by Bernie Bates

As my old Pappy, used to say: “Some folks would bitch if they were hung with a used rope!”  I know some folks who’ll swear it’s black, if I were to say it’s white.  Up, if I said down, inny, outy … you too, probably know someone like this, am I right or am I wrong?

As a writer and humorist, I feel it’s my duty to poke fun at those who think their poop doesn’t stink or those who stand on the proverbial soap box and spout off to the rest of us;  “Do as I do!”  Give me a break – we all have our own lives to live, our own way of doing things, our own free will.  Now I’m not saying we should drive on the wrong side of the road, just to prove a point.  If we dance a little funny, big frigin’ deal!  As they say: “He dances to the beat of a different drummer.”  And who knows drums, better than a Native?         

I’m constantly bombarded, beat-up and berated for the subjects I choose to write about.  I think it was Chief Frustrated Bull, who said:  “You can please some of the tribe some of the time, but you can’t please all the tribe all the time.”  I sometimes write about the big white elephant in the room – you know – the criminal injustice system, the political liars club or how catholic priests make the best baby-sitters.  You’d think I’d hear; “Way to go.” “Right on, brother.” and “Keep up the good work,” from 99% of those who read my wit-lit, but … Oh, no!  I get it from the other 1%, who’d complain, even if I were to point a finger at a child molester, who lied to his constituents, who elected him to the school board!

I think it’s just in the nature of some humans, to complain, disagree and do the complete opposite of what’s proposed.  One of my first memories of the phenomena – was as a child.  I got beat-up at school and my teacher said, “What did you do?”  I was not only stunned, I was bleeding and I couldn’t believe my ears – so I got mad at her and started to walk away, it was then that she grabbed me and sat me in the corner of the room to: “Think about what I did!”  What the hell?  Now, I don’t mean to give female dogs a bad name, but, what a ‘bitch!’  Right to this very day I hate to hear of an injustice, in any form!

The old adage: the squeaky wheel gets all the attention.  This is so true in today’s society, for example, if some malcontent complains about the graffiti at the local skateboard park … huff!  This person probably never goes there, yet city hall votes to clean it up – to the tune of ten thousand hard earned tax dollars.  Whereas, it would be so much cheaper just to tell the malcontent: “Ah, shut up!”  Or better yet, hand that person a paint brush.  Or even better yet, hand the kids at the skate park paint brushes and the address of the complainant, HA!

… I don’t mean to second guess the wise ones in the big teepee, but, why should the jerks who prey upon the law abiding, seem to have more rights than the poor little old lady who got robbed and knocked to the ground?  It sickens me to think that less than one percent of the population has the rest of us cowering behind locked doors.  It doesn’t make sense, it should be the other way around, right?  “But, the law is the law.  It’s the same for everyone.”  So says the Chiefs of justice and all the lawyers who make a living from crime. 

If a person is stupid enough to lose their sense of right and wrong, lose their common sense, lose their good judgment and their fear of consequence – they should also lose their rights and freedoms.  If you drink and drive, BANG, POW, BOOM – you lose your driving licence, right there and now – period!  If you steal, society should take everything you own and give away.  If you leer at little girls, you should have your … well you get my drift.

How much do you want to bet, some twit will write to me and complain about this common sense approach to justice.  I can hear them barking already!  Yap, yap, yap growl, grumble, bitch, bitch, bitch!

THE END

Dear reader: Please feel free to contact, B. H. Bates at:  beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca

by Lloyd Dolha

The First Nations Summit welcomed the strong recommendation of the respective reports of John Doyle, the B.C. Auditor General and the federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

“Combined, these reports reveal a startling picture of how the welfare of vulnerable aboriginal children is often subjected to government whimsy. This is totally unacceptable,” said Grand Chief Ed John, leading member of the First Nations Summit’s political executive. “Both governments must move with the highest priority and extreme diligence to address the important recommendations and findings contained in these reports, which, among other things, found our children do not receive appropriate in-care services comparable to other children, nationally or provincially.”

In Doyle’s report entitled ‘Management of Aboriginal Child Protection Services, the auditor general notes that many of the child protection needs of aboriginal children and their families remain unmet. In other words, the province’s approach of devolving authority to aboriginal child protection agencies has only partly successful and needs to be reviewed.

In 2006/07 alone, over 4,600 children of the roughly one million children in the province were found to be in need of protection. While aboriginal children account for only 8 percent of the children in the province, they make up 51 percent of children in care of the province, a proportion that is higher than the national average of 30 to 40 percent.

“An aboriginal child is about six times more likely to be taken into care than a non-aboriginal child,” states the report.

While Doyle said that some progress has been made in the collaborative efforts of aboriginal organizations and provincial and federal agencies, he noted that more collaboration and a more strategic approach is needed to if aboriginal child protection goals in the province are to be met.

