MEDIA ADVISORY: Indigenous Elders Speak Out on Cannabis Rights, March 27th

– MEDIA ADVISORY –
Indigenous Elders Speak Out on Cannabis Rights

Monday, January 26, 2018.

Ohsweken (Six Nations) – On Tuesday, March 27th, three indigenous elders will discuss, “Cannabis and the Onkwehon:we.” The open, public meeting invites all on the territory and wider public to discuss the Onkwehon:we relationship to cannabis, the implications of the Canadian legalization of cannabis for Onkwehon:we people, and cannabis “regulation” on Onkwehon:we territories. Given the potential economic benefits of the cannabis industry, what lessons for cannabis can be learned from the experience of the Tobacco industry?

WHO: Elders Loran Thompson, Francis Boots and Paul Delaronde, plus members of Six Nations and the wider public.

WHAT: Meeting to discuss the indigenous relationship to cannabis, its potential economic benefits and how can regulation be designed by and for indigenous people.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 27th from 5:30pm to 8pm.

WHERE: Yogi’s Barn – 2318 Chiefswood Rd., Oswheken (at Chiefswood & 6th Line)
MAP: https://goo.gl/UihjMe

WHY: Onkwehon:we (Indigenous) people of Turtle Island (North America) have grown and used cannabis for centuries. Canada’s Bill C-45 and Ontario’s Cannabis Act, Section 26 seek to license cannabis for global industrial exploitation while closing off, monitoring and controlling people’s relationships to the plant. The new laws will empower police forces and other state agents, including First Nations elected councils, to enforce this containment. This new reality threatens to criminalize the Onkwehon:we people’s sovereign rights to long-established cultural, economic and traditional cannabis practices.

VISUALS: People seated in a circle, elders speaking while seated and standing, community members ranging in ages from their 20s to 80s from all walks of life.