London, Ontario April 22nd, 2020 – In the midst of the Coronavirus the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians would like us all to remember upon who we live and walk upon in our day to day lives. The earth has long been referred to by the Indigenous people as our Mother Earth and how we hold a sacred duty to care for her.
Earth Day was first celebrated unofficially in the 1970s to demonstrate support for environmental protection, but it has long been a responsibility for indigenous people to keep a balance with our environment as it should be for everyone. Grand Chief Joel Abram states “Our ancestors have always been careful to replace whatever is taken, honor its presence and to not take more than what is needed. We try and hold to this obligation to the earth today but we realize that the message has been lost amongst others. We hope that earth day will help remind people of an obligation to the earth and that we must take care of what we live on”
Despite the isolation, we are going through we encourage people to clean what they can, recycle, reuse, and to do so safely and responsibly. We owe it to the planet and to ourselves to take care of where we are living. We ask for your help to keep this message in mind today and every day even during a crisis that we are facing now.
