By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A 20-year-old university student from Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario is putting his summer on hold \u2014 to take a 400-kilometre boat journey in protest against new provincial and federal bills he says threaten his people\u2019s land, culture and way of life. Jeronimo Kataquapit is leading a grassroots movement called “Here We Stand,” a direct response to Ontario\u2019s recently passed Bill 5 and the proposed federal Bill C-5 \u2014 pieces of legislation that, according to Indigenous leaders, accelerate mining and development in the Ring of Fire region without proper Indigenous consultation. Kataquapit\u2019s journey, which began Monday from Attawapiskat, is a physical reassertion of Indigenous presence and inherent rights in a territory he argues is wrongly portrayed as uninhabited. \u201cOne… <\/p>\n
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A 20-year-old university student from Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario is putting his summer on hold \u2014 to take a 400-kilometre boat journey in protest against new provincial and federal bills he says threaten his people\u2019s land, culture and way of life. Jeronimo Kataquapit is leading a grassroots movement called “Here We Stand,” a direct response to Ontario\u2019s recently passed Bill 5 and the proposed federal Bill C-5 \u2014 pieces of legislation that, according to Indigenous leaders, accelerate mining and development in the Ring of Fire region without proper Indigenous consultation. Kataquapit\u2019s journey, which began Monday from Attawapiskat, is a physical reassertion of Indigenous presence and inherent rights in a territory he argues is wrongly portrayed as uninhabited. \u201cOne... <\/p>\n