Ben Powless

U.S. conservatism is built on racism, but it may no longer deliver corporate benefits

Ben Powless — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 23:23:35 +0000

A long simmering culture war is back in full effect across the United States -- and has spilled over into other parts of the world, including Canada. It's a culture war that has been long festering, known well to those who perceive themselves to be on the losing end of this culture war -- cultural conservatives -- as well as their victims -- largely, anyone who wasn't a straight, white Christian (and sometimes male). And surprisingly, most lower and middle class white people are at the losing end of this war, but continue to support the movement.

Photos: Thousands gather for Truth and Reconciliation Commission's closing events

Ben Powless — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:55:32 +0000

On the second day of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's closing events, hundreds of participants were witness to a series of events, including official speeches, survivors sharing their stories, interactive workshops and archival presentations.

In this photo essay, Ben Powless documents final presentation and events of the Truth and Reconciliation, in Ottawa, between May 31 and June 3, 2015.

For the complete photo series, please see Ben Powless' flickr page.

In pictures: the Families of Sisters In Spirit vigil honours missing, murdered Indigenous women

Ben Powless — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 16:10:32 +0000

rabble staff: The Familes of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS) is a grassroots not-for-profit volunteer organization located on unceded Algonquin Territory (Ottawa) led by families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with support from Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies.

On Friday, October 4, FSIS held their third annual vigil honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women in Ottawa.

The following are photos by rabble.ca blogger, Ben Powless. See more about FSIS see their Facebook page.

Ottawa residents reject Energy East pipeline

Ben Powless — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 05:42:08 +0000

Press release and photos from today's action:

Photos from the Ottawa Vigil for Trayvon Martin

Ben Powless — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 01:05:24 +0000

A vigil was held today at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa, Canada in honour of Trayvon Martin. Residents gathered in a moment of silence, and shared poetry and thoughts about the young man and what his life - and death - meant.

Idle No More, Defenders of Land call for intensifying actions through spring, summer

Ben Powless — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:07:47 +0000

Idle No More's founders and its chapters across the country have issued a call to build mounting pressure, including through mass non-violent direct actions to be joined by non-natives, to challenge "the Harper government and the corporate agenda."

The declaration, jointly released with Defenders of the Land, a network of Indigenous communities, leaders, and activists involved in high-profile struggles to defend their land rights, calls for a "Solidarity Spring" to precede a "Sovereignty Summer," with actions on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, Earth Day on April 22, and through the summer.

March 4 Justice completes 4,400 km trek from Vancouver to Ottawa for Indigenous justice

Ben Powless — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:53:39 +0000

For most of us, a kilometre is a decent distance to walk to just buy groceries. For Leo Baskatawang, four thousand and four hundred kilometres was worth it to go to seek justice for Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.

Leo, a 32-year-old Masters student, decided earlier this year that something needed to be done. He had watched the coverage of the Crown-First Nations summit in January, and realized that the government was giving short-shrift to Aboriginal issues. "That was the last straw," he said of the summit.

Marchers set off from Victoria Island to Parliamant Hill after a brief ceremony.

Rio minus twenty: Too little, too late

Ben Powless — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 18:24:38 +0000

Indigenous leaders march to deliver the Kari-Oca Declaration.

It's been twenty years since the first Earth Summit. That's nearly 500 months, or over 7,000 days. Yet, during all that time, state governments around the world have nearly completely neglected their responsibilities to the natural world, and it's starting to show.

The 'Death of Evidence' and attack on Indigenous knowledge

Ben Powless — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:46:37 +0000

Yesterday, a large rally was held in Ottawa, with around 2,000 people showing up to mourn the "Death of Evidence". You can read a report on the rally here.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered to yesterday's The Death of Evidence rally.

Photo essay: Ottawa action to stop the tar sands

Ben Powless — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:05:15 +0000

Hundreds of people from across North America gathered on Parliament Hill for a rally followed by a mass civil disobedience sit-in. Participants are delivering a resounding message to Harper: "We want to build a green energy future that respects Indigenous rights and prioritizes the health of our environment and communities."

For more photos see the Tar Sands Action flickr site.

George Poitras, Mikisew Cree First Nation

Downtown Eastside Women's Housing March in photos

Ben Powless — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:02:30 +0000

A selection of photos documenting the 2011 Women's Housing March in the Downtown Eastside, opposing gentrification and pushing for social housing. The march was held September 17, 2011.

A women's drum group lead the march through the Downtown Eastside.

A banner drop saying "Developers Control City Hall" set the tone for the march.

My speech on Indigenous issues at the anti-Harper Welcoming Protest

Ben Powless — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 05:03:33 +0000

Delivered on June 10, 2011 at the Welcoming Protest outside the 2011 Conservative Party Convention.

Seh:kon, Skennen:koah

My name is Ben Powless, and I am a citizen of the Kanienkehaka, or Mohawk, Nation. I am honoured to have been asked to speak before you today as an Onkewehonwe, as an Indigenous man. I thank you all for coming out today. I want to repeat sentiment that our very presence here today is proof that Harper does not represent us, as Indigenous Peoples.

