(SitNews) Sitka, Alaska - Tens of thousands of people around the world will gather on May 25, in more than 300 cities in protest of the agrochemical giant, Monsanto. One of those cities where a march is scheduled to take place is in Sitka, Alaska, on Castle Hill, the location where Russia sold the vast territory of Alaska to the United States.

March organizer, Brett Wilcox, chose Castle Hill for Sitka's March Against Monsanto for its symbolic significance. "There are many similarities between the original 'Land Grab' that took place with the first European expansion and Monsanto's current global 'Seed Grab,' Wilcox states.

Wilcox said, "Both involve the privatization of Nature, a concept that was largely foreign to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. And both have resulted in loss of freedom and loss of life. The difference is that Monsanto's seed grab not only further disenfranchises Native Americans; it disenfranchises all nations and all people. The citizens of the world are, as it were, sitting in our canoes in Sitka Sound, watching powerful people and corporations claim and repackage life as their own, thereby stealing our seed sovereignty and seed freedom."

Chuck Miller, a Tlingit “Elder in Training”, will preside at the event. "My grandmother used to teach my family that we need to treat our food with respect or it will not provide for us," Miller states. "My ancestors’ teachings are still a very big part of my life and I want to be able to pass that on to my children, grandchildren and those yet to come. GMOs are not the way to treat Mother Earth and the generations yet to come. I urge all the Native people of Alaska and our non-Native brothers and sisters to come and support this cause.”

"Sitka's March Against Monsanto will not be a traditional march," says Wilcox. "Sitka's event will be a ceremony to honor nature as well as the indigenous people of Alaska and the Americas. We will stand on Castle Hill united with the people of the world in defense and protection of life and nature."

Sitka's March Against Monsanto will take place at 2:00 pm on Castle Hill.

On the Web:

Information about Monsanto
http://www.monsanto.com

Source of News: 

Chuck Miller, Brett Wilcox

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