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Idle No More movement gets sympathy from alleged American terrorist and ‘Occupy’ protestors

Idle No More protesters from Berens River march in downtown Winnipeg on Wednesday as part of a national day of action.

It's been widely reported that the Idle No More movement is getting international attention.

Media from around the world have covered the movement, and the January 11th global day of action drew rallies in at least 6 different countries.

Well...INM is now getting attention from maybe the wrong sorts of people.

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According to Sarah Boesveld of the National Post, the movement is "offering inspiration" to U.S. environmental groups, anti-corporate 'occupiers' and even to an alleged "left-wing terrorist."

"A man armed with a Molotov cocktail who threatened to do harm to the Wisconsin State Capitol was arrested Tuesday just before Governor Scott Walker addressed lawmakers there. Suspect Kvon R Smith had the previous day written on Facebook: “I’m in support of the Idle No More Movement,” according to Breitbart.com.

Breitbart.com identified Idle as a cause to which former Occupiers are “flocking.”"

Boesveld goes on to cite an eco-website writer who commends the Idle No More group for "leading the resistance" against the corporate community. Another writer, she quotes, peculiarly claims that "Idle No More or [a] related derivative could be our last hope as a species."

Um, that's alright, I guess. But it's not really what the Idle No More movement is about — at least not according to Gyassi Ross of Indian Country Today.

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Ross penned a very clever column, published Wednesday, titled 'Idle No More for Dummies' where he explains that despite its similarities, the Idle No More movement is not just another incarnation of the Occupy movement.

"The Occupy Movement was powerful and necessary—yet the foundation was frankly not strong enough to sustain. Occupy was about a slowed-down economy and a lot of folks who were, unfortunately, out of work from that slowdown. As the economy began to improve in 2012...the Occupy Movement got noticeably weaker," he wrote.

"Native economies are NOT getting any better. In many of our communities, there is 70% PLUS unemployment—more than a simple “boom and bust” economic upturn can fix.

"Occupy was snapshot response to a 3 year economic downturn. #IdleNoMore is a continued response to more than 500 years of destroying the Earth and exploiting women."

Ross goes on to say that, unlike the Occupiers, they won't get scared off by the cold whether.

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"My friends have literally texted me pictures of sisters and brothers in Alberta and Saskatchewan standing outside with #IdleNoMore signs in -35 degree weather," he quipped.

"If we’re mobilizing 2,000, 2,500 people at an event in the freezing cold in January, just imagine how that number is going to multiply when it’s [20] degrees outside."