Native Americans in Minnesota back Canada’s First Nations

Hundreds of Native Americans have staged a protest in the state of Minnesota against what they call was the “genocide” of the First Nations in Canada.

The group ‘Idle No More’ held the gathering at the Mall of America in the city of Minneapolis on Saturday.

The protesters accused Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper of violating treaties by appropriating the land and resources of aboriginal people.

Clyde Bellecourt, the founder and international director of the American Indian Movement, was also among the protesters.

“We have to look out for our own – what happens in Canada happens here and what happens here happens in Canada,” Bellecourt said.

The protesters also expressed solidarity with Theresa Spence, the chief of Attawapiskat First Nation in Northern Ontario, who has been on a hunger strike since December 11.

Spence has demanded a meeting with Harper to discuss the plight and destitution of the First Nation people living in the affluent North American country.

Canadian tribes have shut down two highways and a railroad in order to bring attention to their plight.

On December 20, about 2,000 Native Americans held a gathering in the central Canadian city of Saskatoon to protest against Ottawa’s infringement of the rights of aboriginals.