TB News Source
Web Posted: 4/21/2008 8:38:09 PM
Click Camera To Watch This Newscast Group fasts in support of jailed KI
members
A group of about 30 elders, faculty, staff and students at Lakehead
University started a fast on Monday hoping to educate the community
about the situation and provide support for six Kitchenuhmaykoosib
Inninuwug band members in jail on civil contempt charges. The group
pledged at 8 a.m. Monday morning not to eat for 24 hours.
Speakers from various backgrounds took the opportunity to speak to the
group. Assistant professor Peggy Smith, who is taking part in the fast,
talked about the legal issues surrounding the case and is taking part
because the province has not lived up to its legal duties, although
they did consult with KI leaders she said.
Dr. Scott Hamilton, an archeologist and anthropologist also spoke at
the session and in his opinion one of the major problems surrounding
the KI issue is the fact that there is no information on the land. He
says data he found published in an atlas shows that there are hunting,
fishing and travel routes on the proposed exploration site.
With travel routes Hamilton says it is more than likely that other
sacred land is also intersected by the exploration site, which includes
first nation burial grounds. The group ends ends their fast Tuesday
morning.
