Rally spreads word of indigenous rights
Fort Simpson woman swept up in Standing Rock protest in Toronto
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
TORONTO
When Sharon Allen hopped on a plane or three to Toronto earlier this month, she didn't expect to be caught up in a protest supporting North Dakota Standing Rock Sioux Nation.
Fort Simpson's Sharon Allen found herself swept up in the protest on Nov. 5 after attending the Indspire conference in Toronto. - photo courtesy of Sharon Allen
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Allen left Fort Simpson to attend the Indspire Conference from Nov. 4 to 5, where she had been invited to speak about her involvement in a Dene Zhatie pilot program she had run in Fort Simpson.
The conference went off without a hitch, she said - it was the aftermath that came as a surprise as she headed out to do some Christmas shopping and asked someone for direction to a mall.
Instead, the directions led her into the heart of a group of Torontonians protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"I wasn't sure what I was walking into, and then I saw all these people walking through the street," she said.
"They had drumming music - Cree drumming music and they were chanting."
As the protesters neared, she could hear what they were shouting: "Water is life," "No pipeline" and "Let's help North Dakota Standing Rock."
The group was standing in solidarity with the North Dakota Standing Rock Sioux Nation which is protesting the pipeline project. The project would see an oil pipeline constructed from the Bakken region in North Dakota to Illinois and would eventually transport around 470,000 barrels of oil each day, rising to a potential maximum of 570,000 barrels.
But the land it cuts across contains burial sites and cultural areas which are important to Standing Rock, according to the nation, and could threaten the nearby Missouri River should a spill ever happen.
Realizing what the rally was about, Allen's plans flew out the window and she instead spent an afternoon getting to know the people who were rallying.
"I thought it was really empowering for people to get together in such a huge way - especially in a city. I've been following it on Facebook but I think what really shocked me is the amount of people that actually support the rally against the pipeline," she said.
"That was empowering in the sense we're all on the same page, fighting for the same causes. Even though we're all from different backgrounds, we're all fighting for water."
The protest hit home for Allen especially, who recalls being taught the values of living on the land when she was growing up.
When her father went into the bush for firewood, she said, he would harvest the dead trees first.
"We only took what we needed. Even when it comes to killing animals, we only ate what we got," she said.
"There's a reason why our ancestors wanted us to protect (the land). We're fighting for the future of our kids, most definitely."
She also remembers the days when she could drink water straight out of the Mackenzie River, wash her hair in the water and not worry about oil or other contaminants.
"We live in a really beautiful place. We need to protect (this area) for the future," she said.
"So the rally seemed like a really nice time where people shared and had shared views on an important cause. We're protecting the water, because all that water comes up North."
