Confronting Canada

Radio Canada International interviews CWIS associate scholar Taiaiake Alfred about the mainstream indigenous Idle No More movement, and the more radical traditional indigenous governance suppressed by Canada and the imposed Band Councils affiliated with the government-sponsored Assembly of First Nations. As both the independent and dependent factions of indigenous peoples in Canada seek to have their voices heard, the new relationships sought with Canada are under attack by Ottawa as standing in its way of becoming a resource superpower. If indigenous peoples in Canada want to see their cultures and homelands remain intact, says Alfred, they will need to confront Ottawa both morally and physically. Otherwise, he says, Canada will eradicate their societies in short order.