The Treaties are agreements between the Indigenous people of Canada and the Canadian government which states that the First Nations people are willing to share their land, so long as they maintain their inherent rights to the land and its resources. Over the years, the Indigenous people have kept their side of the agreement, but the Canadian government has not. To this day, there are many outstanding land claims, lack of access to resources for Indigenous people, inadequate housing, and unequal funding for things such as education and healthcare. 

The Indigenous people who began Idle No More believe that Canada has grown wealthy and powerful through the resources that have come from their land, but they have seen little of it be returned to them. Furthermore, the pursuit of these resources has left the environment dying. They believe that we need land and water to live, but the government has been poisoning it with their greed for more. 

So, they began the peaceful Idle No More movement in 2012 which began hundreds of teach-ins, protests, and rallies. The group asks the government for six things: 

PM Stephen Harper was noted to say that the Idle No More movement sparked a negative reaction from the public, and did not list the movement as a government priority. The government has not done anything in order to appease the Idle No More protesters, but the movement continues to this day. 

Arab Springs consist of both violent and nonviolent demonstrations, protests, riots, and even civil wars that occurred in the Arab world beginning in 2010. Civil wars erupted in countries such as Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Uprisings occurred in Egypt and Bahrain, while demonstrations were held in Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan, to name a few. The cause of the uprisings were dissatisfaction at the government by youth and unions. Large income gaps and the Great Recession were also said to be a factor. Governments in these countries were often dictatorships or absolute monarchies, and had numerous issues which include human rights violations, political corruption, extreme poverty, and unemployment. 

The protesters were often met by violent responses by the government itself, the military, and pro-government groups, which led to more violence and large scale conflicts. The majority of conflicts faded in 2012 due to the violence. Only Tunisia has succeeded to transition to a constitutional democratic form of government. 

― Mahatma Gandhi

Back to 1930 in India, from March to April, Mohandas Gandhi lead the people of India to a ‘satyagraha’ or a mass civil disobedience called, The Salt March, a 240 mile march from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast. Gandhi with the help of Indian nationalists lead millions of people in collecting their own salt from the seawater as a protest to the impairing Britain’s Salt Acts, acts that ban Indians from getting and selling their own salt and placed heavy taxes on it, the acts were created by Britain to monopolize the manufacturing of salt and make more money out of it, therefore the Indians became poorer and their quality of life worsen. The satyagraha resulted to more than 80,000 people arrested including Gandhi, but it got the worldwide attention. Gandhi was released in January 1931 and had a meeting with lord Irwin, the viceroy of India to agree to call off the satyagraha for an equal negotiating role in a conference happening in London for India’s future. In August 1947, 17 years after the Salt March, India was granted its independence.

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. "

― Mahatma Gandhi

-Ma Jian

The June Fourth Incident or the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, were series of street protests lead by students in Beijing, China lasting from April 15th  to June 4th. Post Mao-era caused drastic social and economic change that worried the citizen about the country’s future including limited freedom to political participation, rapid population growth, and the fact that the new graduates aren't well equipped for the new economy.  About a million of people protested for democracy, greater accountability, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech, which were influences from the western ideals. The government reacted by declaring a martial law, which resulted to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, several hundred to thousands of dissenters were killed by tanks and troops with assault rifles. Widespread arrests also occurred, about 10,000 supporters were arrested during and after the protest. The coverage of the event was controlled to be domestic only and government officials thought to be supporters were removed as a purge.

In 1869-70 an uprising in the Red River Colony was held to force the shift of the huge area of Rupert’s Land to the new nation of Canada.  The Colony of manly Metis occupied a section of Rupert’s land fearing for their land rights under the Canadian control.  The Metis held a rebellion so that they could declare for a provisional government to discuss terms to enter into a confederation.  This uprising all lead to the creation of Manitoba, and the appearance of Louis Riel being a hero to his people but also being seen as an outlaw in the Canadian government's eyes.