By Andrea Loewen
@ms_andreajoy

Feature Photo by William Chen, Creative Commons

A monthly round up of Resistance Research, including quotes, news, analysis, inspiration, and action items. Let’s break this regime down into actionable items and take it down, bit by bit!

“In the end, all struggles have the same objective: the defence of life.” –Ana Sandoval (land defender in Guatemala)

This Month’s Action:

This month there is a lot of news related to the rights and respect (or lack thereof) for Indigenous peoples. There are a few steps we can take to help move these things forward:

• If you don’t know yet what territory you live on, look it up. Learn about the people who lived on the land you occupy before settlers got here. Try to find out some of the original place names for popular sites in your city. Context matters!
  

• Read the Indigenous Ally Toolkit created by the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network.
  

• Attend a march or rally for Indigenous rights and listen to what stories are being told.
  

• Contact your representative and let them know that you care about Indigenous sovereignty over their own land, especially in relation to pipelines or other resource-extracting projects.
  

This Month’s Reading:

WTF List (Keeping Up With the News):

A Woman in a Vegetative State Suddenly Gave Birth: I dare you to find a mainstream headline that used the word rape to describe this.

Deal Reached Between Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and RCMP: After the RCMP invaded and arrested Wet’suwet’en people on their own land (here is a video), the Hereditary Chiefs still worked with them to create a temporary agreement.

R. Kelly is Under Criminal Investigation in Georgia: After the documentary Surviving R. Kelly hit the web, two women have come forward with charges against R. Kelly.

Nancy Pelosi Mopped the Floor with Trump: This woman’s strength ended the government shutdown in the United States.

India Rules Sex With a Child Bride is Always Rape: Let’s hope that this is one of many rulings to come to continue to protect women and girls!

Action Inspo and Instructionals:

Let these alternate guides and examples of resistance inspire you!

50 Years Later, Portraits of the Mississippi Freedom Riders: The Freedom Riders were a group of protesters who rode through Mississippi in protest of segregation on transit. Black and white protesters rode together and were arrested together. It is a great reminder of what it means to be a true ally.

8 Simple, Inexpensive Ways to Be a More Ethical Consumer in 2019.

Thousands Rally in Cities Across Canada in Support of the Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en: After the RCMP arrested Indigenous people defending their own land, there were protests across the country. Hundreds also gathered in Thunder Bay to protest racism against Indigenous people.

Analysis, Opinion, and Enrichment:

These will help you better understand how what’s feeding the madness and expose you to perspectives different from your own.

Indigenous People, Children in Canada Are Still Waiting for Justice and Equity: Apparently, our reconciliation process is officially complete, and yet Reserves still don’t all have clean drinking water, among other issues.

The Native Elder Attacked by MAGA-Hatted Teens Explains That Viral Clip: Nathan Philips describes the situation as putting himself “between beast and prey.”

‘I Regret It’: Hayden King on Writing Ryerson University’s Territorial Acknowledgement: Now that they have taken off across the country, he does not think these land acknowledgements serve the purpose he intended.

Research 101: A Manifesto for Ethical Research on the DTES: Researchers in Vancouver’s most impoverished neighbourhood have created a manifesto for ethical research, the principles of which could help a lot of interventions.