Idle No More protests have sprung up throughout Canada and the world over the last month.

Many Canadians have watched on social media as Idle No More, a grassroots movement that calls on people to honour indigenous sovereignty to help protect land and water, spreads across North America and beyond.

The movement, started in Saskatoon, has been helped by University of Saskatchewan student Erica Lee who has been doing her part to harness Idle No More’s groundswell of support and fuel the movement’s growth.

Lee is the cultural co-ordinator for the Indigenous Students’ Council, a well-established student group on campus, and not only helped organize but also spoke at the initial rallies held in Saskatoon in November.

She has been running the Idle No More Saskatoon Facebook page and has even helped supporters from across California plan their own rallies. Photos and videos from supporters in Europe and across North America from Mexico to Ketchikan, Alaska have flooded the Facebook page.

The movement began when four Saskatchewan women — Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon and Sheelah McLean — got together to discuss their opposition to a slate of upcoming federal legislation. The omnibus Bill C-45, they said, would hurt not only First Nations people but all Canadians.

The movement quickly evolved into an awareness campaign that brings to the fore the impacts of colonization, Lee said.

“Idle No More isn’t about one bill or one government,” Lee said. “It tries to be recognizing of the processes that underlie the colonial legislation.”

Indigenous people around the world who have been victims of colonization often deal with issues in regards to the environment, land rights, treaty rights and civil rights.

In Canada, they also suffer disproportionately from social problems like addiction and poverty.

“The politics change, the names change, but it’s the same issues,” Lee said, referring to the parallel felt by indigenous people in different countries.

“All over the world indigenous people are constantly living in poverty, living with higher levels of violence, high levels of suicide, lack of access to food and clean water­—simple necessities of life.”

Lee said much of the support she has seen has come from non-aboriginal people and students. Democracy is “totally lacking in Canada right now,” Lee said, who feels the movement gives everyone a chance to engage in democracy.

Bill C-45, which passed in the Senate Dec. 14, included legislation that directly affects treaty rights and aboriginals living on reserves. But Jared Brown, president of the U of S Students’ Union, said if the bill is passed, aboriginal students could still be impacted by the legislation while living in the city.

“It’s hard enough coming from a small community into a city,” Brown said. “But coming into a city and knowing you are leaving behind your family that is in a way of life that is not beneficial to them. That weighs on a lot of aboriginal student’s minds just as it would weigh on mine.”

Brown said the diverse array of people supporting Idle No More speaks for itself.

“Everybody realizes that this is a time for change, this is a time to start in a new way, a good way and in a way that respects everybody,” Brown said.

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Photo: Tamara Herman/Flickr