Indigenous leaders & conservationists urge Premier Ford to protect seacoast
TORONTO – Wildlands League and Mushkegowuk Council are delighted to present Tawich in the City on September 25 at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto.
The show will connect hearts, minds and souls to Canada’s great inland sea and its people. The Omushkego have lived along the shores of James Bay and Hudson Bay for millennia. Since the 1970s, Elders have said its preservation is of paramount importance for health, culture and ecosystem integrity.
The seacoast supports shorebirds, ducks, polar bears, belugas, walrus, seals, fish and so much more. Millions of birds in the western hemisphere rely on the 1,300-km coast for breeding, refueling and survival.
“We are putting on this show to share with Canadians just how important our sea and coast are, which we call Tawich in our language,” said Lawrence Martin, director of the Lands & Resources department of Mushkegowuk Council. Martin is galvanizing the protection of his peoples’ sacred lands and waters for Mushkegowuk Council. “Not many people understand our salty waters and wildlife, but with Tawich in the City, they’ll get a taste. We plan on tingling all your senses,” Martin added.
“We are delighted to announce we have an incredible lineup of artists, scientists, community leaders, conservationists and authors, including phenomenal storyteller Tanya Talaga and musician Adrian Sutherland,” said Jan Sumner, executive director for Wildlands League, a leading not-for-profit conservation group that has worked in the region for two decades. “We are grateful they are lending their support to Tawich in the City.”
Tanya Talaga is an acclaimed author, journalist, and filmmaker of Anishinaabe and Polish descent, and a member of Fort William First Nation. Adrian Sutherland is the roots-rocker-with-heart from Attawapiskat First Nation who has the voice of a songbird and an ocean of muses from the waters of James Bay.
The event will also feature a unique Indigenous art installation, exclusive footage by The Water Brothers (who recently won a Canadian Screen Award), stories from Indigenous youth and leaders, talks on polar bears, birds and oceanography, a conversation with Peawanuck’s Sam Hunter and much more.
Earlier this year, a major step was taken by Canada and Mushkegowuk Council toward protecting the rich offshore waters of western James Bay and southern Hudson Bay. The organizers of Tawich in the City say now is the time for the Ontario government to protect the globally significant coast using provincial legislative tools. “This action is needed because federal jurisdiction does not extend to the coast or include the coastline and it would be a huge gap if left unprotected,” noted Sumner.
Mushkegowuk Council is seeking protection for near shore and coastal areas to cover intertidal zones, islands, bays, estuaries, wetlands and river portions as part of Minatstawin Kinipiminnan, which means ‘preservation of our waters’ in Cree. The Council is also supporting a call for permanent protection of the North French Watershed, an initiative being led by Moose Cree First Nation. Together these areas cover about 2 million ha.
“We call on Premier Ford to protect this globally significant coast and North French watershed,” said Sumner on behalf of community leaders, land users, conservationists, scientists and thousands of Canadians.
“The seacoast is of hemispheric importance for hundreds of species of breeding and migratory birds including being a key stopover location for Red Knot, an endangered bird,” said Dr. Carrie Gray of National Audubon Society, one of three scientists appearing at Tawich in the City. “When we learned about this initiative by the Omushkego to protect their lands and waters, we were delighted to lend our expertise and support. It’s crucial for birds in North and South America that this coast be protected,” Gray added.
“The Tawich area is of intercontinental and global significance for birds; we must all work together from James Bay to the tip of South America,” said Martin.
Support for Tawich in the City has been provided by SeaBlue Canada and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Artist travel to Toronto has been supported by Canada Council of the Arts.
For more information please contact:
- Anna Baggio, Director, Conservation, Wildlands League, 416-453-3285 mobile or by email anna@wildlandsleague.org
- Ron Grech, Terrestrial Communications Specialist, Mushkegowuk Council 705-365-8308 mobile or by email rongrech@mushkegowuk.ca
For tickets, please visit https://www.rcmusic.com/events-and-performances/tawich-in-the-city
Websites: https://mushkegowukmarine.ca/ https://marine.wildlandsleague.org/
Note: Canada’s great inland sea is Hudson Bay and James Bay. Tawich is the Cree word for the coastal and offshore areas of this great inland sea.
To learn more about this region you can download a copy of Tawich is Where I Belong, a feasibility assessment for the proposed Mushkegowuk National Marine Conservation Area by Mushkegowuk Council. Hard copies will be available for purchase at the event and artists, scientists, community and conservation leaders will be on hand to sign this groundbreaking report.
