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Protesters march through N.B.

Aug 4, 2016 | 7:10 PM

Dozens of protesters marched through the city to raise awareness about damage caused by the recent oil spill.

The protest, organized by Rod Gopher and Chief Wayne Semaganis, took place after a forum in North Battleford on Thursday, Aug. 4. After discussing the Husky Energy oil spill at the forum, protesters marched from the Whiterock Gas Plus on Highway 4, down 100th Street and across the Battlefords Bridge.

Carolyn Kiskotagan said she was walking to raise awareness about how sacred the water is, because nothing can live without water.

“With the help of the Creator and grandfathers, grandmothers, we’ll be able to do something to save our kids, our grandchildren, those not yet born, the animals, the plants, and hopefully a lot more people will become aware and do their best,” she said.

Kiskotagan said beyond this protest, she hopes to someday do away with the oil and gas industry, because of the environmental damage it poses.

Laura Oochoo, who came to the protest from Treaty 4 territory, said people need to stand up and fight to protect their water.

“It has to come from the grassroots because we’re the ones impacted,” she said. “I think this is a motivation for getting the awareness out that we need, especially in regard to our health and safety on reserve.”

Oochoo said she was recently in Apache territory in Arizona, where members are also fighting to protect their water, and brought back the motto ‘crying earth, rise up.’

She said she wants to see legal action taken to hold people responsible for the damage to the environment.

 

Sarah Rae is battlefordsNOW’s court and crime reporter. She can be reached at Sarah.Rae@jpbg.ca or tweet her @sarahjeanrae.