For example, Doyle reports that the actual cost of implementing the province’s aboriginal child protection service approach of devolving that authority to aboriginal agencies is still unknown and the majority of those agencies were not completely up to the task.

”Only eight of the 24 delegated aboriginal agencies have qualified to deliver full child protection services,” says the 47 page report. “We recommend the ministry, in consultation with First Nations and aboriginal organizations, determine whether transfer of all child protection services to aboriginal agencies is still viable, and if not, adjust the service delivery approach to support some continued ministry service.”

The report was co-signed by federal Auditor-General Sheila Fraser, whose office conducted a concurrent review of all aboriginal child services across the country. The provincial report makes ten recommendations in all.

The provincial report further criticizes the Ministry for Children and Family Development for failing to identify and monitor the needs, resources and funding that are required to protect the province’s aboriginal children from abuse and neglect.

The disproportionate number of aboriginal children in care was blamed on a “host of reasons” by Minister Tom Christensen, “some of them historic.”

Christensen said the report underlines the complexities of a child welfare system that involves the province, the federal government in the case of on-reserve children, and nearly 200 First Nation communities.

The federal report notes that the funding the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) provides to First Nations child welfare Agencies for operating child welfare services is not based on the actual cost of delivering those services. Rather it is based on a funding formula the department applies nation-wide that was developed almost 20 years ago.

The INAC formula has not been changed to reflect variations in legislation and in child welfare services from province to province, or the actual number of children in care.

“It is well understood that the federal government is responsible for contributions to the provincial system to address on-reserve aboriginal children at risk, and that the ministry wants more funding from Ottawa in order to improve outcomes for those children,” said Chief Judith Sayers, a member of the Summit’s political executive. “But, as the provincial auditor general found, the ministry has been lax in not developing a persuasive business case in which to negotiate adequate funding.”

by Lloyd Dolha

A man caught on videotape helping set two police cars on fire during the Montreal riot that followed the Montreal Canadien’s seventh game win over the Boston Bruins on Monday April 21st, has been given a virtual walk after a Quebec judge said his aboriginal heritage entitled him to special treatment in court.

The 32 year-old aboriginal man, whose name was given in court records as Davin Johnny, a welfare recipient, was ordered released by Quebec Court judge Juanita Westmoreland-Traore, with only the conditions that he stay away from the Montreal Bell Centre and that he honour a 10 p.m. curfew.

Johnny was caught on tape jumping on the roof of a police car, and smashing its lights in the riotous celebrations that followed the seventh game win. He was one of thousands of rioters who burnt and smashed 16 police cars as well as other cars and vandalized some ten downtown businesses. Damage to the police cars was estimated at $500,000.

At least 16 people were arrested and charged, including three minors, said police. Possible charges for the rioters include break and enter, mischief against a police vehicle, assault against a police officer.

At the bail hearing, Crown prosecutor Dominique Potvin told the judge a plain-clothes police officer saw the accused with a brick under his vest.

“The officer observed him breaking the windows of a police cruiser with a brick and Davin Johnny then went on to do the same thing on another vehicle,” said Potvin.

Potvin said Johnny later admitted to the officer he broke the window’s of “the pig’s car” and showed the brick to the officer. “He said he did it because he detested the pigs.”

In court, Johnny reportedly confirmed his actions and said he would vandalize police cars again because he “hate(s) the pigs.”

In granting Johnny the bail three days later, the judge said the aboriginal heritage of the man had to be taken into consideration.

Westmore-Traore said aboriginal Canadians “Who sometimes show a high rate of unemployment and dependence on alcohol” are at a disadvantage in society.

The grand chief of the Kahnawake, Mike Delisle, complained of the special treatment, calling it “insulting and embarrassing.”

“We’re not looking for any type of handout or any less justice to be laid down to First Nations people,” he said in an interview. “This person should have been taken to the full measure of the law, like everyone else.”

But Jonathan Rudin, the program director at Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, said the judge was probably following a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that set out guidelines for consideration of aboriginal people in conflict with the law, known as the Gladue principles.

That ruling said that judges had to look at all the unique circumstances of aboriginal people “because their history is different and it often helps to explain people’s offending behavior.”

“That decision said when sentencing an aboriginal person, judges need to go look to see if there are other options to incarceration,” said Rudin.

by Lloyd Dolha

AFN leader Phil Fontaine said the Vancouver Olympics are a potential target for First Nations protest much like Beijing has been a flash point for Tibet supporters. Phil Fontaine says native leaders will use whatever chance they can, including the 2010 Winter Games, to focus governments on aboriginal poverty. Thousands of Canadians who’ve marched in support of a free Tibet should be “outraged” by abysmal native conditions in their own country, he said. “We’ll take whatever opportunity is presented to us to state our case, to set the record straight, to tell Canadians the true story about our situation. They have to stand up and demand immediate action on the part of their government to fix this.”

