![]() ![]() Many are elders themselves.Īnd we practice our cultures because guess what else is criminalized in this country? Being Indigenous is criminalized. They speak their languages, they know their songs, they are brilliant knowledge holders. And the reason we come out here to do what we do - we drum and we sing and we practice our cultures- is because many many of the people in these camps are Indigenous. The state is going to criminalize people from not having homes. But as we said at a recent rally in support of encampment residents, the situation that is happening here will be the criminalization of Indigenous place-making and care. We carry our Indigeneity with us wherever we go. We mark our grief and loss in feast and ceremony. What is hopeful, though, is the ways that Indigenous peoples make community wherever we go, and show up for one another. A stark contrast to the enormous wealth and resources that exist in the city of Toronto. Almost no options for permanent stable housing exist. Many women, 2spirit, and trans folks find the violence too overwhelming there, plus COVID-19 outbreaks exist there, too. Shelter hotels are a revolving door due to harsh guidelines and many with no capacity or tolerance for the trauma that our people come with. Overwhelmed shelter programs, many of which at over 100 percent capacity on a given night, are also rife with COVID-19 outbreaks. Instead, they are coerced inside and these options are dismal. Many of the Indigenous houseless are Indian Residential School and 60’s scoop survivors.Īs the third wave of COVID-19 emerges, Indigenous folks who find themselves unhoused are now being threatened with violence to clear encampments, with no promise of safe, permanent housing. Indigenous people forcibly removed from Treaty land is this country’s longest-standing tradition and today is no different. ![]() According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, Indigenous Peoples in this city “constitute around 15 percent of those experiencing homelessness in the city, even though they make up only around 0.5 of the total population.” If you aren’t familiar with the systemic displacement of Indigenous people in urban centres, specifically Toronto, it is always happening all around us. We have come together around land and water defense, missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans and 2spirit people, lack of clean drinking water in Indigenous communities, police brutality, and most recently, the houselessness crisis and encampments evictions. Grassroots movements, led by Indigenous individuals, have organized rallies, sit-ins, occupations, marches, and other acts of resistance to protest ongoing colonization and imbalances in the treaty relationships. As this land is governed by the One Dish One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, Indigenous peoples and subsequent nations are called to share peaceably and to steward the land and waters here. The land and territory in which Toronto resides has a long history of Indigenous resistance and frontline movements on behalf of Indigenous peoples. Amidst this global pandemic, unhoused Indigenous people in this territory are facing a houselessness crisis and violent removal. The tipi, a traditional home of Plains Cree people, has been lent to the people here in this space to lift their spirits at a time of suffering. This tipi stood as a symbol of unconditional love, support, and the unconquered spirit of our people in the face of colonization. On April 6, mass evictions are set to unfold against encampment residents at Moss Park, Scadding Court, Trinity Bellwoods, and other parks throughout the city - part of a new campaign of displacement. It was also medicine to strengthen people against the coming displacement. While it was up, it created a space of ceremony, healing, and community at Allen Gardens Park, a gathering place for many houseless Indigenous people in the city. On March 27, Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction raised a tipi in Toronto. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Lessons from B.C.The Rise of the First Nations Land Management Regime: A Critical Analysis.COVID-19, the Numbered Treaties & the Politics of Life.Bill C-92: An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families.A Culture of Exploitation: “Reconciliation” and the Institutions of Canadian Art. ![]()
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