The Friends of the Attawapiskat River and Indigenous Grassroots Advocacy for a Just Transition in Treaty 9 Territory

Written on 13 July 2025. Posted in News

MICHAEL KOOSTACHIN AND KERRIE BLAISE FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

Through a single legislative act, Bill 5 seeks to deliberately amend or repeal numerous laws to advance mining interests. This proposal threatens the taiga and wetlands where many Indigenous Peoples live. Guided by Natural Law, the Oji-Cree, Ojibway, and Omushkegowuk communities have pledged to protect the waters that give them life and to resist the greed that poisons their rivers, endangers their children, and devastates their communities.

In April 2025, the Ontario government introduced Bill 5, officially titled the “Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act.” This Bill prioritizes economic interests over environmental protection and fundamental human rights. Its goal is to spur economic growth and facilitate critical mineral extraction in northern Ontario, particularly in a region dubbed the “Ring of Fire” – a vast expanse of approximately 5,000 square kilometres where tens of thousands of mining claims have been staked absent any consent from Indigenous peoples. 

The new legislation proposes the creation of “Special Economic Zones,” zones where provincial laws—including environmental protections, health and safety standards, and even emergency response regulations—would no longer apply. For Indigenous Peoples in Treaty 9 territory in the Far North of Ontario, Canada, Bill 5 represents something far more insidious: a direct assault on our rights, our ecosystems, and our responsibilities under Natural Law. This move has been sharply criticized by grassroots Indigenous groups, legal experts, and environmental organizations, and has galvanized community organizing efforts across Northern Ontario.

The Friends of the Attawapiskat River (the Friends’) is an Indigenous, grassroots advocacy group dedicated to protecting the health of the waters, people and communities living downstream of the proposed Ring of Fire. We are community members from Attawapiskat, Peawanuck, Kashechewan, Fort Albany, Neskantaga and Moose Factory in Treaty 9 territory. Together, we have a shared responsibility to protect our lands from exploitation and degradation. This means safeguarding the integrity of the boreal and muskeg (swamp) of the Hudson Bay-James Bay lowlands, its significant contribution to mitigating climate change, and the health of our grandchildren and those not yet born.

Natural Law: Sacred Responsibility and the Heart of Our Resistance

We are the ancestors of the Headmen who signed Treaty 9 with the Crown to peacefully share the lands. We, the Oji-cree, Ojibway, and Omushkegowuk Peoples, have lived in harmony with these lands given to us by the Creator since time immemorial. We are the Water People. The water gives us life, and we take care of the water in return. This is our duty to the Creator. Our traditional ways do not involve greed or violence to these lands, but love, harmony and an ongoing commitment to each other. 

A deep adherence to Natural Law is at the heart of our communities’ resistance. Natural Law refers to the Creator—everything we see, feel, and sense spiritually. The sun always rising in the east, the air we breathe—these are expressions of Natural Law. This understanding encompasses the four directions, the interconnectedness of mind and body, and the sacredness of Mother Earth.

This worldview dictates a profound respect for all Creation. When we hunt, we observe protocols such as putting down tobacco. Within our lakes, creeks, rivers, the carbon sink and the ocean, we live in harmony with the aquatic, the four-legged and the winged ones.  We see animals as sharing, so we must respect them. Natural Law reminds us that we do not own anything; we borrow everything. These teachings shape how we understand the land, the water, and our role in protecting them.

This sacred understanding fuels our concern over the destruction proposed in the name of critical mineral extraction. Bill 5 violates Natural Law. It violates our responsibilities to the land and future generations.

Legal Loopholes and Environmental Consequences

Bill 5 is an omnibus that purposefully alters numerous laws, or does away with them in their entirety, in one legislative action. Within the proposed Special Economic Zone, no provincial law would apply. This includes hundreds of regulations covering labour, health and safety, workers’ rights, employment standards, emergency response, environmental protection, animal welfare, and water stewardship.

This legislative void raises many concerns about government transparency and accountability, and how, if at all, our Treaty and inherent rights will be upheld. Without applicable laws, there would be no clear mechanisms to monitor activities, protect public health, or ensure environmental safety. There is no provision for partnership with First Nations, nor for equal oversight or shared decision-making.

The government of Ontario is using global tensions over supply chains to justify advancing private interests. Bill 5 embodies greed that will destroy our future and the future of those not yet born. Permits issued by Ontario ministries will bypass Indigenous and treaty rights, circumventing any consultation with grassroots people or elected leadership. To date, the government has never sought our free, prior, or informed consent (FPIC); this will continue to be the case if Bill 5 comes into force. This puts at risk not only our communities but our relatives—the sturgeon, the caribou—whose populations are already in decline.

The proposed Ring of Fire development is upstream from manyof our communities, approximately 100 miles away. Disturbing the peatlands—our muskeg—will affect far more than the immediate area. The waterways, including the Attawapiskat, Kapiskau, Ekwan, Opinnagau, Albany and Winisk Rivers, provide us access to our sacred traditional territories where we exercise our Treaty rights to harvest food and medicine. These waters and wetlands, which pass through the lands where the Ring of Fire is proposed, flow North to James Bay. The ancient peatlands of this region continue to serve as significant carbon sinks and have been cooling the whole earth for millennia. Here, the water travels underground, through rivers and creeks, and in the air through rain. If the Ring of Fire is developed, the many toxins synonymous with mining will travel throughout our waterways, posing a severe threat to all living beings.

