On a cold night in 2002, Chrissy Isaacs watched yet another logging truck loaded with old growth trees hurtle past her home in the Grassy Narrows First Nation, down the only road into the reserve: built by and for the logging industry. 

Enough was enough. That night, she dropped a tree in the road to block the loggers, and changed her community forever.

This is the story of land back, and the fight to correct the long, long history of colonizers claiming indigenous territories as their own for economic benefit. But for millions of Indigenous people around the world, land back is about a lot more than ownership. It’s about relating to the land as more than just a resource, a commodity extracted, traded, owned, and controlled. Land back is about relationships, and what happens when we reconnect to the lands and waters that shape us. 

Please take care when listening: this episode discusses suicide and self harm. 

Learn more about how mercury poisoning has affected Grassy Narrows, support the community as they fight logging and mining claims in their traditional territories, and get to know Indigenous Climate Action here.

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