82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions (Fourth Edition).” 

From rising cancer rates to escalating violence, the report details the numerous disproportionate health and safety risks and impacts women in all their diversity are experiencing due to fossil fuel extraction, which is also perpetuating Indigenous and human rights violations. The report highlights regional case studies from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities in North America, as well as the corresponding financial institutions that are contributing to these egregious harms. The report outlines recommendations for the banks to move toward accountability and a just transition. 

During the online event, we heard from frontline women leaders, health experts, and advocates who are demanding accountability from financial institutions to take action for the health of our communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Speakers included: 

✴� Roishetta Sibley Ozane M.S., Founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator, Louisiana

✴� Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member, Wisconsin

✴� Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and 2021 Goldman Prize Winner, Louisiana

✴� Patricia Garcia-Nelson (Oraricha Tribes of Mexico and the Chichimeca), Colorado Fossil Fuel Just Transition Advocate for Green Latinos, Northern Colorado

✴� Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Nation, and Board Member and Project Coordinator for WECAN, Oklahoma

✴� Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist, author, lecturer, Washington, DC

✴� Dr. Nneoma Nwachuku Ojiaku, MD, MPH Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Climate Health Now

✴� Osprey Orielle Lake, Report Co-author, and Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Many thanks to the amazing speakers!

On the 50th Anniversary of Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, the The Turtle Lodge and Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre - Mfnerc present: Wahbanang: The Resurgence of our People - Clearing

On the 50th Anniversary of Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, the The Turtle Lodge and Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre - Mfnerc present: Wahbanang: The Resurgence of our People - Clearing the Path for Our Survival, which shares a path for the People back to our beginning, to lead us out of the darkness.

Included in the launch is a video presentation created by The Turtle Lodge International Centre of Indigenous Education and Wellness.

Wahbanang is authored by a respected group of Knowledge Keepers, Elders and Chiefs —members of the Anishinaabe, Ininiwak (Cree), and Dakota Nations, sharing knowledge from their Ancestors as the Original Peoples of Great Turtle Island and the Turtle Lodge Central House of Knowledge. Together, they sound an emergency warning and offer a blueprint forward for all peoples to stand with the Great Binding Laws of the Creator and Mother Earth.

In 1971, Manitoba’s First Nation leaders released WAHBUNG: Our Tomorrows (1971), published by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood as their position paper in response to Trudeau’s White Paper. It continues to be an agenda for action that included First Nations’ inherent right to design and have full authority over their health, education, and child and family services systems, informed by First Nations worldviews, laws, and approaches.

In 2018, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Dumas passed tobacco to Elders and Knowledge Keepers at the Turtle Lodge to develop a position document for today.

Knowledge Keepers from the Anishinaabe, Dakota and Ininiwak Nations gathered numerous times at the Turtle Lodge in ceremony, and prepared this collective unified message for the people.
The root word of “Wahbung” is “Wahbanang” - the east, where the sun rises. It refers to “Going Back to the beginning” in Anishinaabemowin.

Wahbanang: The Resurgence of a People: Clearing the Path for our Survival is available for purchase at:

@oks/wahbanang