“We find the Tibetan situation compelling,” Fontaine said when asked if the 2010 Olympics could be disrupted by the sort of protest that has dogged Chinese planners. Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said he has heard such talk but finds it “a little odd.” From job prospects to sports arenas, special effort has been made to ensure that the four First Nations located on Olympic grounds in B.C. share related wealth, he said. “For the first time ever, indigenous people have a say in how the ceremonies are going to be conducted and how the benefits will be distributed. …It’s going to be an exciting Olympics for First Nations – not just from the area but from across Canada. My hope is that they’ll be respectful of that.” Ernie Campbell is chief of the Musqueam First Nation, whose traditional lands comprised much of what is now Vancouver. Negotiations for Olympic benefits are ongoing, he said, and he fully expects the Winter Games to draw demonstrators. “I think that’s a fact no matter where the Olympics are held. People are going to take that opportunity,” whether they’re native or non-native, he said.

The Assembly of First Nations has called for a peaceful, lawful day of national rallies and marches on May 29. Fontaine said it’s just the beginning of what will have to be a long, sustained campaign for change. He stressed that he hopes demonstrators will stay on the right side of the law. But some militant factions used a similar day of action last June to shut down highways and railroad lines. Fontaine said he understands the frustration: his attempts to negotiate have been largely ignored by the Conservative government. Strahl said he’s not against legal demonstration. It can help make more Canadians aware of the basic needs – including clean drinking water – that are still lacking on dozens of First Nations, he said. Still other First Nations leaders do not view the upcoming games as a chance to voice their displeasure over current issues.

Back in early March, at a meeting of Indigenous leaders and activists preparing for an upcoming United Nations conference voiced support for the Four Host First Nations continued work with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organizing Committee (VANOC) to achieve “unprecedented Aboriginal participation” in the 2010 Winter Games.

 Members of the North American Regional Indigenous Caucus were gathered in Vancouver, in the traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, to prepare for the 7th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in April 2008. 

 On February 23, day two of the event, some caucus members introduced a short text condemning the 2010 Winter Games, and linking the Games to the death of an elder from the Squamish nation.  Other members disagreed.  As the caucus operates through consensus, the co-chairs (Grand Chief Edward John and Kenneth Deer) asked to hear from Coast Salish leaders from the host First Nations.

 Hereditary Chief Campbell took the opportunity “to set the record straight” regarding the involvement of Coast Salish and Interior Salish Peoples in the 2010 Winter Games.

Chief Campbell said he is “working closely with Squamish Hereditary Chiefs Bill Williams and Gibby Jacob to bring life to the vision of the late (Squamish) Chief Joe Mathias, who insisted that the Coast Salish Peoples must be full partners” in the 2010 Games.  “We are not sitting idle.  We are not passive.  We are not assimilated peoples,” he said.

 Tewanee Joseph, the Executive Director of the Four Host First Nations Society, who attended the event with his two year-old son, added “our whole focus for the Games is for our children.  We are focusing on their future and opportunities for them.” 

 Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Chief Wilton Littlechild shared his extensive experience with Olympic Games, and noted that the AFN has signed an MOU to support the work of the four host nations. 

 “Since the Games in Calgary in 1988, the IOC and governments have learned, and it is really quite incredible what is being done here,” said Regional Chief Littlechild.  “These 2010 Games have, by far, the largest Indigenous participation at every level.”

by Lloyd Dolha

Metro Vancouver is going to court challenge over the B.C. government’s decision to use a portion of the Pacific Spirit Park to settle outstanding litigation with the Musqueam Indian Band.

More specifically, Metro Vancouver (formerly the GVRD) board members are launching a constitutional challenge to recent provincial legislation that has resulted in the transfer of 22.3 hectares of land of the park to the Musqueam without compensation to the regional government.

The board will ask the courts to rule on whether the province has the constitutional authority to expropriate land for the settlement of the First Nations’ title and rights claims to the land, in that First Nations’ title and rights are an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction.

“Metro Vancouver fully supports provincial efforts to achieve reconciliation with the Musqueam people and other First Nations communities,” said board chair Lois Jackson. “This legislation, however, sets a precedent for the expropriation of municipal and regional assets and is contrary to previous commitments made by the province that municipal and regional parklands would not be used to resolve aboriginal claims.”

Bill 12 – 2008, the Musqueam Reconciliation, Settlement and Benefits Agreement Act, transfers two parcels of land of the regional park to the Musqueam and precludes legal proceedings for damages or compensation against the province, the band, or a designated company in regards to the transfer.

