Investigation: Are the Oil Sands Killing First Nations? (Part 2)

Investigation: Are the Oil Sands killing First Nations? (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of an investigative series on the Impact of Oil Sands on First Nations People by Jake Cardinal. Part 1 appeared in the June edition of Alberta Native News.

Letter to Grand Chiefs

Long ago, Cree leader Captain Swan visited the Athabasca area. In 1715, he described a scene to Hudson’s Bay Company fur trader James Knight: “... there is a Certain Gum or pitch that runs down the river in such abundance that [Indians] cannot land but at certain places.” This was the first written reference to bitumen in Canada. Bitumen forms when organic matter is buried and subjected to heat and pressure over geological timescales. That organ…

Investigation: Are the Oil Sands killing First Nations? (Part 2) - Alberta Native News

By Jake Cardinal This is Part 2 of an investigative series on the Impact of Oil Sands on First Nations People by Jake Cardinal. Part...