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STORY: UN / CANADA INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS
TRT:2:11
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
16 APRIL 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Chief Francis Laceese, Tl'esqox:
“We are here to stand with our indigenous brothers and sisters. We call for an end to the violations of our basic human rights.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Chief Joe Alphonse, Tl'etinqox, Tribal Chair:
“Excluding indigenous voices in the process of governance, especially around resource extraction is a direct result of why we have global warming today. You want to tackle global warming? Bring back indigenous voices into the process, indigenous voices have been absent from that process for as long as there's been. So it's time to go. And it's the right thing to do for the environment. It is the right thing to do in terms of dealing with our climate crisis.”
5. Wide shot, press briefing room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Xeni Lulua, Tŝilhqot’in Youth Ambassador:
“Our youths are taking drugs to try and stop the pain, the trauma they have experienced. Our people are being poisoned, just like our waters and our lands. We come here with heavy hearts, but also with the message for Canada and the world. We know the path to healing - it is decolonization. It comes from the strength of our culture, our loss, our communities. We call on Canada and the world to fully implement the human rights of indigenous peoples and respect our lands, cultures and right to self-determination. We are ready to take on the work of building a better future for our people.”
7. Various shots, press briefing room
Chief Francis Laceese of Tl'esqox told reporters today (18 Apr) in New York, “We are here to stand with our indigenous brothers and sisters. We call for an end to the violations of our basic human rights.”
On climate change, Chief Joe Alphonse, Tl'etinqox, Tribal Chair, said, “Excluding indigenous voices in the process of governance, especially around resource extraction is a direct result of why we have global warming today.”
He reiterated, “You want to tackle global warming? Bring back indigenous voices into the process, indigenous voices have been absent from that process for as long as there's been.”
“It's time to go. And it's the right thing to do for the environment. It is the right thing to do in terms of dealing with our climate crisis,” Chief Joe Alphonse concluded.
Xeni Lulua is a Tŝilhqot’in Youth Ambassador. On the opium crisis that the community is experiencing, she said, “Our youths are taking drugs to try and stop the pain, the trauma they have experienced. Our people are being poisoned, just like our waters and our lands.”
She continued, “We come here with heavy hearts, but also with the message for Canada and the world. We know the path to healing - it is decolonization,” adding that “It comes from the strength of our culture, our loss, our communities.”
The Youth Ambassador called on Canada and the world to “fully implement the human rights of indigenous peoples and respect our lands, cultures and right to self-determination. We are ready to take on the work of building a better future for our people.”
The press briefing was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations entitled "Tŝilhqot’in Nation Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary of Historic Indigenous Land Rights Case".