“The provincial decision to expropriate these lands to settle aboriginal claims has potential ramifications far beyond Pacific Spirit Regional Park and it is imperative that we are clear on the constitutional authority under which the expropriation has proceeded,” said Jackson.

Musqueam band members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal in early March that would transfer ownership of the UBC golf course, the two parcels of the park, as well as seven hectares of the River Rock Casino’s Bridgeport lands in a compensation package worth almost $250 million.

In their legal case against the province, the Musqueam First Nation sought to block the transfer of the UBC golf course from the province to the university because the province had not fulfilled its legal obligation to consult and accommodate the First Nation.

The appeal case resulted in a unanimous BC Court of Appeal decision to allow the Musqueam to appeal a lower court ruling as the consultation and accommodation process played out between the two parties was defective in allowing the transfer of the golf course lands in the first place.

The First Nations Summit, an intervener in that case, is appalled by Metro Vancouver’s decision to seek the court ruling insofar as they see the deal as the province returning part of the Musqueam’s traditional territory to the First Nation.

“The lands negotiated within the Musqueam Reconciliation, Settlement and Benefits agreement are within the ancient traditional territory of the Musqueam people.,” said Chief Judith Sayers, a member of the Summit`s political executive. “There is no valid reason why these lands should not be returned to the Musqueam people under this agreement especially considering the lands in question are part of a settlement arising out of a court case in which the court found in favour of the Musqueam.”

Chief Sayers went on to note that the agreement only reflects a fraction of the compensation due to the Musqueam for lands within their traditional territory which cannot or will not be returned by the provincial Crown.

“Municipalities clearly should not be able to intervene in these settlements,”she said.

Chief Ernie Campbell could not be reached for comment.

by Reuel S. Amdur

The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau (Hull), across the river from Ottawa, is truly First Nations-friendly. The museum collection contains some 54,000 Aboriginal historical objects, of which around 11,000 are Inuit, the rest being Indian and Métis. As Andrea Laforêt, chief of ethnology service at the museum put it, “Our collection is the only one in Canada that is national in scope.” At times, the collection is also enhanced by borrowings from private individuals. Many Aboriginals visit the collection to do research.

Permanent First Nations exhibits consist of the Grand Hall and the First Peoples Hall. The Grand Hall, which is the stunning centrepiece of the museum, contains a massive display of totem poles and six West Coast Indian house façades, constructed by First Nations builders and artisans using cedar from the coast. The Hall also houses a large sculpture by Bill Reid, the Haida artist.

The First Peoples Hall traces Canadian Aboriginal history back 20,000 years. This hall portrays the diversity of Aboriginal cultures and delves into Aboriginal pre-history. In part of the hall Aboriginal attachment to the land is the focus, and elsewhere the impact of the contact with the white settlers is featured.

In addition to concrete historical artifacts and contemporary art, the museum also houses films and recordings. Films date back as far as the 1920’s, and the collections also contain music, with wax cylinders of music from Skeena River and elsewhere.

The contemporary art in the collection is part of an effort to address the here-and-now. That effort is also exemplified by work that the museum is currently undertaking devoted to First Nations people in cities, where most now live.

Laforêt reports that the museum works with First Nations communities to assist in cultural preservation. It has helped the Coast Salish to revive quill basketry and is working with the Squamish to develop a cultural centre. The museum also has an Aboriginal training program in museology, providing a career opportunity for First Nations people.

In keeping with their commitment to treat their collections with dignity and cultural appropriateness, they have a repatriation policy. As a parallel, the museum strives to repatriate Canadian Aboriginal objects from foreign sources. In addition, it cooperates with First Nations to arrange for ceremonials for sacred items in its care. Six Nations practitioners come in two times a year to carry out their ceremonies, and other First Nations also perform ceremonies for their sacred objects.

The First Nations collection began in 1856 under the Geological Survey of Canada. “The major part of the collection,” said Laforêt, “was assembled between 1880 and 1930.” In 1910, an anthropology division was opened in the Survey, with a commitment to the study of First Nations history, culture, and contemporary art. Among the world-renowned anthropologists that have found a home at the museum are Edward Sapir, Diamond Jenness, and Marius Barbeau.

The Survey collections, eventually re-named the Museum of Man, were held in the Victoria Building beginning in 1910, open to the public two years later. That building is now the Museum of Nature. A checkered history of moving from location to storage to location finally came to an end in 1989, in the new building with a new name, the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The new name was meant to emphasize the cultural and historical contributions of both sexes. In 1989, the museum moved to its present location, in a building of striking design, the work of world-renowned Métis architect Douglas Cardinal. It is the most popular museum in the country.

