Canoe Foundation has been a journey for us…one of discovery, education, understanding and enlightenment. When we began, there were things that we knew, and as we have continued onward, there are things that we have learned, and now we realize that there is so much that we need to better understand.
WHAT WE KNEW
Future generations depend on the climate action we take now.
No one can do everything…but everyone can do something.
Indigenous communities are on the front lines of climate change…they know it is no distant or abstact threat.
Water is the most life sustaining gift of Mother Nature…it is our responsibility to ensure that we leave all those who come after us, safe and clean waters.
The climate crisis only increases political tensions, which in turn limits our ability to achieve commitments by the global village to seek effective paths to peace and sustainable climate solutions.
When Indigenous People raise their voices about activities that they see as being detrimental to a healthy environment, including illegal logging and burning in the Amazon…pipeline construction in British Columbia, North Dakota and Minnesota…dam construction in Borneo…mining in Indonesia…or drilling in the Arctic, many are threatened, jailed or in some cases killed.
When Indigenous activists use the tactic of blockades to draw attention to their cause, they are accused of holding the colonial powers to ransom, when in fact, they are holding them to account.
Indigenous Peoples who are protecting their territories, are securing the very air we breathe, the water we drink and the future of the planet, and must be supported.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED ON THIS JOURNEY
Indigenous Peoples have become the conscience of humanity…it is time to listen to them.
Indigenous sovereignty and autonomy are critical to climate solutions and climate justice.
Environmental issues cannot be separated from human conflict, social justice or Indigenous rights.
Fighting for Indigenous rights is the best way to fight for the environment.
In many Indigenous cultures, women are the caretakers of water and the guardians of Earth’s most precious resource…women will be leaders in seeking climate solutions.
When mining companies destroy nature, Indigenous women suffer more violence from the presense of Man Camps.
Achieving a stable climate future for all, must affirm, incorporate and uphold the knowledge and rights of Indigenous Peoples as defined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Indigenous Peoples have taught us with their climate wisdom, that we cannot destroy nature and survive.
Worldwide, Indigenous Peoples comprise 5% of the population, yet their lands encompass 22% of its surface and are home to an astonishing 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.
Indigenous Peoples are demanding respect for their right to life and the rights of nature.
WHAT WE NEED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND
We need cultural healing from both sides of the colonial divide with a shared goal of seeking peace with nature and each other…intersectional environmentalism.
We must understand that we have put life on this planet in jeopardy, and we can only survive the crisis we have created by returning to the maternal economy of the Indigenous gift giving worldview, which kept the resources in balance and harmony with the natural environment.
The power of gift thinking is to acknowledge that everything we consume is not a product or commodity, but is a gift from Mother Earth, so the whole relationship changes…we are grateful and we take better care of what we are given.
In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, nurturing the bonds of reciprocity…status is determined not by how much one accumulates, but by how much one gives away.
We cannot keep taking from Mother Nature everything we can…we need to limit ourselves to just what we need.