Photo of the Week

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Entertainment. Discussion »

VICTORIA ISLAND, ONTARIO – Today is the 12th day of Chief Theresa Spence's hunger strike. She has vowed to die unless Canada's Harper government begins to show more respect for aboriginal treaties.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence on a Hunger Strike
on Victoria Island

Despite being very weak, Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation, based in northern Ontario, is said to be in good spirits. Yesterday she asked fellow First Nation peoples to have a round dance around Prime Minister Stephen Harper's house in Ottawa, Canada.

At the core of Chief Spence's vow to die is the Prime Minister Harper's bill C-45 that essentially terminates First Nations treaties, thereby leaving the First Nations peoples without status as First Nations peoples.

As part of her hunger strike, Chief Spence is only drinking water twice a day - in the morning and evening. She spends most of her day in prayer. She has been living inside a teepee on Victoria Island on the Ottawa River, near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. She has a core group of people around her monitoring her condition constantly.

Chief Spence will end her hunger strike if her request to meet with top Canadian governmental officials is granted. She has asked a meeting with the Governor General David Johnston, Queen Elizabeth's representative in Canada, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss her concerns.

So far, no meeting has been granted or even planned.

The fact of the matter is Chief Spence does not know her future. She may die fighting for First Nations rights.

We chose this picture of Chief Spence as the photo the week. In it, she is standing outside her teepee on Victoria Island. She is deserving of high respect for fighting for the First Nations peoples in Canada. With her gesture, she is fighting for indigenous peoples around the globe.

posted December 22, 2012 11:57 am est