Dene trappers called the Northern Trappers Alliance set up a checkpoint on Saskatchewan’s Highway 955
Nov. 22, 2014
The Northern Trappers Alliance camp at night. Photo courtesy of Joey Podlubny
On November 22, 2014, a small group of Dene trappers called the Northern Trappers Alliance set up a checkpoint on Saskatchewan’s Highway 955, allowing locals to pass while blockading the industrial traffic of tar sands and uranium exploration companies.
“We know the government really doesn’t care about the northern people. They would rather see us move out of our region,” Candyce Paul, the alliance’s spokesperson and a member of the anti-nuclear Committee for the Future Generations said. “We’re in the way.”
“I won’t pack up my home and leave just like that,” said Jean Marie Montgrand, an elder from Descharme Lake.
On December 1, officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police descended on the site with an injunction from the province and forcibly dismantled the blockade. The camp remained for at least 80 days, however and in late January, the Northern Trappers Alliance invited supporters for a gathering. They say it drew about 150 attendees. “There were people there from all directions of the Dene nation,” Paul recalled. From diverse communities in BC, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Manitoba, aboriginal people brought similar stories of colonization, industrial growth, and ecological devastation spreading hand-in-hand.
“We know the government really doesn’t care about the northern people. They would rather see us move out of our region,” Candyce Paul, the alliance’s spokesperson and a member of the anti-nuclear Committee for the Future Generations said. “We’re in the way.”
“I won’t pack up my home and leave just like that,” said Jean Marie Montgrand, an elder from Descharme Lake.
On December 1, officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police descended on the site with an injunction from the province and forcibly dismantled the blockade. The camp remained for at least 80 days, however and in late January, the Northern Trappers Alliance invited supporters for a gathering. They say it drew about 150 attendees. “There were people there from all directions of the Dene nation,” Paul recalled. From diverse communities in BC, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Manitoba, aboriginal people brought similar stories of colonization, industrial growth, and ecological devastation spreading hand-in-hand.