The Indigenous youth of the Grassy Narrows lay down in the path of industrial logging machines—blocking access to their tribal homeland in Northern Ontario, Canada. The people of Grassy Narrows have sustained themselves for thousands of years on their traditional territory – 2,500 square miles of forest, lakes, rivers north of Kenora, Ontario. Now plans for clear-cut logging, mining and the legacy of residential schools, hydro damming, relocation, and mercury poisoning threaten to uproot their way of life. The action, led by women and youth, sparked the longest standing Indigenous logging blockade in North America.
Grassy Narrows Blockaders are nor peacefully picketing a massive logging operation on the Caution Lake Road, 30 km north of the trans-Canada highway off Highway 671 near Kenora. The action falls on the 10 year anniversary of Grassy Narrows' Slant Lake blockade, now the longest running Indigenous logging blockade in Canadian history. The industrial logging operation supplies Weyerhaeuser's Trus Joist mill in Kenora. Weyerhaeuser is the only multi-national logging company in the region that refuses to commit to respecting Grassy Narrows' right to say 'no' to logging. Grassy Narrows has called for a boycott of Weyerhaeuser products.
“When the forest is destroyed our people suffer. We are hoping the people of Ontario will hear our concern for protecting the forest,” said blockader Judy Da Silva, “because we all depend on the forest for clean air, fresh water, and a stable climate.”