WMAN Land Acknowledgement & Support for Indigenous Peoples

The individuals, communities and organizations that make up the Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) operate throughout Canada and the United States of America, on the homelands/territories of over 1,000 diverse groups of Indigenous Peoples: First Nations, Innu, Inuit, Metis, Alaska Natives, Nations, Colonies, Pueblos and Tribes. 

WMAN fully supports Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, and recognizes the historical and continuing impacts of colonization on Indigenous communities and Mother Earth. 

WMAN affirms Indigenous Peoples as the rightful owners of their lands and territories to which they have an unbroken and unbreakable relationship. As a Network, we are working together toward a future where Indigenous Peoples have the full power, self-determination and sovereignty to exercise their traditional knowledge (including science) to carefully steward their homelands as they have done since time immemorial.

“We see that human exploitation of Mother Earth and all life has led us to a serious state of peril. We see that practices of unsustainable development continue to proceed on the road to destruction. As Indigenous peoples, we have experienced the terrible and negative impacts of the pillaging of Mother Earth and ongoing genocide.

We reaffirm that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provide minimum standards to be applied in the implementation of sustainable development at all levels, including respect for full participation in decision-making and our Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) to policies, programs, and projects affecting us and all our relatives.” - Indigenous Caucus Declaration on Mining and Reaffirmation of 2021