We Never Agreed to Silence: Sovereignty, Wealth, and the End of Resource Theft

We never agreed to keep our resources in the ground because the Crown said so.

We are not Canadians. We are not property of the Crown. We are not here to help Ottawa feel better about itself while it digs the last dollar out of our territories. We are not stakeholders in our own destruction. We are the sovereign owners of these lands, and we owe no one an explanation for defending what’s ours.

This federal government—and every one before it—exists to manage Indigenous people like problems, not to support us as equals. Their job is to extract, contain, pacify, and spin it all with soft language so the average settler can sleep at night. They want to keep us poor enough to be dependent, and “engaged” just enough to legitimize their theft.

For over 150 years, this country has stolen trillions in oil, gas, uranium, timber, and hydro from beneath our feet. And in return, we got poverty, over-policing, poisoned water, co-opted leaders, and broken spirits. We got divide-and-conquer disguised as reconciliation. We got bureaucratic chains wrapped in red and white.

And still, some people call this a partnership.

We never agreed to keep our resources in the ground because the Crown said so. That wasn’t a collective decision—that was a strategy by federal bureaucrats to control development on their terms, with their companies, and their timelines. They want us to believe this is about protecting the land, when it’s really about controlling it. Holding the leash so no one else can touch it—not even us.

When we say “our resources,” we mean our leverage. Not just wealth, but the key to our freedom. Resources mean choice. They mean independence. They mean not having to ask Indian Affairs for a housing allocation or a water system. They mean power—the kind no federal program can ever give us. But every time we get close to touching that power, they move the goalposts.

They shut us out of decisions, write legislation that strips our authority, and fund just enough compliance to keep Indian Act Chiefs quiet. A few new trucks, a training centre, a photo op—and we’re supposed to believe we’ve made progress. But most of the wealth is still leaving the territory while our people ration heating fuel and boil their water.

And they call that reconciliation.

Let’s get real. We’re not living in underdevelopment by accident. We were engineered into it. Made poor. Kept poor. While federal and provincial governments fund pipelines, mines, dams, and logging projects on our lands with our money, all under the illusion that we’re “consulted.”

Consulted doesn’t mean consent. It means informed after the deal is done. It means showing up at a hotel conference room to hear how they’re about to dig up your territory.

If we develop our lands, it must be by our hand, under our law, and on our terms. No more begging for royalty scraps. No more impact agreements that “benefit” us while corporations take everything.

And to be absolutely clear—we are not against development. We’re against being robbed. We’re against being pushed to the margins of our own economies. We’re against being told we’re partners while we’re locked out of ownership.

We want real equity. We want full control. And we’re not going to keep pretending this system works.

Need examples? Fine. Here’s three.

Oka, 1990. Mohawk land, stolen by colonial governments and handed over to municipalities. When the town of Oka decided it wanted to expand a golf course over the Pines, the Kanesatake Mohawk said no. Not negotiate. Not delay. No.

The result? Armed standoff. 78 days. The RCMP and Canadian military brought in over a damned golf course. Think about that. Canada is willing to send in armed troops to protect white real estate expansion, but they won’t send in so much as a plumbing crew when a reserve has been without clean water for 20 years.

The message was clear: economic growth for settlers is sacred. Indigenous sovereignty is a threat. That wasn’t a one-off. That’s Canada’s default setting.

Grassy Narrows. Mercury poisoning of an entire Anishinaabe community. For decades, the government knew about the contamination—caused by a pulp and paper mill dumping toxic waste into the English-Wabigoon river system. They lied, they deflected, and they let generations suffer neurological damage so a corporation could keep making money.

When Grassy Narrows demanded justice, they got studies. Task forces. Promises. Delay. But they never got justice. Their land is still poisoned. Their people are still sick. That’s what “economic development” looks like under colonial control. We are disposable. They’ll pave over our graves if it makes a buck.

Muskrat Falls. This is one of the most blatant modern betrayals of Indigenous land, law, and life. In Labrador, the so-called “green” hydroelectric project drowned Innu and Inuit lands, flooded sacred sites, and threatened traditional food systems with methylmercury contamination. Nalcor Energy, backed by the Newfoundland government, pushed the project through despite fierce opposition from Labrador landholders.

The response to protests? Criminalization. Raids. Arrests. In 2016, land protectors occupied the site, and in return, the province cracked down hard. Premier Dwight Ball ignored hunger strikers and elders begging to stop the flooding. Meanwhile, Canada stayed silent—because as long as the lights stayed on and carbon credits got filed, it didn’t matter what was lost in Labrador.

They called it green energy. We called it land theft with a renewable face.

If you still think this country is serious about Indigenous rights, you haven’t been paying attention.

This is not about inclusion. This is about control. It's always been about control. Whether it’s through the gun or the grant, the Indian Act or ESG, Canada’s goal is to keep us poor, polite, and powerless.

And eventually gunless.

But we’re done.

We’re not going to sit through another consultation circus. We’re not going to clap for our own slow death. We’re not going to praise chiefs who defend this scam while their people suffer. And we’re not going to let this country build a new “green” empire on top of the old colonial one.

They want to dig lithium and uranium out of our lands to power electric cars in Toronto and LA. They want to extract rare earths from the north to supply batteries for billionaires. And they want us to believe that we’re helping the planet by being poor.

No. We didn’t survive residential schools, displacement, forced sterilization, child apprehension, and corporate colonization just to become unpaid mascots for someone else’s green future.

We are not against wealth. We are against theft.

We are not here to save your economy. We’re here to build our own.

We don’t need Canada’s permission to be free. We just need the courage to act like we already are.

To every Indigenous person reading this—especially the ones who’ve been told to sit down, to wait, to accept a little while others get a lot: you are the future.

Not the consultant. Not the carbon lobbyist. Not the compliance officer. You.

This land is still ours. The wealth is still under our feet. And the choice is still in our hands.

We never agreed to be silent. And we sure as hell aren’t going to be now.

Darren Grimes