling upon the Canadian government to settle this historic injustice.

The new eon marked on December 21, 2012 by Indigenous Peoples throughout the continents of Anauak and Tawantinsuyo has presented powerful parallels on the front lines of Indigenous self-determination. From a native perspective, sovereignty, autonomy and self-determination are all interrelated and relative constructs of human political relations aimed at decolonizing the post-colonial hegemony of the modern state of Indigenous Peoples. Decolonizing theories require social action that strategically leads towards the realization of these rights in the modern paradigm of globalization. In Canada, our brethren First Nations have projected a resurgent movement echoing long-standing calls of !Ya Basta! voiced by the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional and all allied autochthonous Indigenous Peoples (pueblos autóctonos) throughout Mexico. On December 21, 2012, tens of thousands of Indigenous Zapatistas marched in silence in five regional capitals of the state of Chiapas, Mexico to announce to the world their continued struggle, resistance and autonomy. The Zapatistas, women, men, children, and elders marched in silence marking the coming of the new eon of harmony according to Mayan ceremonial calendars.

On this same date, in Xochicalco, Morelos, Mexico – Semillas convened Nahuatl language elders and educators from four regions of Mexico to honor the new sun at the base of the ancestral House of Feathered Serpents, invoking through our language, songs and ceremonial dance the power of our ancestors, and of our progeny to fulfill our duty to organize harmony in our world and vow to continue to resist the chaos of the hegemony’s dysfunctionality. Between #IdleNoMore and !Ya Basta! lie the struggles of Indigenous Peoples, communities, organizations and individuals everywhere, like the defense of Mexican American Indigenous Studies based in Tucson, Arizona that continues to resist despite attacks, sabotage and internal divisions fomented through calumny on the part of its opponents. These pockets of resistance are all a part of our continued resurgence as Indigenous Mexican@s with nothing less than our future humanity at stake.

Make no mistake, we are in resistance, we are in resurgence and we will continue as we regenerate our own peace with justice and dignity for all.

Defend #IdleNoMore. Defend the wind from below. Affirm self-determination for all Indigenous Peoples. Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in your own organization, community, and nation. Demand the UN DRIP’s implementation of any government that intersects with the existence of your People.