A Young Niagara Champion For Native People Urges All Of Us To Support Reasons For Chief Theresa Spence’s Hunger Strike

By Wes Prankard

(A brief foreword from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –

 Wes Prankard, a 14-year-old, now possibly 15 or going on 15 from Niagara Falls, Ontario, is someone I feel privileged to have met on a ‘Meeting on the Bus’ – an event held by other local citizens to promote use of regional transit in Niagara.

 Wes was there to discuss the amazing work he and others were doing to make like better for Native peoples in the northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat, by raising money for playgrounds for the children there and promoting support across Canada for other needs in that community.

 This extraordinary young Niagara resident became and friend of the Native peoples of Attawapistat and of its beloved Chief, Theresa Spence, who is now on a hunger strike she is prepared to carry through until death unless Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, agrees to meet with her and other Native representatives across the country to discuss treaties Canada once signed with First Nations peoples that should have afforded them a better life than many of them are living today.

Niagara At Large is pleased to run this piece by Wes Prankard. Please read it with an open heart and do what you can to convince Canada’s federal government to show even a fraction of the interest it has in tar sands and spending billions of our dollars on fighter jets on improving the lives of Canada’s First People.)

Now here is Wes Prankard’s message

Wes Prankard, a Niagara Falls, Ontario resident and young advocate for Native Peoples, gives a necklace to his friend, Chief Theresa Spence, on day eleven of her hunger strike in Ottawa.

‘I am very worried about Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat. Right now (as of this writing on Saturday, December 29, 2012) she is on day 19 of
her hunger strike and, because I know her and have spent time with
her, I know that she is prepared to die for her people. She has always been.

When I first met Chief Spence, she was living in the homeless shelter with
her daughters because she had given up her house to a single mom whose
house burnt down. That is the kind of selfless leader Chief Spence is – and
that’s why I worry about her.

Chief Spence’s only request is that the Prime Minister and the
Governor General meet with First Nations leaders to discuss how both
can work together to make sure that the treaties between Canada and
First Nations are honoured.

 Canada made an agreement with First Nations to share their land in exchange for education, health care and resources. What has happened in reality it that Canada has taken the best of the land and in exchange provided way worse education funding, less access to healthcare and for the most part doesn’t share in resources take from their land like diamonds from Attawapiskat.

Instead of trying to do better on keeping their promise, the
government is trying to change the treaties without talking to First
Nations. A new bill that was just passed (bill c45) takes away several
treaty rights.

I was in Ottawa last week to meet with Chief Spence and to speak at an
#IdleNoMore rally in her support. When I sat with her in her tee pee,
she was very weak and tired. That was day 11. We didn’t really talk
much about why she was doing it or what I could do to help – we
already knew that. I gave her a starfish necklace and told her the
starfish story reminding her that what she is doing is making a
difference. We hugged and shared a prayer. I promised to do whatever I
could to make sure what she was doing mattered.

Wes Prankard, second from left, with friends and sister Angel, at far right, during a campout last March to raise money for playgrounds for northern Ontario native children. File Photo by Doug Draper

I’ve been to Chief Spence’s community of Attawapiskat several times now.
On my last trip, I helped build a playground. Last year, Attawapiskat
was in the news because of the housing crisis – something that had
been going on for decades, but finally, the press reported on it and
people here got to see pictures of the conditions. Some families have
to live in tents in -40 degree weather because there is not adequate
housing.

So what can we do to help? One of my favorite quotes is from Helen
Keller. She said “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do
everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do
everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

A community like Attawapiskat is so far away and has so many issues
that it is very easy to try to either ignore it or debate the reasons
for it. I would like to think that we as Canadians are better than
that and if there is a need, we should meet that need – or at least –
do something.

What we can do, that takes very little effort on our part, is to make
a phone call or write a letter to our MP in Niagara Falls, Rob Nicholson, British Columbia MP John Duncan , Canada’s federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper; asking them to honour Chief’s requests for a meeting.

Learn about the #IdleNoMore movement that is sweeping across Canada
and around he world – attempting to bring awareness and education
about the issues affecting First Nations.

If you see a “Round Dance Protest” in one of our malls don’t be afraid
to join in – even if you’re as white as me. And pray for Chief Spence.

For more information on Wes Prankard and his efforts to help our Native peoples visit his website at  http://northernstarfish.org/  or visit  http://northernstarfish.org/donate/ to make a tax-deductable donation.

You can also find Wes on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Northernstarfish .  

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