Permits for logging are issued by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), often with inadequate protection for Indigenous rights.
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Chrissy and Bonnie Swain singing at the blocade. 17 April 2007
Credit: Amnesty International
School children do posters
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Site of the Slant Lake blockade. 17 April 2007
Credit: Amnesty International
Bonnie, Chrissie and Adrian Swain. Young women from Grassy Narrows have been critical to the fight against clear-cutting.
Credit: Amnesty International
Chrissy Swain at a “roving” blocade.
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
OPP Officer interacts with high school students.Slant Lake, 3 December 2002
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Thirty high school students gather on the road to stop the first trucks 3 December 2003 at Slant Lake
Credit: Christian Peacemaker Teams
Grassy Narrows: An Introduction
The flooding of their lands. The poisoning of their waters. And now the clear cutting of their traditional hunting and trapping territories.
The people of Grassy Narrows — an Anishnabe community in northwest Ontario, Canada — have repeatedly suffered the impact of government decisions made without their consent, or even adequate consultation.
In 2002, community members launched a blockade to stop logging in the area. The blockade, which still stands, is now one of the longest running Indigenous land protests in Canadian history.
In January, 2007, the community called for a moratorium on further logging or granting of licenses in the area.
Click on the links below for the chronology of key events ...