The head of the Sami Church Council, along with Bishop Erling Pettersen and head of the Inter-Church Council Kjetil Aano, will fast in solidarity with hunger-striking Indian leader Theresa Spence.

Tomorrow Friday, Church leaders will only drink liquid.

– This fast is not only about indigenous rights in Canada. It’s about human dignity, Anne Dalheim tells the website kirken.no.

Theresa Spence has been on hunger strike for a month and has chosen not to eat until the country’s authorities agree to meet with her and other indigenous leaders. The Prime Minister has now agreed to such a meeting, which will take place tomorrow.

Asks the Prime Minister to respect indigenous peoples

The Sámi Church Council and the Inter-Church Council have, on behalf of the Norwegian Church, sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Canada, with a copy to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

– We have been in dialogue with KAIROS Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, and we know that we agree with a concern shared by many Canadian churches when the letter is sent, says Dalheim.

In the letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Church of Norway expresses solidarity with Chief Spence on hunger strike and asks that the Prime Minister’s meeting with her tomorrow, Friday, be a first step towards an equitable relationship with the indigenous peoples of Canada. where agreements reached are respected.

Encourages more people to fast in solidarity

In recent weeks, a large, spontaneous grassroots movement has emerged among Canada’s Indigenous peoples, called Idle No More, in response to legislative changes that undermine the rights of Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

Many protests and demonstrations have been taking place across Canada for a long time, and the symbol of the struggle is the female leader, Chief Theresa Spence, who today begins a 30-day hunger strike in the capital, Ottawa.

Several faiths in Canada have now issued statements of support, and KAIROS, an organization that represents the human rights work of eight churches in Canada, is calling for a day-long solidarity fast next Friday.

The case of tar sands

The Norwegian Church is getting involved in this matter because it has obvious links to Statoil and Norway’s involvement in the tar sands in Canada. The 2012 Church meeting took a clear stand against Statoil’s involvement in the Canadian tar sands, and a two-week tour was organized with Indian leader François Paulette.

The ecclesiastical involvement ended when the Minister of Oil and Energy, Ola Borten Moe, criticized the Church of Norway for its opinion on the matter.

– Worrying

– We had a follow-up meeting with the minister at the end of November in which we told them that one of the reasons we are concerned is that the evolution of the overall political situation in Canada is worrying, said Tore Johnsen, general secretary of the Sami Church Council.

Johnsen says that in a short period of time, monumental changes have been made to the law, affecting environmental legislation and the rights of indigenous peoples. Changes to the law make it easier to extract oil sands and minerals.

– This first happened in July of last year, and now in December under Bill C-45. The backlash sparked by the latest law change reinforces our concern, the Secretary-General said.