Chrissy and Bonnie Swain singing at the blocade. 17 April 2007
Credit: Amnesty International
Andrew Kewaatin, a trapper at Grassy Narrows, has been writing to government officials for almost a decade to ask that his rights be respected.
Credit: Amnesty International.
Site of the Slant Lake blockade. 17 April 2007
Credit: Amnesty International
Permits for logging are issued by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), often with inadequate protection for Indigenous rights.
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
A community member advises the driver that a traditional hunt will be displacing logging operations
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
School children do posters
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
OPP Officer interacts with high school students.Slant Lake, 3 December 2002
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Lake at sunset within Grassy Narrows Traditional Territory
Credit: David Sone / Rainforest Action Network
Chronology of Events: 1960s
In the 1960s, the community was "relocated" by the Canadian government from their traditional territory to a reserve on a small, stagnant lake away from the wide-open rivers the community depended upon for food and water. Housing was inadequate and the soil was poor. Water is still not safe to drink in this community.
Between 1962 and 1970, Reed Limited, a pulp and paper company, dumped an estimated 10 tonnes of mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system on which the people of Grassy Narrows depend.