Other Voices

John Gonzalez — a Taíno/Pimicikamak journalist, author, and filmmaker — shown here with LaDonna Tamakawastewin Allard at Sacred Stone Camp, which spreads a message for green energy and living with respect for the world, likens Canada to a giant battery, charging the United States. He described the poverty and depression in many indigenous communities, worsened with disruption caused by the megadams that sell hydropower to the United States. In this week’s podcast, Gonzalez cites the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in 2007. The declaration provides a framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world as well as outlining human rights and fundamental freedoms. Gonzalez was one of the protesters at Standing Rock, a grassroots movement that began in 2016 after a pipeline was approved to run from western North Dakota to southern Illinois. Protesters saw the project as a threat to ancient burial grounds, to clean drinking water, and to water for irrigation. In March of this year, a federal judge sided with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, striking down the permits granted for the pipeline by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Gonzalez became emotional as he described his friends, fellow protesters, who had been injured during the stand-off at Standing Rock when federal troops were brought in. His comrades gave Gonzalez the ceremonial name of Kanipawit Maskwa — Standing Bear — which he uses for his media company. He has written a book about the Standing Rock experience and it solidified for him the need to stand up against and raise awareness about big corporations. — From Facebook@john.gonzalez