Last Updated on November 9, 2010
When will decency, compassion and courage boil up within decent people, that they take action? That is, action within their own sphere of influence. Then, later, to reach beyond their own comfort zone?
Carey Conway, a former resident of the Attawapiskat First Nation, wrote these words early this morning on icmagazine.org.
She was responding to an urgent situation that has emerged in the northern Ontario community of Attawapiskat, who recently declared a state of emergency out of fears that continued exposure to toxic fumes is threatening their children. The Canadian Government refuses to help them.
Looking around the world right now, I find myself asking something similar: Don’t we realize that our Silence is a form of consent?
I say this while thinking of the Naso in Panama, who’s village was recently destroyed by police. They can’t even seek shelter or gain access to food because the Police have them surrounded.
The Embera in Colombia, are in similar straights. They’ve abandoned more than 25 villages in recent weeks because a paramilitary group was terrorizing them, leaving them with no choice but to seek refuge among friends.
And then there’s the Samburu in Kenya. The government has been shooting them like chattel, dropping bombs on them, beating them with clubs, and committing other atrocities.
Why is no one else reporting on these situations? Why is nobody speaking up?
Are we really going to just sit around and wait for them to come for our children before we’ll say NO! ENOUGH!
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
