Podcast appearances and mentions of alton gas

Our second crack at a “rapid round” of shorter conversations on multiple topics recorded via Clubhouse includes discussions on... whether '#LandBack' has been drained of its radical potential after an Indian Affairs minister's apparently unironic use of the term; how some people "Indian Up" their appearance for non-Indigenous audiences; and the retreat of Alton Gas from its Shubenacadie River project. Joining host/producer Rick Harp are Kim TallBear (professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta) and Trina Roache (Rogers Chair in Journalism at the University of King's College). >> CREDITS: 'Microship' by CavalloPazzo (CC BY-SA 4.0) 

After years of delays, court hearings and strong Mi'kmaw opposition, the Alton Gas project on the Shubenacadie River has been cancelled. It would have seen underground caverns constructed to hold natural gas, using water from the river. Guest host David Burke spoke with Cheryl Maloney, one of the first Mi'kmaw leaders to protest the project out of environmental concerns, about the decommissioning.

Janmejay Singh is one of the participants in the Jai Jagat march. He has worked with cinema, fiction and documentary, as director-editor and occasionally cinematographer for a variety of projects in India. https://www.jaijagatinternational.org/marchers/janmejay-singh-india/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqqKcpg2gVKekXZT6VFf7Gg/featured Sigrid Roman is a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Toronto. Her principal teaching and research area concentrates on education and political violence and conflicts, intervention, prevention and social change. Sigrid is also a visual artist whose work explores and examines the embodiment and shifting perceptions of peace, violence and human connection. https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sigridroman Instagram @signyaucafe Alejandra Barahona, known as Bara, is an active artist, illustrator and educator from Guatemala. She specializes in characters inspired by her daily life and paints subjects that address questions regarding social interests, philosophy and human behaviour. Bara is the founder of El Nido Art Studio, exhibiting her work around the globe and has an amazing number of followers on Facebook. Her workshops focus on women's empowerment through art. http://alebarahona.com https://www.facebook.com/colormebara/ Sakura Saunders is a member of World BEYOND War's board, an environmental justice organizer, Indigenous solidarity activist, arts educator and media producer. She is a cofounder of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network and a member of the Beehive Design Collective. She currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she works in solidarity with the Mi'kmaq resisting Alton Gas. She is also a board member of the Halifax Workers Action Centre and volunteers at the community arts space, RadStorm. https://weestore.myshopify.com/collections/posters/products/mesomerica-resiste https://twitter.com/sakura1979?lang=en www.speakingourpeace.com Twitter and IG: @ourpeacepodcast Facebook: Speaking Our Peace

Lawyer Michael McDonald speaks about the land, the treaty and the river at the heart of the struggle to protect the waters of the Shubenacadie that are part of traditional Mi'kmaq life in central Nova Scotia.

Robin Tress joins us to talk about BP, Alton Gas, Boat Harbour and building solidarity through resistance.    Robin's Blog: https://canadians.org/blogs/robin-tress For more on the resistance against Alton Gas and to donate: https://stopaltongas.wordpress.com/ Information on the #NOPIPE Rally this coming Friday: https://www.facebook.com/events/2074536972831568/    

The Final Straw is excited to share with our listeners an episode of the podcast, Shades of Green, which describes itself as “a podcast exploring environmental justice from unceded Mi'kmaq territory.” (correction to our intro, we say "liquified natural gas", when in fact the facility would just store "natural gas."  Apologies for the confusion.) This episode features voices of the Mi'kmaq resistance to the building of an liquified natural gas storage facility by Alton Gas in salt caverns under and around the Sipekne'katik River in so-called Nova Scotia, potentially resulting in salt pollution and likely seepage of the gas into the river. The episode, a cleverly produced montage, features indigenous words about their lifeways, relationship to settlers, settler society and government and what it means to live in treaty with another community and the earth. Much of the conversation sits around the Truckhouse and Treaty Camp along the banks of the Sipekne'katik River, which provides shelter, a space for organizing. You are prompted multiple times, dear listener, to reflect on whose land you are on and what your relationship is with them. What is decolonization and what does living in treaty with the land and your neighbors mean? Thanks to the friend in Nova Scotia for passing this our way, thanks to Sadie Beaton for permission to air and to those voices we hear on the recording. We hope you enjoy. More information on the struggle can be found at Stop Alton Gas

