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Douglas Idle No More

Students and

staff support New
Westminster rally

By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

n Tuesday, February

19, an Idle No More
rally took place in the
New Westminster campus’
concourse. The event was
intended to help inform
those in attendance about the
various new bills being passed
by the government and their
impacts, as well as to educate
onlookers about Aboriginal
traditions and culture.

Organizer Madison
Paradis-Woodman noted that
the event was made all the
more important by the fact
that it was the first in New
Westminster. Along with this,
he said that, “It makes sense
to hold an event at Douglas,
an institution that prides itself
on creating an environment
for intellectual engagement in
and outside of the classroom.
This event in turn provided
the perfect opportunity for
students to apply theories
and perspectives learned
in the classroom to real life
situations.”

Moving onto the rally
itself, Mique’l Dangeli, a UBC
doctoral student doing a
Ph.D. in First Nations studies,
speaking on the omnibus
bill C-45, said, “This act is
pretty much going to erase all
of our strides as Aboriginal
People. They pretty much
clear the way for Enbridge
to exploit our lands without
consultation with the First
Nations, especially on our
reservations.” She would go on

to mention that, “These huge
bills bury the issues.”
Dangeli’s husband
Mike, an artist, carver, dance
group leader, and business
manager, also spoke on the
issue: “They’re getting rid of
protected lakes and streams
to make way for pipelines.
It’s not about yes or no [to the
projects], it’s about asking,
“How would you feel if they
wanted to put it right through
your backyard or your front
yard for that matter?”
Douglas College Elder
Skiljaday (Merle Williams)
gave an emotional speech
along with some traditional
songs. “Even with the bills
that are being thrown at us
to try and stop us from being
who we are as a people, we
have to take that and turn it
around and turn our back to
those horrible things that are

happening and have faith that
we can prevail like we have
already so far. We are a strong
people and many people are
looking to us to join us. To
stand beside us. To say ‘we're
walking with you because we
believe what you're doing.”
One of her closing remarks
was on a more spiritual level,
“We always have to invite
spirit in no matter where we
go. Because without spirit,
without creator, who are
we? Spirit is very important
to open up inside ourselves
because in order to love
mother earth, we have to first
love ourselves.”
BC Métis Federation board
member Beverly Lambert
also spoke at the event, as
did Douglas College faculty
member Artemis Fire, on
the Métis struggle and how
despite having a different

culture from the First Nations,
the two should use Idle No
More as an opportunity to find
unity.

Amongst the speakers
there were also traditional
dances, drumming, and songs.
Paradis-Woodman estimated
that over the event's duration
there were about 350 people.
He would go on to comment
that, “The Idle No More
movement, as a whole, has
given me a renewed sense
of pride to be an indigenous
person in Canada. Personally,
I have experienced the power
and pride achieved through
standing in solidarity with
all peoples of Canada. As
an indigenous person and a
Canadian, I felt that it is my
obligation to support the belief
of basic democratic rights for
all peoples.”

Sonia Keshane, another of

This Week at Douglas: February 25 - March 3

By Dylan Hackett, News Editor

Wednesday, Feb. 27

2013 Royalympic Rumble, 4:30
p-m. to 7 p.m.

Douglas students and staff
keen to reignite their passion
for high school gym faceoffs
will be taking over the the
Pinetree Community Centre
gym adjacent to the David Lam

campus for an evening. Teams
assembled to represent real and
fictitious nations will duke it out
in tournaments of capture the
flag, crazy soccer, dodgeball, and
volleyball. Volunteers are also
required for the event and those
looking to do so should visit
http:/ / www.douglife.ca/2013/
volunteer-opportunities/
royalympic-rumble-2. Shuttles
are available for team members

needing transportation from
New Westminster to David Lam
campus.

Anti-Bullying Day

Wear a pink shirt to raise
awareness against bullying,

or find the booths in the New
Westminster concourse and
David Lam atrium to get a new
shirt for yourself. Shirts are

in limited supply and will be

distributed from 11 a.m. to 2
p-m. The first Anti-Bullying Day
was first made official by the BC
government in 2009.

Ww

Thursday, Feb. 28

Heart Breakers Campus Party,
7:30 p.m. to 12 p.m.

This month’s pub night at

the DSU building in New
Westminster takes on a
belated-Valentine’s theme.

 

the organizing trio, quoting
one of the popular sayings
throughout the movements
said, “When sleeping women
wake, mountains move.”

In keeping with that quote,
she would mentioned how
First Nations women and
grandmothers (of which she
is both) are “Strong leaders
within the First Nations
community” and “keepers of
the land.”

The proud Ojibway
finished by expressing her
feelings about the event,

“We looked up and there

was a hawk flying above the
concourse. The hawk felt our
energy and brought forth our
vision to share with others. To
see every nation stand side by
side was worth the effort for
the event. I felt very happy
inside and felt I did my job to
bring awareness. It’s a start.”

Students wearing white will
be noted as taken, red for
single, and black for those self-
identified heartbreakers. Wear
a combination of these three
hues to add a shade of mystery
to your outfit. Free food will be
available, as well as $3 drinks.
The event is for 19+ students
only and two pieces of ID are
required.