Akikodjiwan—the Chaudière Falls and the Albert, Chaudière and Victoria islands—is a sacred site for Anishinaabe and many Indigenous peoples. It was publicly promised to be returned to Indigenous Peoples for a natural sacred site and public forest by all levels of government. This sacred site is threatened by a massive 1.2B proposed condominium and retail village that would forever alter and block views to the heritage sites surrounding Parliament Hill. (It is the equivalent to blocking views of the Washington White House or Paris' Champ Elysées).  Government endorses a corporate land grab over a vision to heal land and waters and promote religious freedom of the Anishinaabe in an era of reconciliation. The government of Canada is a co-developer in this condo village being built on an leased agreement (the developer does not own the land).

The e-petition was sparked by: Albert Dumont, Jane Chartrand, Shannon Chief, Monique Manatch, and Douglas Cardinal and is supported by MP Romeo Saganash.

The E-Petition: 

Whereas:

• The Chaudière Falls were recorded in Champlain's journals as a place of ceremony for the Anishnabeg (Algonquins) in 1610. Champlain described in detail a sacred tobacco ceremony held at the Falls by the Algonquin, a ceremony which had been held by them for hundreds of years prior to his observation;
• The Anishnabeg viewed the surrounding area as an appropriate place of burial for the dead owing to the sacredness of the land and water. Algonquin Elder William Commanda continually identified the Falls as Sacred and was  informed by oral history in creating his vision for the Falls and the Islands close by;
• Aerial photographs reveal the shape of the sacred pipe in the cauldron of the Falls, known as Asticou the great kettle and the stream of water flowing from the cauldron.This place has been considered sacred for thousands of years by the Algonquins, yet the settlers have desecrated it in less than two hundred years as their understanding of indigenous culture and reverence of place is foreign to their consciousness, unfortunately a consciousness of colonialism; and
• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples declares that indigenous people have a right to protect their sacred places. This must be done for the Sacred Falls and the Islands. 

We, the undersigned, the Original People and Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to stop any proposed development.

On June 23, 2017 Elder Albert Dumont (South Wind), Nokomis (Grandmother) Jane Chartrand, and the Organizing Committee of Faith Is Peace led a walk to protect the Akikodjiwan. This was multi-faith walk, Faith is Peace, that took place in and around Ottawa.

Another way of showing your support is by joining the Facebook group of 5,000+ members and the Twitter feed: It Is Sacred

Learn more: read about our 'It is Sacred' walk 2016:

It IS Sacred...

June 17th, 2016: Spiritual Algonquin Grandmothers invited all Nations, people & Inter-Faith communities to a massive sacred walk with special guests, the Cree Youth Walkers from the Journey of Nishiyuu.  The turnout was tremendous, with thousands walking in solidarity with the First Nations People. They returned to the Sacred Site in Ottawa at Asinabka -Chaudière Falls, Victoria Island and surrounding islands and land  in support. The site is also known as Akikodjiwan.

The Oka crisis was over a sacred site. 

The Ipperwash tragedy was over a sacred site.

Governments spent 73 million to study both tragedies and carve out a solid respectful path for the country to follow in order to prevent future tragedies when addressing the matter of sacred sites. We call upon all levels of governments to review these important reports and to follow their sound recommendations. 

We are the Algonquin and Traditional Grandmothers & Elders and we call on the Canadian Government to declare this site sacred.

 This is a precious International Sacred Site of paramount importance  to all nations & people and we will protect it, peacefully. 

We are called upon to see this through.