Extractivism: A Colonial History

This maneuver comes amid a land rush: over 30,000 mining claims have already been staked in the Ring of Fire region—all without consent. First Nations have consistently stated that development must not proceed without our agreement. Instead of listening, the government is removing the very laws that require it. We remember what mining brought before. The De Beers diamond mine near Attawapiskat promised jobs and opportunities. What followed was contamination, housing shortages, and suicide declarations. The province received 14% of royalties; our community received little and bore the brunt of the suffering.

The discourse around “just transition” and “critical minerals” is often presented as a progressive path towards climate action. But in our experience, governments and industry use these terms to push the same extractive model. They speak of urgency and innovation, yet their actions follow a familiar pattern: overriding our consent, ignoring our laws, and exploiting our lands.

Our fundamental rights are systematically denied. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is clear: free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is required for any development on Indigenous lands. Canadian courts have affirmed this. The federal government has endorsed it. Yet Ontario continues to treat UNDRIP as optional.

Mining companies, both junior and major, often partner with political insiders to fast-track permits. Once deposits are found, they bypass formal consultation and approach First Nations directly, sowing division. Some members receive promises, while others are excluded. This divide-and-conquer tactic erodes trust, weakens unity, and silences dissent.

Industry consultants routinely overlook grassroots voices. They speak to chiefs but not families, boards but not youth, urban leaders but not land users. Consultation becomes a box-ticking exercise. Relationships and responsibilities are sacrificed for speed and profit. Success is measured in quarterly gains, not in clean rivers or living forests. They ignore Natural Law, which teaches reciprocity, humility, and care. That is the difference—and it is a vital one. When our teachings are dismissed, so is our survival.

What Indigenous-Led, Just Transition Looks Like

A just transition, to be meaningful, must be led by Indigenous Peoples. It must emerge from our laws, our relationships with the land, and the lived knowledge passed down through generations. This is not simply about consultation—it is about empowering us to lead, decide, and shape climate solutions rooted in care rather than profit.

Such a pathway would be grounded in Natural Law and our responsibilities to the next seven generations. It would honour Treaty rights and our teachings: to be kind, to speak the truth, to share the land. It would reflect deep relational accountability, where traditional knowledge is shared respectfully, guided by Elders and knowledge holders. It would require slowing down—studying land and water systems, understanding the full ecological, spiritual, and social impacts of any proposed activity. Every step would begin with a ceremony and proceed through informed consent and collaboration.

Our communities are not opposed to development. But we insist that it aligns with our values and responsibilities. We ask: How will this affect the river? What will happen to the caribou and moose? Who will drink this water in seven generations? These are not rhetorical questions—they reflect how we honour and uphold Indigenous and Treaty rights. We are taught to leave the land as we found it, to take only what we need, to share what we have, and to waste nothing.

We want our youth to understand the rhythms of the seasons, the health of animals, the winds, and shifts in water flow. We seek to build energy systems and economies that sustain—rather than exhaust—our communities. If technologies can help us care for the land while meeting our needs, we are open to them. But the decisions must be ours. This is what a just transition requires: not just new tools, but a transformation in values and power. Not extraction for new markets, but renewal grounded in respect and responsibility.

Taking action

Last month, the Friends of the Attawapiskat River released a Protection Declaration, affirming our duty to safeguard the Hudson–James Bay Lowlands under Natural Law. These lands are among the world’s most important carbon sinks. But more than that, they are our home, our teacher, and our sacred responsibility.

We resist not only with petitions but with presence. One of our members leads youth canoe trips on the Attawapiskat River. These journeys are not symbolic—they are living expressions of Treaty Rights, connecting young people to land, law, and memory. Behind these actions is a deep and growing movement—grassroots people coming together, sharing struggles, building hope, and collectively imagining the path forward. These gatherings are not only moments of community—they are acts of governance. They assert that our authority flows from our relationships to the land, not from colonial permission.

The promises and responsibilities of our Treaty bind us: for as long as the sun shines, the grass is green, the water flows, and the Anishinaabe are here. This is not a metaphor—it is a commitment. We are here to remind the world that we are the Water People of the Omushkegowuk territory. Within our lakes, creeks, rivers, muskeg, and ocean, we live in harmony with the aquatic, the four-legged, and the winged ones. These are our Natural Laws from the Creator.

We are protectors, not protestors. We have seen what greed has done—how it poisoned our rivers, harmed our children, and shattered our communities. But the fight against Bill 5 has brought us together. While the government tries to divide us, we are uniting—across communities, movements, and territories. We welcome the solidarity of our allies. We are speaking up, asserting our laws, living our responsibilities, and shaping a future grounded in Indigenous knowledge and care.

Get Involved!

Learn more: Friends of the Attawapiskat River

Read and support the Protection Declaration

Follow LAND (Legal Advocates for Nature’s Defense)

Michel Koostachin is a proud Cree member of Attawapiskat First Nation. He is the founder of the grassroots group, the Friends of the Attawapiskat River and is in his final year of the Bachelor of Social Work program at Ryerson University. Michel has spent many years practicing trauma-informed care and has been providing wellness services, on mental health, addictions, and grief throughout Northern Ontario fly-in communities. For over 20 years, Michel has been a “Skabbewsis” (helper) in ceremonies.

Kerrie Blaise is an accomplished environmental and Indigenous rights lawyer. She is one of only a handful of public-interest environmental lawyers serving Northern Ontario, and in 2023, she founded the environmental law non-profit, Legal Advocates for Nature's Defence. At LAND, she works to advance the protection of Indigenous rights and nature in response to urgent threats to lands and waters and amplify community voices – whether in the courts, before lawmakers or in public forums – to precipitate change.

Cover photo: Winter road. Photo: Eleven North Visuals

Tags: Indigenous Debates