Idle No More Movement Analysis

Idle No More is a movement that emerged in late November 2012. It is a movement that was created to protest the passing of Bill C-45. It is created by four women in Saskatchewan: Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon, and Sheelah McLean (Graveline, 2012: 293). The movement is indigenous led, with a large percentage being youth and women organizers, and is a grassroots movement. Thus meaning that all the protesting and raising awareness is spread locally and then nationwide. Like many modern protest the Idle No More was popularized and organized through social media, including platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Bill C-45 is a bill that changes “64 different acts and regulations, including the Indian Act, the Navigable Waters Protection

The consequences now is that Canada has 97 lakes, three oceans, and 62 rivers protected in comparison to the 32,000 lakes, and 2.25 million rivers before the bill was passed (Graveline, 2012: 295). This means that Canadian waters are not environmentally protected are therefore easily accessible to companies and the industry as a whole. With the history of oil spills, which is the industry that Bill C-45 is benefiting, the people nearest those population will feel the impacts of this bill the most. The most recent oil spill happened on April, 2011 documented to be the largest land spill in Alberta known as the Little Buffalo oil spill which affected Lubicon Cree community the most (Graveline, 2012:

This is reflective of pre-figurative politics. Meaning that a movement should reflect the way a person lives or wants to live. It’s a movement that is taking a stance and saying enough. Enough cuts to health, child welfare, women’s shelters, and schooling. Enough erasure of the 600 missing and murdered Aboriginal women, and other problems Aboriginal Peoples face. It is very much a rejection of neoliberalism. A rejection of a government that produces laws that only benefits the already wealthy and neglects the Indigenous poor populations. Due to the being a university professor, she decided to spread the message locally. She introduced the Idle No More movement in one of her classes titled Race, Class, Gender, and Power: First Nations Perspectives (Graveline, 2012: 295). It soon evolved in many faculties of the university participating, which led to a weeklong of activities and workshops. This created an open dialogue between Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and sharing of knowledge. This movement involved direct action and the mixing of old and new political participation. The nature of the movement is no-hierarchal, it is participatory and democratic, and a horizontal forms