While the First Nations and Inuit collections are a major part of the museum’s holdings, there are other Canadian historical collections as well as two other museums housed in the facilities, a children’s museum and a postal museum.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization owes a tremendous debt to the First Nations whose work it highlights and whose energies have been expended in construction of exhibits, beginning with the outstanding imaginative design of its Métis architect Douglas Cardinal. And in turn, First Nations owe the museum a great deal, in cultural and historical preservation and in assistance with their own cultural undertakings. If you’re in Ottawa for whatever reason, the Canadian Museum of Civilization is a must-see.

by Clint Buehler

HOBBEMA, AB – Residents of this First Nations community are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it any more.

The final straw that galvanized the community was the wounding of two-year-old Asia Saddleback in a drive-by shooting when a bullet went through a wall and struck her in the abdomen while she sat at the kitchen table eating soup.

Fortunately, Asia is recovering nicely, but her mother, Candace, moved her family off the reserve immediately after the incident and vows never to return despite having lived there all her life.

An 18-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy, rivals of another gang with members related the little girl, have been arrested in the case.

Residents had been enduring ongoing warfare between rival gangs vying for the lucrative drug trabe for years, with almost daily beatings, stabbings, shootings and arson. There are 13 gangs and more than 200 gangsters, plus the dozens of children as young as 10 they recruit to deliver drugs for them.

Most of the 12,000 residents of the community had been reluctant to defy them for fear of retaliation.

But that changed fast when Marvin Yellowbird, chief of the Samson Cree Nation, called for a meeting to create a Community Task Force to tackle the problem. More than 100 attended that meeting.

While a suggestion that gang members be banished from the community was rejected, serious consideration is being given to make them ineligible for band housing.

The Samson Cree Nation has imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on 12 to 17 on its reserve. (Much of the violence occurs on the Samson townsite.) The curfew will be enforced by the RCMP who will take anyone in that age group found outside on the reserve will be taken to the local police station, where their parents or guardian will have to pick them up.

Anyone who violates curfew faces up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Exceptions will be made for teens going to and from work, school activities, religious functions or organized recreational activities “without detour or stop,” and for those accompanied by adults 21 years or older.

There was a call for more RCMP to police the community which was answered positively, and officers report that since the Asia incident they have been receiving more tips from residents, some of which have led to arrests.

The RCMP also gave the community a major boost when RCMP Commissioner chose to present medals for years of service, bravery and outstanding service to dozens of officers from across Alberta in the high school gymnasium here.

He noted in his remarks that Hobbema is not alone in its problems and they are not restricted to Aboriginal communities, and unfortunately, “there are challenges in communities big and small across the country.

“Obviously there are big challenges here, but the community and its leaders, I think, are determined to work with partners like the RCMP and other agencies to make improvements. And the fact that you’ve got over a thousand kids in a cadet program is very encouraging.” The members of Hobbema Community Cadet Corps had marched on parade earlier in the evening.

by Lloyd Dolha

The Assembly of First Nations’ Women’s Council has announced plans to apply a Gender Balanced Analysis (GBA) to the proposed Matrimonial Real Property bill (Bill C-47), in hopes that the analysis will help Parliament better understand how to fix the bill to gain the support of First Nations women.

“We are not convinced that the bill as it stands is going to help First Nations women access to justice,” said Deputy Grand Chief Roseanne Archibald. “Let’s be clear, First Nations women and families have waited too long already for equitable and workable solutions and this bill is at best a half-way measure.”

She added that if the government had applied a culturally relevant GBA to the bill, they might have drafted more helpful legislation that better reflects the consultations held with First Nations women.

“After all the consultations, and presentations and drafting of reports, the government didn’t listen to our women. Yes they asked for our opinion, but the bill does not reflect what we told them,” said Grand Chief Archibald. “What they’ve drafted is a very much made-in-Ottawa bill.”

The AFN Women’s Council sees for major problems with the bill as it stands.

These are:

• The bill will ultimately force First Nations women to seek remedies in provincial courts. This is neither timely or financially viable for many First Nations women in remote communities.

• During consultations First Nations women asked that Matrimonial Real Property right be developed in from their own cultural values and traditions, not under provincial or federal rules that they had no part in crafting.

• Rather than recognizing First Nations authority, the bill constrains how First Nations rules are to be made in a complicated process yet offers no support for First Nations doing the work. In the end, the bill will impose a complex, bureaucratic system, with no support or consideration for implementation.

• For Matrimonial Real Property rights to be meaningful, women told the council the government must ensure there is adequate, safe and accessible housing.

The AFN’s Women’s Council developed the culturally relevant GBA that was endorsed by the Chiefs’ in Assembly in May 2007. Applying the analysis to the MRP bill is part of the work leading up to the next National Aboriginal Women’s Summit scheduled for July 29-31 in Yellowknife,

At present, when there is a breakdown of a marriage or common-law relationship on reserve, there is no legal provision for an equitable division of the matrimonial real property, that is the family home and the land it sits on. The Indian Act, which governs most aspects of reserve life is silent on the issue.

