rabble.ca blogs - Ben Powless

Photo essay: Ottawa action to stop the tar sands

Ben Powless — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:05:15 -0400

Hundreds of people from across North America gathered on Parliament Hill for a rally followed by a mass civil disobedience sit-in. Participants are delivering a resounding message to Harper: "We want to build a green energy future that respects Indigenous rights and prioritizes the health of our environment and communities."

For more photos see the Tar Sands Action flickr site.

George Poitras, Mikisew Cree First Nation

Downtown Eastside Women's Housing March in photos

Ben Powless — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:02:30 -0400

A selection of photos documenting the 2011 Women's Housing March in the Downtown Eastside, opposing gentrification and pushing for social housing. The march was held September 17, 2011.

A women's drum group lead the march through the Downtown Eastside.

A banner drop saying "Developers Control City Hall" set the tone for the march.

My speech on Indigenous issues at the anti-Harper Welcoming Protest

Ben Powless — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:03:33 -0400

Delivered on June 10, 2011 at the Welcoming Protest outside the 2011 Conservative Party Convention.

Seh:kon, Skennen:koah

My name is Ben Powless, and I am a citizen of the Kanienkehaka, or Mohawk, Nation. I am honoured to have been asked to speak before you today as an Onkewehonwe, as an Indigenous man. I thank you all for coming out today. I want to repeat sentiment that our very presence here today is proof that Harper does not represent us, as Indigenous Peoples.

Canada endorses the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights -- time to party?!

Ben Powless — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:21:37 -0500

So, Canada has announced that it will ‘support' the UN Declaration. Is it time to celebrate yet? What does that even mean?

Let's take a closer look. First off, they announced this on a Friday afternoon, right after they announced major plans with the Afghanistan war, burying the story. Second, the announcement came as a press release posted online - no press conference where people could ask clarifying questions, no informing Indigenous Peoples, just a passive admission on a website.

The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon -- part II

Ben Powless — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:44:37 -0400

[This is Part II of a multi-part series – for Part I, click here.]

There was a time when the idea of biofuel -- energy produced by simply growing plants, instead of digging it up from the ground -- seemed like it would solve many environmental and even social problems. Of course, this was something that maybe we wanted to all believe -- simply by changing the pump at the gas station, eventually we would be able use our planes, trains and automobiles guilt-free. Then the doubts started to emerge, and like a poorly built dam, the water eventually burst.

The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon - Part I

Ben Powless — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:21:07 -0400

The Amazon, it is often said, functions like the lungs of Mother Earth. The dense forest and undergrowth absorb much of the carbon dioxide that we manage to pump into the skies –- an ever more important and taxing effort in light of the threats to our climate.

Rio Wawas, Amazonas, Peru

'Bloodynosegate' and the distraction from Parliament's climate protests

Ben Powless — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:50:27 -0400

So by now you've probably heard about the protests on Parliament Hill on Monday, that were focused around climate justice, Indigenous rights, and getting Canada to sign Bill C-311 and the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights (even though most media, besides APTN, decided this was too much to report). CBC showed the live feed as well.

Massacre in Peru: A trip into the Amazon brings answers and more questions

Ben Powless — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:04:27 -0400

I arrived into Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport on Friday June 5th, after a personal trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. I had come to Peru for a 5-day Indigenous summit in the southern Peruvian Andes and decided to take a few days off at the end to see these world-renowned sights, thinking I may not have the chance again. At the summit, we had been informed there of the situation on the ground in the Amazon. Alberto Pizango, president of the organization AIDESEP, the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon, which represents 400,000 Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, had even come to the summit to speak.

Peru: Battle lines drawn over the Amazon

Ben Powless — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:05:47 -0400

The rhetoric was sharp enough to cut down Amazonian hardwoods. Yesterday, Sunday June 7th, after a number of ministers had been paraded out Saturday and the day before, Peru's el Señor Presidente, Alan Garcia decided to make it personal. After a joint police-military operation aimed at stopping an Indigenous protest had gone awry, leaving many dead on both sides, Garcia declared the Indigenous elements to be standing in the way of progress, in the path of national development, wrenches in the gears of modernity, and part of an international conspiracy to keep Peru down.

50 days of protest and one massacre in the Peruvian Amazon

Ben Powless — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:25:22 -0400

I'm writing this right now from Peru after having taken part in a 5 day Indigenous Peoples Summit held in Puno, Peru in the high Andes. At that gathering we heard from representatives, including Alberto Pizango, elected representative of the Peruvian Amazonian peoples, about the ongoing protests they were waging, and the repression faced as a result, from their opposition to some of the plans the Peruvian government has for 'developing' the Amazon region and opening it for oil, mineral, logging, and agricultural exploitation, on the homelands of many Indigenous communities. In response, there have been over 50 days of continuous protest, shutting down parts of the Amazon and the Andes.