And in Canada, indigenous activist and former Neskonlith First Nations Chief Arthur Manuel died Wednesday at the age of 66. For decades, Manuel fought for indigenous land and human rights—most recently during a visit to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, where water protectors are fighting the Dakota Access pipeline. In 2010, Democracy Now! spoke with Art Manuel as he joined protests at the G20 Summit in Toronto.
Art Manuel: “All around the world, there’s like 370 million indigenous people globally, you know? The United Nations on the—passed a declaration called the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. A hundred and forty-one nations voted in favor; four voted against it—you know, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. And those are very key players in the G8-G20 equation. And those are the people that indigenous people come to the streets to let the government know that you need to deal with indigenous issues, too.”