Gyasi Ross: Idle No More Movement will keep growing in power

Thursday, January 3, 2013  

"1) Probably the biggest story in Indian country in years—from a grassroots perspective—is the Idle No More movement. All the Skins who think that want to do big stuff in Indian country should take notice and get o -board; this isn’t going away. The Idle No More movement reawakened the centuries old Native resistance to colonization and non-sustainable living; it’s not a “new” movement, by any stretch, but many of us forgot that we were actually fighting on a daily basis. Idle No More is the reminder—if you look at any of the comments from the Canadian newspapers about First Nations people, you’d understand the depth of the fight. The movement resembles the “Occupy” Movement in many ways—which is both good and bad—but the coolest part about it is that it has transcended being about one topic—any Native can take the energy and run with it as an inspiration to do positive work for our people. Native people who want to work against Native suicide? Idle No More. Native people who seek to work for Native representation in mainstream government? Idle No More. Etc, etc. The movement speaks to so many of Indigenous peoples’ aspirations and needs. Silence = death for Native people—silence about the dysfunction within our communities, silence about our peoples’ success stories, silence about the needs that we must address. Idle No More is the opposite of silence—Idle No More, Silence No More. It is powerful and will only expand. "

Get the Story:
Gyasi Ross: Magic Mike, Idle No More, and Speakin' in Indian: Happy New Year (Indian Country Today 1/2)