Legal personhood for Rice Lake and the Ganaraska River gathered momentum over the past month.

In this interview, Alderville First Nations Chief Taynar Simpson discusses several significant steps towards efforts to gain a new legal status for the two bodies of water in Northumberland County. 

In this interview, Simpson shares an update regarding a community meeting in Alderville to discuss the legal case for Rice Lake. This included a water walk, starting at Vimy Ridge Road on the lake and ending at the community centre in Alderville —a nearly 20 km hike.  You will hear details about this sacred ceremony and its significance at the meeting.

Then, Simpson will share specifics about an event at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope hosted by Indigenous artist and actor Tom Jackson that took place on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It was held at the end of a busy day involving a march on County Road 45 for Orange Shirt Day.

The Chief will also share the community's efforts on legal personhood at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil on November 10.

Finally, Simpson discusses major changes to land management in Alderville as the community works toward a land code that will allow them to create and enforce property and local bylaws, manage lands independently, and transfer property without federal interference.