On May 22 at 5 p.m., a powerful renaming ceremony will take place in British Columbia. Name and Blood both hold important power of identity for First Nations communities, as many seek to take back both language and landscape.

Indigenous activists and their allies have been working hard on a campaign to reclaim and reinstate the traditional name of the mountain known now as Mount Douglas, and along with it, reclaim the area where the Douglas Treaties were first signed in British Columbia, Canada.

May 22, 2013, at 5 p.m., Mount Douglas will be known as PKOLS.

PKOLS Mountain -- pronounced p'cawls -- according to Indigenous tongue -- is translated into "White Rock" or "White Head".

For Immediate Release
May 21, 2013

Members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Sarnia Residents to Confront Industry Conference, Say No to Line 9 and Tar Sands Oil

SARNIA—Today at 11am, Sarnia residents and members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation will be joined by supporters from other impacted communities for a rally at City Hall (255 North Christina St) to demonstrate opposition to Tar Sands development—including Enbridge's Line 9 reversal. At 11:30, the group will be marching to the site of the Bitumen – Adding Value industry conference (Best Western Guildwood Inn, 1400 Venetian Blvd.) to challenge those who would pipe Tar Sands oil through communities all across Ontario, and process additional Tar Sands in Chemical Valley.

In my years of activism, I have pounded down many pairs of boots on the streets of Toronto. I don't regret any of it, but I can reflect on the temporary nature of street demonstrations.

You get a flier or an email, you show up, you march around, shout some slogans and you go home.

Sometimes the powers that be hear you and sometimes they don't.

But the point I'm making here is that while it's important to manifest our anger or solidarity towards a certain cause -- like Idle No More and the all important Round Dances that helped spread ceremony and public awareness around First Nations issues in Canada -- the manifestation isn't permanent.

I thought I had heard it all when I survived Mel Lastman as being mayor of Toronto.

For those of you that don't remember, he was Toronto's post-amalgamation mayor from 1998 to 2003, until he was eventually defeated by "clean sweep" David Miller.

At the time, I thought "NOOOBODY" could beat the ridiculous mouth of Mayor Lastman:

How he mistook the Hell's Angels as real angels.

How he was afraid to tour Africa because he feared cannibals would put his family in a pot of boiling oil.

Yup, that was our mayor. Some laughed. Some cringed. Other cities laughed as we cringed.