Скачать или смотреть Real Talk about Big-Ag on the Farm Aid Stage

Sikowis Nobiss (Nehiyaw/Saulteaux) was asked to attend Farm Aid in Hartford, CT (September 22, 2018) by the National Family Farm Coalition who, along with Great Plains Action Society, funded her trip. She attended the day long conference and was then asked, at the last minute, to speak on the main stage about her work on Big-Ag. She was lucky to find a couple other local Natives, with ancestral ties to the land, at the event. Rachel Sayet (Mohegan) and Carolyn Salls (Iroquois) joined her on stage gave local land acknowledgments and prayers.

Sikowis s speech:
Tansi, my Name is Sikowis and I am Plains Cree/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada and I grew up in Winnipeg.
I want to say thank you to this planet, our Mother, for giving us everything we need to live long, healthy lives. I want to say thank you to the water, the land, the air and all of the plants and animals that come from these elements and that give us their lives so that we can thrive here until we make our journey to the Milky Way.

I’m here because I’ve been living in Iowa for 12 years now. Iowa is the most biologically altered state in the country. Where there used to be tall grass prairie, oak savanna, wetlands and woodlands there are now rows and rows of genetically modified corn and soy interspersed with CAFOs and urban centers. This state is currently the number one contributor to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

I call it Big-Ag’s sacrifice zone.

So I am standing on this stage because I want to acknowledge that this planet, our mother, cannot sustain us for much longer if we continue to allow Big-Ag to carry out its colonial-capitalist farming methods. It is not a sustainable method of growing our food. It is an extractive method just like all the other commercial industries that are causing so much harm and leading to climate change.

And I mean this in the most respectful way because I’m speaking to an audience that is largely made up of settler descendants.
It’s time to decolonize! All of us. And we have to do it together.

I just finished a 100 mile First Nation - Farmer Climate Unity March in Iowa because I believe that the indigenous people of this world and people that farm the land have a lot in common at this point. We have a connection to our Mother that we need to use to curb the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.

But, to move forward we need to start recognizing that there are different aspects of social justice that need to take place. Firstly, we need to recognize the land that we are standing on here today. This is Mohegan territory. And I want to honor them and all the others that came before them and recognize the genocide that took place here. We need to recognize that the beautiful soil that grows the farmers food, rests upon the stratified history of the people that have been here from time immemorial.

We can do this. Next year, I would love to see an abundance of Indigenous people and other people of color here. Our sovereign territories are places to resist Big-Ag. Together we can figure this out.

Finally, I want to say thank you Farm Aid, The National Family Farm Coalition for bringing me here, Janet MacGillivray from Seeding Sovereignty and Daryl Hannah. And of course, Neil Young for allowing us to share the stage with him during his set. We have a gift for you and your crew today from Seeding Sovereignty.

But, most of all I want to say thank you to all of you for being here today. Please continue your good work wherever you are. Hai Hai!

#DecolonizeStolenLand
#WhoFarmsMatters
#NoBigAg
#NoCAFOs