Mapping Extractive Frontiers in the Ring of Fire

A screening and talk back with Neskantaga First Nation, Forensic Architecture, and Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism.
About this Event

This public conversation and screening brings together Neskantaga First Nation, Forensic Architecture, and Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism to discuss a year-long collaborative investigation into the proposed mining infrastructure corridor in Ontario’s Ring of Fire region. Centred on Neskantaga’s homelands in the Attawapiskat River watershed, the investigation uses maps, video, satellite imagery, land-based knowledge, and visual analysis to document the environmental and colonial harms that would be intensified by road construction, mining development, and extractive infrastructure.

The event will include the premiere screening of Forensic Architecture’s newest investigation video, followed by a conversation with Wayne Moonias (Neskantaga First Nation), Coleen Moonias (Neskantaga First Nation), and Omar Ferwati (Forensic Architecture), and chaired by Nessie Nankivell. Together, they will discuss how visual cultures and spatial research can support Indigenous jurisdiction, challenge state and corporate narratives of “critical mineral” development, and make visible the cumulative impacts of extraction on land, water, burial sites, and cultural survivance.

The event accompanies a display of maps and remote sensing from the Forensic Architecture investigation, as well the launch of a zine exploring the shifting landscape of land defence work one year after the passage of Ontario’s Bill 5.

SPEAKERS:

NESSIE NANKIVELL is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and researcher with Infrastructure Beyond Extractivisim. Her work focuses on the Ring of Fire mining region in Northern Ontario and the legal geographies of extractive frontiers. She is a research partner with Neskantaga First Nation and advisor to their Lands and Resources department. Together, they are co-developing community-led mapping tools that can be used to protect Indigenous jurisdiction and evidentiate ecological violence within the impact assessment process. Nessie’s research and mapping has been published by Transition Security Project, Amnesty International, The BREAK-DOWN, and The Breach. 

OMAR FERWATI is the Head of Research Management at where he is involved in developing and applying spatial methods for human rights investigations. His investigations have ranged from airstrikes and colonial violence in Palestine to environmental racism in Namibia. His own research is currently about how civilians use architecture to survive urban warfare and other crises. He trained as an architect in Canada and has worked at several architecture practices internationally. Omar previously taught at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

WAYNE MOONIAS is a former Chief of Neskantaga First Nation and the community’s current Lands and Resources Director. He has spent his life advocating for Neskantaga, defending the community’s lands and waters, and supporting the assertion of Anishinaabe jurisdiction in the face of mining, infrastructure development, and government neglect. Wayne has played a leading role in training Anishinaabe youth in land defence work and in guiding community-based responses to proposed development in the Ring of Fire region. He has also been a long-standing advocate in the struggle to end the federal government’s failure to provide safe drinking water to Neskantaga, which has lived under a boil water advisory for more than 31 years.

COLEEN MOONIAS is serving her second term as a Councillor for Neskantaga First Nation. She holds a postsecondary degree in Indigenous Language Education and previously taught her traditional language through the Neskantaga Education Authority. Her work is grounded in the protection of Neskantaga’s language, culture, families, lands, and future generations. Coleen has spoken at rallies across Ontario, advocating for health and social justice in Neskantaga and drawing attention to the ongoing harms caused by government neglect, colonial policy, and extractive development. Her advocacy places particular emphasis on the rights of women and children, and on the need to protect the conditions that allow Neskantaga families and future generations to thrive.