The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A man from the northern Manitoba reserve of Nelson House has launched a hunger strike of his own in support of Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat First Nation. Wilson Hartie began his hunger strike on Dec. 17. He was still at it as of Dec. 21. 'I'm doing it on behalf of my kids and grandkids,' said Hartie. Chief Spence of Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario, started a hunger strike near Parliament Hill on Dec. 11 in an effort to get Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with her. Hartie said he began his own hunger strike at Nelson House's band office because he wanted to be visible. 'When I do something, I don't hide it,' he said. 'I do it right in public so everybody can see. Hartie isn't the only person in northern Manitoba supporting Spence with a hunger strike. CBC reported that Raymond Robinson of Cross Lake started a hunger strike on Dec. 13 to protest the Harper government's Bill C-45, which seeks to make changes to the Indian Act. 'They're trying to take our treaty rights,' said Hartie. 'We've got to put our foot down.' Hartie said his only sustenance during the hunger strike would come from natural medicines and herbs that he harvested from the land. Not afraid He said he wasn't afraid of the consequences of his decision. 'If I don't make it my family can bury me and continue on with life,' he said. 'I ain't scared to die. There's a place prepared for me already. I seen it.' The hunger strikes come at the same time that various groups are joining the Idle No More movement in communities and provinces across Canada. The Idle No more campaign was started by four Saskatchewan women protesting 'colonial, unilateral and paternalistic legislation' being introduced by the Conservative government, according to the movement's website. 'The spirit and intent of the Treaty agreements meant that First Nations peoples would share the land, but retain their inherent rights to lands and resources,' reads a section of the Idle No More manifesto posted on the website. 'Instead, First Nations have experienced a history of colonization which has resulted in outstanding land claims, lack of resources and unequal funding for services such as education and housing.' Hartie says government is only interested in using First Nations' traditional territories in order to make money while the First Nations themselves are left with the scraps. 'I'm tired of eating scraps,' he says. 'My Creator didn't put me here to be a scrap eater.' Hartie says he was taught by his father to be self-sufficient and that First Nations people don't need the government's permission to pursue their traditional ways of life. _Ian Graham, Thompson Citizen
