Media for social change

This podcast is a recording of a talk from January 31st, 2008, at the Native Friendship Center of Montréal, Mohawk territory. Speakers Kanahus Pellkey and Dustin Johnson, with the Native Youth Movement (NYM) Warriors Society, discuss ongoing resistance to the 2010 Olympics and the land grab underway in British Columbia.

"It’s about land and it’s about freedom," Pellkey comments. The NYM is part of a robust coalition taking shape to directly confront Olympic projects including the expansion of resort development, like Sun Peaks, on Secwepemc lands. Protests, blockades, and other forms of direct action have resulted in criminal charges and increased surveillance of the NYM. "Any type of native resistance is considered as 'terrorist' because we’re going against the government of Canada," says Pellkey. "We’re saying that this is unceded land; that we have never signed treaties in BC within our territory."

Further info on anti-Olympic movements can be found by visiting No2010 or Resistance2010 - "People are waking up and coming to grips with the realization that we cannot let these kinds of projects of empire continue without taking a stand," says Dustin Johnson of Ts'mksiyen Nation.

Thanks to Charlieo from CKUT's Community News Collective for producing this broadcast. Music credits: 'breather' by Tagaq, from Dig Your Roots - Aboriginal.