Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

April 17, 2010

Bolivia: Meet Susana Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan

Meet Susana Deranger joining the Bolivia Climate Conference

"I am a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. I am the co-founder of a new group called Indigenous Women Without Borders. I have been an activist and involved in First Nation and human rights a great part of my life. I was in Copenhagen and will be doing a presentation on the Tar Sands in Bolivia since my First Nation is located on what we call ¨ground zero.¨ I live in Regina Saskatchewan , Canada and am a mother of four children and grandmother of 3. Finally, I have been working in the Peruvian Amazon for the last five years."


Susana's comments in Copenhagen:
“The United States is importing millions of barrels of oil from the Canadian Tar Sands, which is contributing to the genocide of the Dene and Cree nations of Northern Canada and to the destruction of Mother Earth” said Susana Deranger, a grandmother from Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta. “Last summer, there was a flock of ducks that landed on a tailings pond of Tar Sands dirty water, and they all died. This is the water that is poisoning our people. There are clusters of rare cancers that are concentrated in our communities and killing our people. Obama, we urge you: End Environmental Racism – Climate Justice now!”

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