Tantoo Cardinal Interview - Transcribed

This is the transcription of an interview with actress Tantoo Cardinal that took place with CTV News in regards to the Idle No More movement.  I found Tantoo's words so beautifully raw and striking, and so much further reaching than the INM movement itself, that I took the time to sit down and write it out as I listened.  Here it is.

--"We were put here by the Creator just the same as everybody else was...when I talk about a smouldering, those types of battles have been going on all over the country for generations and generations and generations...i think what's happened here is that C-45 really illustrates what gov'ts have been doing to indigenous people, but what's happened this time is it can't be identified as just indigenous. We are the ones that are standing up, because we are the ones that have the contract with creator, with Creative Force.

What's in those treaties, is a responsibility to natural force - for lack of a better term. It's a responsibility to be caretakers of this land. We were here...we were here. The blueprint of how to relate to our Sacred Mother Earth...she is alive. What that means is that we have responsibilities...as she feeds us, and is constantly giving, giving, giving...and always working towards balance, we have responsibilities towards that. But the people that "know everything", who have decided that we are primitive and have no sense of civilization, have decided that we have nothing to offer and that we don't know nothing...

It is that spark that's ignited and says that yes, we have responsibilities to the water, to the land, to life, and no gov't, no corporation, no nobody can stand on our necks and say 'no, that's not right'...the Mayan calendar is over and it re-begins...it starts again. And it's a cycle of truth, and it's a cycle of light...and INM is connecting with the planet...the land...and WATER...if you drink water, you should be paying attention! Don't be distracted. It's not just about treaties.

And besides that, treaties belong to everybody. Everybody that is on this land, was a part of the signing of that treaty...I believe in Peace and Light. That is what we're defending...we're standing in the energy of 'the earth needs healing'. She WILL heal. She will look after business. And that tar sands is a big, cancerous cyst. As men and women we have a certain responsibility, and it's the combination of those energies that make it a whole...It's all gonna be nice, but there is alot of work to do and it's HARD and it's been set for a long time. INM is bringing it all out so it can move and it can start to heal."

- Tantoo Cardinal