In the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s (NWAC) discussion paper on Culturally Relevant Gender Based Analysis (CRGBA), NWAC argues that a CRGBA approach can be used as a tool for use in policy development and evaluation by decision-makers.

The CRGBA approach takes a macro-view of the history of the development of Canadian society in its negative impact on aboriginal women, highlighting current realities faced by aboriginal women, such as greater risk of domestic violence, residential school intergenerational impacts and institutional racism that results in aboriginal women’s overall marginalization today, as well as strategies and solutions to combat those impacts.

Such an approach is “intended to ensure programs and services are developed in a balanced fashion, reflecting the unique needs of those population most affected,” such as aboriginal women.

In Quebec, in a March 19th open letter to the Senate and Canadian political parties, Quebec Native Women (QNW) (or FAQNW) president Ellen Gabriel echoed the AFN Women’s Council concerns over domestic and the related issues surrounding inadequate housing.

Gabriel also called on the federal government to conduct more proper consultation with the QNW on the proposed act because the “QNW also believes that the solution to the Matrimonial Real Property issue in Quebec must take into consideration the fact that Quebec is a province that applies the civil code as well as common law” and, as such, “would not meet the interests of First Nations in Quebec.”

Gabriel further questioned the ability of some Quebec First Nation band councils to implement the new legislation. “…we question the capability of band councils to deal with all the new complaints these new legislations will generate.”

But the proposed legislation, now before the House, has two goals: to make sure matrimonial real property rights are available to on-reserve residents and to provide a mechanism for First Nations to develop their own community-specific laws.

And in fact, Ottawa has made it clear that the proposed act is designed as an interim measure to fill the legislative gap until First Nations pass their own rules.

As it stands, the act provides basic protections to on-reserve couples during a relationship, in the event of a split and on the death of a spouse.

For example, the draft law allows for a court to ban a spouse from the family home in situations of family violence – a too common situation on-reserve.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) also opposes the proposed legislation, calling for “the promotion of indigenous legal systems.”

Nevertheless, the AFN Women’s Council wants the application of the culturally relevant gender-based analysis of the bill.

In an interview, Archibald said reserves should be left alone to come up with their own measures for the division of assets.

“Each community would figure out how they’d deal with conflict resolution, making sure that there’s a law that’s equitable for everybody.”

by Cam Martin

It has been 12 years since Governor General Roméo LeBlanc declared June 21st National Aboriginal Day, and the celebration gets bigger every year. More and more people are organizing events for their communities and their spirit has caught on, causing more participation and enthusiasm about our culture. Aboriginal day is a celebration of our culture amongst our nation, and not just within the First Nations community. It is a perfect opportunity to educate others about our traditions, and to congregate to share our pride in our native culture.

When Governor General Roméo LeBlanc signed the proclamation formally designating the day on June 13, 1996, he spoke about the important contributions that aboriginals have made in the country, “Many cities in Canada are less than a hundred years old. But aboriginal people have lived in this land for more than a hundred centuries. From coast to coast and in the Arctic, they first explored our lakes and rivers, they first mastered our forests and prairies, and they helped those who came later to join them.” Our connection to this land is ancient and we are the guides for our fellow Canadians. We must show them all that we, and Canada has to offer.

This year’s Aboriginal day celebrations are also give a very important opportunity for the First Nations to show their proud community sprit by recognizing the 400th anniversary of Québec City. Québec is special to Aboriginal day as it was the first province to celebrate and try to integrate a national day of Aboriginal solidarity.

With the combination of these two important festivals, the event planners tried to establish the theme “Meetings and Encounters” between Aboriginal and Europeans, highlighting the meeting of these two cultures. These celebrations will provide an exceptional opportunity to meet people with whom we share our daily lives and our future challenges.

It is under this theme that the Huron-Wendat Nation, the First Nations host of the 400th anniversary celebrations, along with the First Nations of Québec, Labrador and Canada, will be taking part in the festivities. Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation, Max “Oné-Onti” Gros-Louis, Marcel Godbout, President of the Office du tourisme de Wendake, and Jean Leclerc, President of the Société du 400e anniversaire de Québec, announced a program featuring numerous artists, artisans and prestigious partners.

“Without a doubt, the star attraction will be an intense two-hour extravaganza entitled Kiugwe (meaning “the time and the place for meeting ” in the Wendat language), during which spectators will experience our culture through our myths and our history. The originality of this show lies in part in the circuit spectators will take through Wendake to view each of the tableaux vivants that make up the presentation”, according to Grand Chief Max Gros-Louis.

