The Idle No More movement is celebrating its first anniversary. Crowds in Winnipeg braved the icy cold on Sunday night to mark the occasion.
“We want to be here physically to support the cause and be a part of the awareness that we’re trying to bring,” says participant, Jerry Kim-Daniels.
He was one of many who gathered to march downtown and lend a helping hand to those in need. The group gave donated blankets, mitts, and hats to Winnipeg’s homeless population.
Althea Guiboche helped organize the event. “We should not have a society where there is hungry, homeless people on the streets today. Something needs to be done,” Guiboche says.
Guiboche founded Got Bannock? The organization helps feed the hungry in Winnipeg. She says she was inspired by Idle No More.
The grassroots movement started in November of 2012, and soon inspired demonstrations across the country. Aboriginal Canadians protested many issues, including land rights and conditions on reserves.
“The spirit of Idle no More is still alive and well. You know, we raised awareness all over the world, we inspired people,” says Pam Palmater, a former spokesperson for the group.
Kim-Daniels agrees. “People are more serious about aboriginal issues, indigenous issues, and so I think there’s been a lot of successes that we can highlight as a movement.”
Palmater says the future of Idle No More may look different. “It’s going to be the larger movement itself. So, far beyond Idle No More, but the larger resistance indigenous movement is going to be stronger, more coordinated.”
Palmater says social media lets aboriginal Canadians rally quickly and effectively.
“You’re going to see different people doing different things and that’s good and that’s okay because we’re diverse indigenous nations and we’ve always been different and that’s the way it should be,” she says.