"We are all Treaty people". It's a phrase we're hearing more often these days. But what does it really mean, here in Mi'kma'ki? And what does it have to do with environmental justice? Most settlers don't think about the Treaties much. Even here in unceded Mi'kmaq territory, many of us imagine them as one-time transactions in the deep past. However, as we'll hear in this episodes of Shades of Green, many Mi'kmaq rights holders understand the Peace and Friendship Treaties as sacred, living agreements. As Sipekne’katik District Warrior Chief Jim Maloney puts it: “I agree that we are a treaty people, and I have heard the Premier say that. His Treaty is on paper. My Treaty is on land. My tracks on my ground: that’s my signature, not on a piece of paper.”   In this episode of Shades of Green, we spend time with frontline Water Protectors resisting the Alton Gas project at the Truckhouse and Treaty Camp along the banks of the Sipekne'katik River. Alton Gas is proposing to dump massive quantities of mined salt waste into the river, which would pose serious risks to the river ecosystem along with the health, livelihoods and rights of Mi’kmaw communities. Water Protector and Treaty Scholar Michelle Paul sums up what has brought folks to the front lines:  "There is no recipe for water. It is that simple. When water is gone that's it. From water is life, and without water there is no life." This Mi'kmaw-led resistance has asserted the Peace and Friendship Treaties in ways that are at once spiritual, political, and deeply practical. As Kukuwes Wowkis describes, "Last year when we built the Truckhouse seven of us from seven different districts threw our eel traps in the water. So right there, Alton Gas had to stop what they were doing with the brine because in our treaties, it’s our right to hunt and fish wherever we feel we can do that on Mi’kmaw territory.” We hope you’ll tune into episode three of our Shades of Green podcast series, “Peace, Friendship and Environmental Justice."  Join us at the treaty camp to get a taste of what it's like on the front lines of a movement that is so much bigger than stopping a single project. Let's listen and reflect on what what stopping a natural gas storage project has to do with Indigenous self-determination, how the Peace and Friendship Treaties might help us understand how to build just relationships with the land and each other, and what it means to be a Treaty person. Note: explicit language Featured Voices: Michelle Paul Kukuwes Wowkis (Madonna Bernard) Giju Muin (Paula Isaac) Catherine Martin Jim Maloney Quotes have been condensed here for clarity and brevity. Huge thanks to every one of the ears and voices that made this episode possible, and particularly the Water Protectors holding down the Truckhouse and Treaty Camp against Alton Gas. You can support this Mi'kmaw-led resistance here. Further thanks to Erica Butler and Peter Lane. Our theme was composed by the incredible Nick Durado. We are also grateful to Jeremy Dutcher for his rendition of the Honour Song.  Kepmite'tmnej, the Mi'kmaw Honour Song, was received in a sweatlodge by singer-songwriter George Paul in the 1980s.  This project has been supported by Ecology Action Centre and the Community Conservation Research Network Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or Feedburner.  And follow us on Twitter! Further resources available at: https://shadesofgreenweb.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/peace-friendship-and-environmental-justice/

This week, alongside a number of international military warships and a crap-ton (sorry, crap-tonne) of cruise ships, the docked in the Halifax harbour, fresh off a tour in Nunavut. Examineradio contributor took a tour of the boat and spoke with some of its crew members. On Thursday, approximately 60 protesters gathered at Province House to demonstrate against natural gas caverns on the banks of the Shubenacadie River by Alton Gas.  Also, prospective councillors propose term limits for all City Council, Chronicle Herald shuts down the , and the Yarmouth Ferry is - unsurprisingly - expected to fall well short of its optimum numbers.  

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to visit to elder Alan Knockwood’s house in Sipeknekatik . Alan Knockwood is an elder and pipe carrier. He is also active as a Human Rights consultant and Historian. It was a glorious, welcoming place with open doors for pets and kids and family to come and go, which explains some of the background noise you will hear. In fact, his brother Wallace Nevin just happened to drop by, who just happens to be something of an historian, and we were lucky double over because he was generous enough with his time to st down at the itchen table and join us. We had a long and free flowing conversation all afternoon. So what I have tried to do for the purposes of our show is piece together some of the highlights of our conversation to give you a sense of perspective about what Alan and Wallace feel is happening in Sipeknekatik, including the imposition of the proposed Alton Gas storage project and how that relates to the struggle to even conceive of a concept of environmental justice.