Hundreds of people gathered outside Saskatoon city hall on Saturday in support of Palestinians in the Israeli occupied area of Gaza.
For close to 50 years, the Israeli military has occupied various parts of the territory and in recent weeks the conflict has intensified.
University of Saskatchewan Native Studies doctoral student Mylan Tootoosis was one of the featured speakers at the rally.
He says organizers were cognizant that the event was held in Treaty Six territory where Indigenous people have had their own struggles in trying to assert treaty rights amidst resistance from Canadian governments.
“We need to remind people coming to this land that this is our territory, that we have a Treaty Six relationship from nation to nation relationship that has been abused by Canada,” he says. “And, we need to solidify more positive relationships with newcomers.”
Nayyar Javed was also in attendance at the rally.
She says there are similarities between the colonization Indigenous people in Canada have historically fought against and what Palestinians living in the Gaza area are currently going through.
“I am the first to derive inspiration from the Idle No More movement because they’re fighting against mountains and they are really reminding us that people have power to fight oppression,” she says. Not only oppression against Indigenous people but oppression wherever it exists. So, I am really inspired by this movement.”
On July 8, Israel started launching air strikes on Gaza in response to rocket fire from Islamic militant group Hamas.