Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train

When we arrived in Jasper, Alberta, the Yinka Dene Alliance met up with the Coastal First Nations who boarded in Vancouver, before we left on the train to Edmonton we held a water ceremony, water brought from every Yinka Dene Nation and Coastal nation.

During our trip to Edmonton everyone sang Carrier songs and Ta'Kaiya Blaney sang her song Shallow Waters. We pulled into Edmonton at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, May 1. We were welcomed by a drum group from the treaty 6.

Yesterday, we cracked over 5,000 signatures on our Freedom Train petition and is fast approaching 6,000 signatures supporting the Freedom Train. 

In the past couple days on the Freedom Train, I've been hearing questions from people, such as why it's called the "Freedom Train." Our response is that First Nations have the freedom to choose what happens on our territories, based on our own laws. This freedom train is about our freedom to choose our future, our freedom to live according to our own culture, our freedom to govern outselves and our lands, and our freedom from the catastrophic risks of big oil and their oil spills.

Please visit freedomtrain2012.com to stay updated as the train travels across Canada.