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“A northern Manitoba First Nation has put up a road block to keep Manitoba Hydro workers from three sites.
Fox Lake Cree Nation Chief, Walter Spence, said the decision was made after a ceremonial site was desecrated.
“One of our members happened to be out on the land and came across the site,” said Spence. “The prayer flags that were tied to trees, those trees were cut down…tobacco ties [were] on the ground as well.”
Spence said Hydro agreed to and participated in the ceremony before starting construction. The tobacco ties and prayer flags signified the land as a sacred site.
“We had an agreement that before they would do the construction, we would do our ceremonies and those sites would be protected,” said Spence.
The chief says Hydro agreed to build around those sacred sites, which were marked with the prayer flags and tobacco ties.
“It’s a breach of our mutual agreement to work together,” he said.”
– CBC News, Fox Lake Cree Nation blocks road access to 3 Hydro sites.
“The remote Cree Nation is about 1,000 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
“We were just horrified because for the past few decades now, whenever Manitoba announces they are going to start construction, there is an agreement that our people would do a sacred ceremony because we know Manitoba Hydro is changing the landscape,” Spence said.
“We are shocked that it occurred one more time and when we reported it to our band members they were quite hurt and we decided we needed to take social action.”
A similar incident was reported by the Cree Nation in 2007, when a burial site was disturbed by Manitoba Hydro crews working on stripping the land.”
– Winnipeg Free Press, Cree blockade halts access to Manitoba Hydro sites.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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