At this moment, Indigenous communities are experiencing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also facing ongoing fossil fuel extraction and pipeline struggles. Across North America, Turtle Island, tribes, as well as communities of color, are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to a lack of resources and health disparities brought on by centuries of colonial policies and environmental racism. As Indigenous communities come together to protect those most vulnerable, governments and fossil fuel companies are grossly taking advantage of this time to push forward with pipelines and extractive projects that will only further exacerbate the issues Indigenous communities are already facing.
During the webinar, Indigenous women leaders will discuss how COVID-19 is impacting their communities and how oil and gas pipelines are being fast-tracked in their lands— violating Indigenous rights and further putting Indigenous women at risk. In this wide-ranging discussion, presenters will share calls to action, stories and wisdom, immediate needs of their communities, community-care practices, and the latest updates from various campaigns and resistance movements, focusing on Keystone XL, Line 3 and Coastal GasLink pipelines, and tar sands extraction. Share this event with your networks via Facebook here.
Speakers include Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Unist’ot’en – Wet’suwet’en People, Leader and spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en camps resisting the Coastal GasLink Pipeline; Faith Spotted Eagle (Tunkan Inajin Win), Dakota and Nakota Nations within the Oceti Sakowinan, Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines Resistance Leader; Tara Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe, Tribal Attorney and Founder of Giniw Collective, Line 3 pipeline Resistance Leader; and Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Tar Sands extraction Resistance Leader. Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). Full bios can be found here.