Amanda Polchies is a Lakota Sioux and Mikmaq woman who lives in

Elsipogtog First Nation The Elsipogtog First Nation , formerly called the Big Cove Band, is a Miꞌkmaq First Nations band government in New Brunswick, Canada. The First Nation's territory comprises Richibucto Reserve #15, lying southwest of Rexton, New Brunswick on ...

. She became known for an iconic image taken of her while participating in a protest against

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

near the village of

Rexton, New Brunswick Rexton is a formerly incorporated village in Kent County, New Brunswick, Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada. On 1 January 2023, Rexton annexed parts of five Local service district, local service districts to form the new village of Five Rivers, ...

Protest event

The area was a potential site for shale gas development. The protest turned violent after

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

attempted to enforce a court injunction against the protesters' blockade. A line of women formed a blockade by linking arms in the highway in front of the police. Polchies received an eagle's feather from a young girl during the heat of the protest, and got down on her knees to pray with the feather aloft. She was soon after taken into custody by the police for not complying with their orders to back away from the officers. At the protest, she was photographed by Inuk journalist Ossie Michelin while kneeling and raising an eagle feather in front of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The original iPhone image was tweeted by Ossie Michelin on October 17, 2013 at 9:07am. This photo went viral on Twitter and other social media platforms. The photo was even part of a national exhibit at the

Canadian Museum for Human Rights The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR; ) is a Canadian Crown corporation and national museum located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adjacent to The Forks. The purpose of the museum is to "explore the subject of human rights with a special but not ex ...

in Winnipeg. It was deemed best photograph in the museum's Points of View: A National Human Rights Photography Exhibition. This image was adopted by the

Idle No More Idle No More is an ongoing protest Social movement, movement, founded in December 2012 by four women: three First Nations in Canada, First Nations women and one non-Native ally. It is a grassroots movement among the Indigenous peoples in Canad ...

movement, which protested Canada's Bill C-45 that allowed for State encroachment on Indigenous environmental rights.

Additional renditions and images

The viral image led to multiple unique renditions of Michelin's original picture. These images came in support of the Idle No More Movement, #NODAPL Movement, and more.
Nicolas Lampert's Graphic Image Supporting The #NODAPL Movement

RCMP Taking Polchies Away From The Protest Pt. 1

RCMP Taking Polchies Away From The Protest Pt. 2
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polchies, Amanda First Nations activists Mi'kmaq people Living people Idle No More 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Year of birth missing (living people) 2010s photographs Photographs of protests People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph First Nations women