This open-air super show featuring dramatic performances by Huron-Wendat and First Nations artists is a Jacques Crête production in collaboration with the expert resources provided by Inter-Nation-Art, a subsidiary of the Quebec City Summer Festival. As its director, Daniel Gélinas, noted, “This outstanding production will reflect the artistic and artisan talents of the Huron-Wendat Nation. Inter-Nation-Art will act as a catalyst for their strengths and riches.” The opening show is scheduled Friday, July 18, 2008, with at least twenty performances planned.

The international program will bring together the Chiefs of at least 40 Nations and some 400 representatives of the First Nations of Canada for a grand assembly in Quebec City on July 17. All of the participants will follow a symbolic trail extending from the Québec bridges to Wendake, marking the journey of the First Nations People and of Canada. The event will close with an official ceremony followed by a party on the site of the new outdoor amphitheatre in Wendake.

The regional program, a collaboration of public and private sectors, will include many dances, songs, and story telling, with encouragement to participate in the host nation’s traditional activities. Education programs for schools and community centres that will begin early in 2008 will help educate all Canadians about First Nations culture, and our important role in the development of Canada.

On the west coast there are also many outdoor events, which guests can engage actively with traditional customs. In Nanaimo, June 21st begins the “Alive with the Arts of Many Cultures” festival, a vibrant 11-day multicultural event showcasing Nanaimo’s rich cultural diversity. The events of June 21st begin at Maffeo Sutton Park where the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Mtis Nation, are putting on a large demonstration of traditional art. There will be interactive singing and dancing, with performances by Zinqwa dancers from the Cowichan Territory, as well as artwork and quilting stations, and even a fashion show, with firsthand demonstrations of the wool process and knitting. All of these sessions focus on educating about the use and history of these techniques. Finally, the day will conclude with a traditional Salmon barbecue.

The spirit of community is strong within the First Nations People across Canada, and that means recognizing our part as hosts in our diverse nation. On the inaugural celebration of Aboriginal day, Governor General Leblanc said, “On June 21st, this year and every year, Canada will honour the native peoples who first brought humanity to this great land, and may the first peoples of our past always be full and proud partners in our future.” A true message of integration, of accepting the past and future as one.

This year’s Aboriginal day is about recognizing our place within Canada’s diverse cultural makeup. It is about sharing our bountiful culture and traditions, and the lessons we have taken from them. We will celebrate with our fellow Canadians and hopefully, these new meetings and encounters will continue to foster a positive community spirit for both First Nations and non-First Nations.

“On June 21st, this year and every year, Canada will honour the native peoples who first brought humanity to this great land, and may the first peoples of our past always be full and proud partners in our future.” -Governor General Roméo Leblancgrand assembly in Quebec City on July 17. All of the participants will follow a symbolic trail extending from the Québec bridges to Wendake, marking the journey of the First Nations People and of Canada. The event will close with an official ceremony followed by a party on the site of the new outdoor amphitheatre in Wendake.

The regional program, a collaboration of public and private sectors, will include many dances, songs, and story telling, with encouragement to participate in the host nation’s traditional activities. Education programs for schools and community centres that will begin early in 2008 will help educate all Canadians about First Nations culture, and our important role in the development of Canada.

On the west coast there are also many outdoor events, which guests can engage actively with traditional customs. In Nanaimo, June 21st begins the “Alive with the Arts of Many Cultures” festival, a vibrant 11-day multicultural event showcasing Nanaimo’s rich cultural diversity. The events of June 21st begin at Maffeo Sutton Park where the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Mtis Nation, are putting on a large demonstration of traditional art. There will be interactive singing and dancing, with performances by Zinqwa dancers from the Cowichan Territory, as well as artwork and quilting stations, and even a fashion show, with firsthand demonstrations of the wool process and knitting. All of these sessions focus on educating about the use and history of these techniques. Finally, the day will conclude with a traditional Salmon barbecue.

The spirit of community is strong within the First Nations People across Canada, and that means recognizing our part as hosts in our diverse nation. On the inaugural celebration of Aboriginal day, Governor General Leblanc said, “On June 21st, this year and every year, Canada will honour the native peoples who first brought humanity to this great land, and may the first peoples of our past always be full and proud partners in our future.” A true message of integration, of accepting the past and future as one.

This year’s Aboriginal day is about recognizing our place within Canada’s diverse cultural makeup. It is about sharing our bountiful culture and traditions, and the lessons we have taken from them. We will celebrate with our fellow Canadians and hopefully, these new meetings and encounters will continue to foster a positive community spirit for both First Nations and non-First Nations.

