Since December 3, 2002, the Anishnaabe community of Grassy Narrows has been blockading a logging road at Slant Lake, 80 km north of Kenora, to prevent logging trucks from entering cut blocks on their traditional lands. Until the blockade was set up, members of the Grassy Narrows community had been protesting through official channels clear cutting by Abitibi Consolidated. Stucked between the federal government that claims it can’t do anything as resources and territories are not under it’s jurisdiction, and the provincial government that won’t discuss any treaty issues, the Anishnaabe realized noone but themselves would do anything to fight the destruction of their land. But further from the struggle against Abitibi Consolidated and its clear-cuttings, the Firts Nations’ fight for self-governance and sovereignty takes shape.

By Dave Brophy*

Since December 3, 2002, the Anishnaabe community of Grassy Narrows has been blockading a logging road at Slant Lake, 80 km north of Kenora, to prevent logging trucks from entering cut blocks on their traditional lands. Until the blockade was set up, members of the Grassy Narrows community had been protesting through official channels clear cutting by Abitibi Consolidated.

The community’s concerns were repeatedly ignored by Abitibi as well as by the federal Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs (INA) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR). INA is responsible for representing Canada as signatory to the First Nation Treaties, and thus deals with Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, while OMNR claims jurisdiction over land resources in the province of Ontario, and is thus responsible for issuing logging permits.

Before issuing these permits, OMNR is obliged to consult with First Nation communities, but decisions are often made without the support of the communities affected. This was the case with Grassy Narrows, whose participation in the consultation process with OMNR and Abitibi amounted to little more than tokenism. Despite the community’s staunch opposition to clear-cutting, OMNR consistently approved plans that allowed Abitibi to clear-cut on traditional lands.

OMNR has backed corporate interests by overseeing timber extraction in the area for decades, although the industry has had a catastrophic affect on the ecosystem and on human health. For example, logging permits awarded to Weyerhaeuser Corporation in the 1970s led to the mercury contamination of the English Wabigoon River System, on which the Grassy Narrows community is located.
When Aboriginal and Treaty Rights of First Nation communities, like Grassy Narrows, are not respected by the terms of logging permits issued by OMNR, they are told to consult INA. But when they appeal to INA, the federal Ministry insists that Ontario’s jurisdiction over land and resource allocation prevents them from taking action. The collusion of the two levels of government thus creates a situation in which corporations gain easy access to resources in First Nations’ territory.

TACTICS AND STRATEGY
The blockade at Slant Lake has been set up as an extra-judicial measure to prevent any further government-sanctioned corporate plunder. Joe Fobister, a traditional trapper from Grassy Narrows, explains:“On December 3, we decided to take back the land because our treaty relationship with Canada has failed. The Government of Ontario claims that that’s their land. But Ontario’s not a party to the treaty. We signed the treaty with the government of Canada, the Queen actually...We talked to Robert Nault, Minister of Indian Affairs. He said he has no jurisdiction over land resources. And the government of Ontario says they can’t discuss treaty issues. No one wants to do anything, so I think it’s up to us to do something.