M’CHIGEENG—The Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) is in support of any action being taken by the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Elders Group involving protests against use of pesticides, including the group’s recent action of putting all responsible governments on notice (through a registered letter) demanding any aerial spray project approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in the Northern Ontario region be immediately cancelled.
“Yes, we are in support of any action they take on this issue,” stated Glen Hare, deputy grand council chief of the Anishinabek Nation (UOI), late last week. “There has been ongoing meetings with government and ministry officials and the TEK Elders Group has demonstrated twice in Ottawa against herbicide use.”
“We support them whatever move they make,” said Deputy Grand Council Chief Hare.
Raymond Owl, a member of the TEK Elders Group, has indicated that his group has done what it could to bring their message across, after many attempts to negotiate with federal and provincial representatives on the environmental issue.
The TEK group is demanding in its letter that any aerial spray project approved by the MNRF in the region be “immediately cancelled and stopped.”
He said in the letter in part that the application for herbicide use on traditional First Nation lands comes down to a treaty issue as First Nations within the Robinson-Huron Treaty area (about five million acres) have never been consulted on spraying. The TEK Group believes herbicides kill more than weeks, including animals, water bodies, insects, and mammals.
“The idea of talking forest spraying, and trying to stop it from happening is not new,” said Deputy Grand Council Chief Hare. “But something is going to happen if they don’t stop. And we back any action being taken by the TEK Elders on this issue.”
