From: Vancouver Observer
by Jenny Uechi
Photo of Eriel Deranger by Linda Solomon
Her people are on "the precipice," their health and
culture poisoned by oil sands pollution. They are one of the First
Nations closest and most exposed to hazardous effects of tar sands
pollution, and the damage has been devastating, Eriel Deranger of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said.
"It's a genocide. It's happening slowly, but we are dying off. We're still drinking the water, and we're eating the fish, but it's getting poisoned," Deranger, a keynote speaker at the Hollyhock Social Change Institute who works on the front lines of her people's legal battle against unchecked tar
Living off the land has always been a basic part of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation culture, she said. But now maintaining connection to culture can be dangerous, if not lethal.
"I'm still eating the fish, because I don't want the tar sands to change who I am,” she said. “But I still get these moments of panic after, because I don't know what toxins are in the fish and going into my body -- nobody knows."
A fight for the soul of a culture
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"It's a genocide. It's happening slowly, but we are dying off. We're still drinking the water, and we're eating the fish, but it's getting poisoned," Deranger, a keynote speaker at the Hollyhock Social Change Institute who works on the front lines of her people's legal battle against unchecked tar
Living off the land has always been a basic part of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation culture, she said. But now maintaining connection to culture can be dangerous, if not lethal.
"I'm still eating the fish, because I don't want the tar sands to change who I am,” she said. “But I still get these moments of panic after, because I don't know what toxins are in the fish and going into my body -- nobody knows."
A fight for the soul of a culture
MORE
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