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Aboriginal protestors pray at the end of their blockade of a CN railroad track just west of Portage La Prairie, Man., on Wednesday, January 16, 2016. They ended their protest without incident. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Aboriginal protestors pray at the end of their blockade of a CN railroad track just west of Portage La Prairie, Man., on Wednesday, January 16, 2013. They ended their protest without incident. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Commemorative collection: Documenting the voices of Idle No More

October 28, 2014 — 

WHO: The Kino-nda-niimi Collective is a group of Indigenous writers, artists, editors, curators and allies. The collective includes Niigaan Sinclair, assistant professor at the U of M’s Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture; as well as university alumni Tanya Kappo, a law graduate who originated #IdleNoMore, and Leanne Simpson; Wanda Nanibush, Idle No More Toronto organizer; and Hayden King, director of the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University.

WHAT: In 2013, the group published The Winter We Danced, a collection of writing, poetry, lyrics, art and images that document and commemorate the Idle No More movement, a grassroots social media phenomenon that unfolded during the winter of 2012-13. Protests were held Canada-wide to raise awareness about injustice towards Indigenous peoples and often took the form of flash mobs performing round dances at shopping malls. Sinclair, the lead editor for the book, teaches courses in Indigenous literature, culture and history at the University of Manitoba. He is Anishinabe from St. Peter’s Little Settlement in Manitoba.

THE GOAL: Together, these stories work towards growing healthy, just, equitable and sustainable communities. The collection is a reminder of the inspiring moments from a movement that captured the attention of all Canadians. Royalties from the sale of this book are being donated to the Native Youth Sexual Health Network.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Sinclair recalls being overwhelmed with emotion when he saw images of a round dance at a Saskatoon Mall. “I sat on my couch and I literally cried. Thousands of people had gathered there for a flash mob Idle No More round dance, and I knew this had captured the spirit and the imagination and the feelings of concern and … the desire to want to be more than things we have inherited,” he told Windspeaker. “What this book is trying to convey is the fact that we have never stopped dancing. We have never been more powerful than we are now and ultimately, we have the power to control our future. And regardless of the government, change is happening … For the very first time in history, we changed the country for 15 minutes at a time.”

 


 

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