Grassroots yet global: the Idle No More indigenous movement in twenty-first century Canada

The focus of this thesis is the indigenous sovereignty and land rights movement, selfidentified as the "Idle No More movement" (INM), that began in opposition to federal Canadian policies in December 2012. While Canadian natives have organized in resistance before, the INM movement sticks out comparatively; it has already passed its one-year mark and events continue to arise with arguably no end in sight. This paper analyzes the social movement mobilization process of INM using two important frameworks: a grassroots organizational framework and a rhetorical framework. It concludes that organizational elements, such as a strictly grassroots framework, calls for international solidarity, and inclusion of non-indigenous supporters; as well as the use of symbolic rhetoric have kept the movement energized.