Healing Walk!

620x283_healingwalk2July 5-6, 2013, The 4th Annual Healing Walk near Fort McMurray Alberta (Canada)

A DIFFERENT WAY TO PROTECT OUR LAND, AIR, WATER AND CLIMATE FROM TAR SANDS EXPANSION

Over the past decade First Nations communities, non-native communities, scientists, politicians, and others are recognizing that the expansion of the tar sands is betraying the human responsibility to protect land, air, and water for future generations : ” The tar sands are growing out of control, destroying the climate for all Canadians and poisoning the water of everyone living downstream.”

The Healing Walk is claiming that governments stop the reckless mismanagement of these resources and work with First Nations and bring people together to make wise choices about stewarding the land in ways that are sustainable and fair. People lived in the Athabasca River region for generations : “have watched their land get destroyed, they are forced to breathe dirty air, and in many communities they can no longer drink the water. The wildlife they have traditionally harvested are getting scarce, the fish they harvest have tumours, and the medicinal plants are disappearing along with the permanently changed landscape.”

From the streets of London to the treetops in Texas, people are coming out to protest tar sands expansion. In British Columbia there is a wall of opposition blocking tar sands pipelines and oil tankers, in the United States records numbers of people are protesting the KXL pipeline, and there is growing opposition to stop Line 9 in Ontario, Quebec, and the New England states.On July 5 & 6 2013 there will be a different kind of event taking place in Northern Alberta in the heart of the destruction. The 4th Annual Healing Walk is an opportunity for people from all walks of life to join First Nations and Metis in a spiritual gathering that will focus on healing the land and the people who are suffering from tar sands expansion. Everyone is asked to participate.

For more information about the event: click here

By Marion Wolfer

Marion Wolfer is a French Master student in cultural policy and management at the European Institute of Paris 8 University. She is working on cultural networks. She did an internship at Cutura21 for three months. Marion Wolfer est une étudiante de master I en politiques et gestion de la culture à l´Institut d´études européennes de l´Université de Paris 8. Elle travaille sur les réseaux culturels et a effectué un stage de trois mois au sein de Cultura21.