Justice for Grassy Narrows: Interview with Judy Da Silva, organizer for Indigenous sovereignty

On this edition of No Borders Media, we feature an interview with a long-time advocate and organizer for Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice, Judy DaSilva, a member of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario. Judy was in Montreal in January (2024) to receive the Radio-Canada prize for scientist of the year, an award she shared with three researchers and scientists based in Montreal. The award was for research into the effects of mercury poisoning on the community of Grassy Narrows, research that was crucially facilitated by Judy as a community organizer and activist. More generally, the Grassy Narrows Ojibwe community is an epicenter of struggle and survival against corporate and state violence, perpetuated by logging companies, mining companies and now the nuclear industry, with the active complicity of the Ontario and Canadian governments. This show is uploaded on the 22nd anniversary of the Grassy Narrows blockade which was undertaken in response to industrial development threats to the Anishinaabek homeland. Members of the Grassy Narrows community blocked a logging road to protect hunting grounds, berry patches, medicines, and plant and animal habitats. The blockade became a site for ceremonies, feasts, drumming, praying, and storytelling. We explored all these topics in detail with Judy Da Silva, who spoke to us by phone from her community in Grassy Narrows in northwestern Ontario, near the Manitoba border. —-- Background: - Free Grassy Narrows: https://freegrassy.net/ - Environmental racism underlies Grassy Narrows’ mercury and suicide crises: https://davidsuzuki.org/story/environmental-racism-underlies-grassy-narrows-mercury-and-suicide-crises/ - Le 37e prix du Scientifique de l’année de Radio-Canada: https://presse.radio-canada.ca/corporatif/13020/le-37e-prix-du-scientifique-de-l-annee-de-radio-canada/ - Contamination au mercure : quatre femmes partagent le titre de Scientifique de l’année: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2044929/contamination-mercure-scientifique-annee-grassy-narrows - Video: Defenders of the Land Interview with Judy Da Silva (by No One Is Illegal 2008): https://www.isuma.tv/hai/defenders-land/judy-dasilva — Show Notes: - Interview recorded on February 1, 2024. - This show aired on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal on February 1, 2024. - Show uploaded to SoundCloud on December 2, 2024. - Closing Music: “Home to Me” by N'we Jinan Artists (Grassy Narrows First Nation). - Musical Interlude: “I Pity The Country” by Willie Dunn. - Intro/Extro Instrumental Loop from “I Pity The Country” by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. - Produced by Jaggi Singh, for No Borders Media. — No Borders Media shares and creates content in support of the struggles of the working class and oppressed peoples and in opposition to capitalism and colonialism. You can hear us on the first Thursday of every month from 5–6 PM, as part of Off The Hour on CKUT 90.3 FM in Montreal (ckut.ca). Check out No Borders Media on SoundCloud and our active social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, Twitter, and Mastodon, for links to upcoming and previous shows. You can also get in touch with us at nobordersmedianetwork@gmail.com