God “dam” Indians!!!

God “dam” Indians!!!

What is the matter with them?

Why are they always on welfare? 

Why should OUR tax dollars support them?

Why can’t they get jobs?

Don’t they get a FREE education?

Why don’t they hunt or FISH or trap? 

They’re always whining 

and complaining 

about something... 

Why can’t they just get over it?

God 

Our Creator

blessed

Indigenous people

He put us in charge of the land and water...

We were always self-sufficient, 

self-sustaining, and self-governing. 

We never knew what social assistance 

We never needed it

We never needed anything 

Your tax dollars paid for our destruction 

and the destruction of our land

Your votes allow politicians to dispossess us of our lands 

and to extract our resources 

Your votes deprived us of our livelihood 

We always had jobs 

We were educated by the land

Nothing is free, your governments have made trillions. of dollars from our land and resources:

Our water

Our trees

Our pulp

Our paper

Our minerals

Our fossil fuels 

Our fish

Our wildlife 

Hydro dams, mines, pulp, paper, pipelines, and oil have made you wealthy 

While our people live in poverty

How is this right? 

How do you sleep at night? 

Yes

People need jobs

But they also need clean water and clean air 

So do their children 

So do their grandchildren 

So will their children

And their children’s children... 

Think of the seven generations 

Of all nations 

As for Indigenous peoples:

We cannot hunt or trap animals 

that lay dying in poisoned lakes and rivers

We cannot fish 

When the sturgeon are near extinction 

and the whitefish are full of mercury 

and the jack and pickerel have tumors 

 

We are not whining, we are educating you

AND

We will never get over it 

Hydro dammed us

But we are not damned 

We will rise

We will fight

God will give us Justice

We will heal the land 

We will hunt, fish, and trap again 

We will go to school

We will create jobs

Together we can find reconciliation 

Restore hope 

Restore pride

Restore self-sufficiency 

Revive our economies 

We all need: 

Responsible energy 

Don’t call it clean

Don’t call it green 

If it destroys the land and water

Produce electricity without killing and destroying our people 

Yes it is possible 

We can heal our land

We are experts

Ask us how and then LISTEN

Then do what we say

And do the right thing 

Respectful dialogue 

Meaningful consultation

Responsible actions 

Indigenous participation 

Cultural revitalization 

Block the AFP

Manage the CRD

Restore pride and hope