Throughout society the vast majority of individuals struggle with different forms of oppression as well as privilege based on their identities. The way an individual identifies himself or herself changes the way in which they move through the world. Although differences are present, as Chris Dixon (2014) mentions “ we are forging a shared politics through struggle. We believe in the power of people to fight for justice and dignity and to shape history in the process.” (p. 3). With all of the various issues that we face throughout our society today, social movements have become a popular part of achieving change throughout the world. A social movement can be defined as “ not a marginal rejection of order, they are the central forces fighting
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As a result indigenous people are stripped of their identities and forced to live in the ways that those in power have demanded over them. With this in consideration, indigenous peoples have used social movements in order to challenge governments and policies and gain the rights that they deserve. An indigenous social movement that has gained a lot of publicity in the past 4 years is the Idle No More movement. This movement was created in 2012 by 4 women from Saskatchewan who are indigenous and non indigenous in hopes to protect the land and water across the country. At the same time they are advocating for indigenous sovereignty and nationhood “ to foster social justice and protect the environment and lands in a respectful way.” (Wotherspoon & Hansen, 2013, p. 23). In regards to this paper, exploring the Idle No More social movement is important to understand the ways in which this movement brings about change to indigenous communities. As a result, the objective of this paper is to understand how the Idle No More social movement has created opportunity for social change through exploring important aspects such as building awareness, pressuring government and industries as well as building allies to alter dominant …show more content…
Without focusing on building awareness to the public, those individuals outside of the movement would not understand the reasons why the social movement has begun in the first place. Idle No More makes awareness a top priority in order to spark change and inform people of why their movement is important. One of the initial reasons why this movement was created is a result of the negative impact Bill C-45 has on the aboriginal and treaty rights within Canada. This bill proposed to make changes to the Fisheries Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act as well as the Indian Act (Woo, 2013). In regards to the changes made within the Indian Act for example, this included the “leasing of reserve lands and reduce the community support needed for changes in land designations” (Woo, 2013, p. 184). It is important to understand that Indigenous individuals have been struggling with the Indian act for many years prior to the development of this social movement. The Indian act is used as control over indigenous individuals in order to maintain a colonial relationship. Leanne Simpson an indigenous writer states in an interview “ Rather than interacting with indigenous peoples through our treaties successive federal governments chose to control use through the Indian act “ (Klein, 2013). Therefore, the changes made to the Indian act
As a result indigenous people are stripped of their identities and forced to live in the ways that those in power have demanded over them. With this in consideration, indigenous peoples have used social movements in order to challenge governments and policies and gain the rights that they deserve. An indigenous social movement that has gained a lot of publicity in the past 4 years is the Idle No More movement. This movement was created in 2012 by 4 women from Saskatchewan who are indigenous and non indigenous in hopes to protect the land and water across the country. At the same time they are advocating for indigenous sovereignty and nationhood “ to foster social justice and protect the environment and lands in a respectful way.” (Wotherspoon & Hansen, 2013, p. 23). In regards to this paper, exploring the Idle No More social movement is important to understand the ways in which this movement brings about change to indigenous communities. As a result, the objective of this paper is to understand how the Idle No More social movement has created opportunity for social change through exploring important aspects such as building awareness, pressuring government and industries as well as building allies to alter dominant …show more content…
Without focusing on building awareness to the public, those individuals outside of the movement would not understand the reasons why the social movement has begun in the first place. Idle No More makes awareness a top priority in order to spark change and inform people of why their movement is important. One of the initial reasons why this movement was created is a result of the negative impact Bill C-45 has on the aboriginal and treaty rights within Canada. This bill proposed to make changes to the Fisheries Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act as well as the Indian Act (Woo, 2013). In regards to the changes made within the Indian Act for example, this included the “leasing of reserve lands and reduce the community support needed for changes in land designations” (Woo, 2013, p. 184). It is important to understand that Indigenous individuals have been struggling with the Indian act for many years prior to the development of this social movement. The Indian act is used as control over indigenous individuals in order to maintain a colonial relationship. Leanne Simpson an indigenous writer states in an interview “ Rather than interacting with indigenous peoples through our treaties successive federal governments chose to control use through the Indian act “ (Klein, 2013). Therefore, the changes made to the Indian act