Canada endorses the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights -- time to party?!

Ben Powless — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 04:21:37 +0000

So, Canada has announced that it will ‘support' the UN Declaration. Is it time to celebrate yet? What does that even mean?

Let's take a closer look. First off, they announced this on a Friday afternoon, right after they announced major plans with the Afghanistan war, burying the story. Second, the announcement came as a press release posted online - no press conference where people could ask clarifying questions, no informing Indigenous Peoples, just a passive admission on a website.

The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon -- part II

Ben Powless — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:44:37 +0000

[This is Part II of a multi-part series – for Part I, click here.]

There was a time when the idea of biofuel -- energy produced by simply growing plants, instead of digging it up from the ground -- seemed like it would solve many environmental and even social problems. Of course, this was something that maybe we wanted to all believe -- simply by changing the pump at the gas station, eventually we would be able use our planes, trains and automobiles guilt-free. Then the doubts started to emerge, and like a poorly built dam, the water eventually burst.

The road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba passes through the Amazon - Part I

Ben Powless — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:21:07 +0000

The Amazon, it is often said, functions like the lungs of Mother Earth. The dense forest and undergrowth absorb much of the carbon dioxide that we manage to pump into the skies –- an ever more important and taxing effort in light of the threats to our climate.

Rio Wawas, Amazonas, Peru

'Bloodynosegate' and the distraction from Parliament's climate protests

Ben Powless — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:50:27 +0000

So by now you've probably heard about the protests on Parliament Hill on Monday, that were focused around climate justice, Indigenous rights, and getting Canada to sign Bill C-311 and the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights (even though most media, besides APTN, decided this was too much to report). CBC showed the live feed as well.

Massacre in Peru: A trip into the Amazon brings answers and more questions

Ben Powless — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:04:27 +0000

I arrived into Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport on Friday June 5th, after a personal trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. I had come to Peru for a 5-day Indigenous summit in the southern Peruvian Andes and decided to take a few days off at the end to see these world-renowned sights, thinking I may not have the chance again. At the summit, we had been informed there of the situation on the ground in the Amazon. Alberto Pizango, president of the organization AIDESEP, the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon, which represents 400,000 Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, had even come to the summit to speak.

Peru: Battle lines drawn over the Amazon

Ben Powless — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:05:47 +0000

The rhetoric was sharp enough to cut down Amazonian hardwoods. Yesterday, Sunday June 7th, after a number of ministers had been paraded out Saturday and the day before, Peru's el Señor Presidente, Alan Garcia decided to make it personal. After a joint police-military operation aimed at stopping an Indigenous protest had gone awry, leaving many dead on both sides, Garcia declared the Indigenous elements to be standing in the way of progress, in the path of national development, wrenches in the gears of modernity, and part of an international conspiracy to keep Peru down.

Calm at the centre of the storm: Reporting from the Amazonian Peoples' Headquarters in Lima

Ben Powless — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:46:35 +0000

I've just arrived at the head offices of AIDESEP, the Interethnic Association of Peruvian Rainforest Development, the representative body of Amazonian peoples of Peru, now at the centre of a developing emergency here in Peru. I'm here at the center of a fight over who controls the Amazon and the lives of those who live there.

50 days of protest and one massacre in the Peruvian Amazon

Ben Powless — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:25:22 +0000

I'm writing this right now from Peru after having taken part in a 5 day Indigenous Peoples Summit held in Puno, Peru in the high Andes. At that gathering we heard from representatives, including Alberto Pizango, elected representative of the Peruvian Amazonian peoples, about the ongoing protests they were waging, and the repression faced as a result, from their opposition to some of the plans the Peruvian government has for 'developing' the Amazon region and opening it for oil, mineral, logging, and agricultural exploitation, on the homelands of many Indigenous communities. In response, there have been over 50 days of continuous protest, shutting down parts of the Amazon and the Andes.

Belem, Brazil: World Social Forum begins with intense energy

Ben Powless — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:04:45 +0000

It was a day that represented so much for so many, and seemed to come alive with those expectations. The opening of the World Social Forum yesterday was a day replete with all the energy of one of the Amazon's famous storms combined with the energy of tens of thousands of activists from across Brazil and the rest of the world who descended on the port city of Belem, where the Amazon meets the Atlantic. It's a hot and sweaty city of over a million, bulging with many impoverished areas and many warnings by citizens about the rampant violence and other crime. Seemingly unequipped to handle an event that drew over 100,000 people to this fairly remote part of the world, many of the city's services have suffered in response to a sudden surge in people - from accommodation to transportation.

World Social Forum – another world still needs refining

Ben Powless — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:24:52 +0000

Where I last left off (here), day one of the World Social Forum had just concluded to some confusion, and the beginning of some promising talks. The second day I arrived a good bit late, after ditching the bus snarled in traffic and walking the last kilometre in the morning heat. I arrived at the session I had initially thought I wanted to attend on carbon trading, a topic I was familiar with, but found it woefully under attended for it to really advance the issue. I instead decided to check out another session across the campus, along the way running into Tom Goldtooth, director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, the organization I was representing at the forum.