Eriel Deranger likens impact of tar sands development on her people's health and culture to "genocide".
from the Vancouver Observer
"Her people are on 'the precipice,' their health and culture poisoned by oil sands pollution. They are one of the First Nations closest and most exposed to hazardous effects of tar sands pollution, and the damage has been devastating, Eriel Deranger of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said.
"'It's a genocide. It's happening slowly, but we are dying off. We're still drinking the water, and we're eating the fish, but it's getting poisoned,' Deranger, a keynote speaker at the Hollyhock Social Change Institute who works on the front lines of her people's legal battle against unchecked tar sands development, said yesterday.
"Living off the land has always been a basic part of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation culture, she said. But now maintaining connection to culture can be dangerous, if not lethal. …"
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