“On June 21st, this year and every year, Canada will honour the native peoples who first brought humanity to this great land, and may the first peoples of our past always be full and proud partners in our future.” -Governor General Roméo Leblanc

Article by Danny Beaton Turtle Clan Mohawk Nation www.dannybeaton.ca
Images Courtesy of Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto

This article is dedicated to all our brothers and sisters who are sacrificing their freedon to bring attention for the protection of our Sacred Mother Earth and our childrens future. Since our homelands and territories have been stolen and treaties broken, corporations, developers and the government are mismanaging our resources and creating contamination and toxic waste.

Not long ago, news began to trickle out from scientist from around the world of the holes over North America in the skies protective shield, later to become known as ozone depletion. No other natural disaster had been known to humankind which received such media attention so quickly about the threat of environmental degradation and human survival. Around the same time information began to appear from international press that scientists from around the world had confirmed the earth was now experiencing a phenomenon called global warminng, that gases were being trapped in the lower atmosphere and were causing temperatures to rise at a level that threatened life, already thousands upon thousands of human causualities from this environmental killer were well documented. Global warming has changed the climate, changed the quality of life and no one knows better than scientiests, environmentalist, bioengineers, academics. The indigenous people of the world, the ones who still live off the land, who still maintain a close relationship to Mother Earth, many who maintain a diet which is mostly wild meat and vegetation, understand that the world is in a crisis. Socity and the public has been told and warned by the old elders, the chiefs and clan mothers of the consquences of the misuse of technology.

Chemical manufacturing, the production of toxic waste, the production of excessive garbage, urban sprawl, this mismanagement can be traced to where cities were built on deserts, rivers have been killed for profit and made to run upstream instead of downstream, hydro dams are documented by scientiest to be tilting the core of the earth’s balance causing earthquakes and tidal waves around the world. Factory farming is causing the pollution of the populations water supply, not to mention the enormous energy that is being used to feed livestock, the overwhelming crulety to animals used for factory farming has created a disease known as mad cow, another threating disease to humans is SARs. The problems created by man are overwhelming now, not only from men but from women too!, in fact these problems come from a mentality from humans, this type of mentaltility, thinking and attitude are causing the problems of the world in a way that is obviously wrong, negative, or plain destructive to the point that the survival of life is now at stake and in many cases life is deteriorating. We are killing life, we are killing our childrens future and we are assaulting the cycles of life.

Our animals are suffering more than ever in the history of the earth, in 2007 we were informed that the honey bee was now being threatened with extinction, many native people here in Canada are aware of the intense struggle of our polar bear, they are drowning from the ice melting in their hunting grounds. We are witnising the rape and plunder of our Sacred Mother Earth by corporations who are raking in billions and billions of dollars profit. Tribes have had to fight the logging giants who have clearcut many old growth forests. Now the mining giants of the world are raping Alberta for oil sands turning Cree territoriy into a wasteland.

The Worlds Greatest Environmental Disaster

On the morning of 26 April, 1986 a Soviet nuclear plant at Chernobyl near Kiev, exploded, pouring radioactivity into the environment, setting off the worst disaster in the history of nuclear energy. In the aftemath, more than 130,000 people had to be evacuated from the central contaminated zone and permanantly resettled, a million live under radiological watch in high radioactiveity zones, over 600,000, including 250,000 children are entered in a medical register, as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for the rest or their lives, nearly 3 million acres of agricultural land are lost for decades. Chernobyl was the greatest environmental catastrphy in the history of the earth ie uranium mining.

Historical Protest

The uranium industry is more active in Northen Saskatchewan than any other place in the Western world. For the Native People of the area it is the dominant force continuing the destructive momentum built up over 300 years of colonialism. If the present trend continues the result will be genocide. Mining and exploration are taking place even though Native Land claims and Aborigional rights have not been settled.

Wollaston Lake is one of the small Indian communties struggling to survive. In the summer of 1985 the people there hosted an unpresentated protest. From June 14th to the 17th, on the west side of Wollaston Lake, all traffic in and out of Rabbit Lake and Collins Bay uranium mines was blocked for 80 hours. The blockade marked the first act of civil disobediance against the uranium industry in Saskatchewan. The decision to carrry out the blockade was made only after all conventional means of protest had been exhausted.

Elder Corbin Harney Speaks Out

Corbin Harney stands as no one else does at the moment for that new alliance between indigenous people and environmentalist. Corbin Harney is an elder and spiritual leader of the Western Shoshone, a native people indigenous to Idaho, Nevada, Utah and California. Corban Harney came out from behind the bush and is leading his people to protest the US governments nuclear testing. “As I see it all around me, the trees are dying out, our water is contaminated, and our air is not good to breath, we have to come back to the Native Way of Life, the Native Way is to pray for everything, our Mother Earth is very important, we can’t just misuse her and think she is going to contiune. We’ve been told to take care of what we’ve got so that we can leave something for the younger generation, we the people are going to have to put our minds together to save our planet here. We only have one water, one air, one Mother Earth.”

Elder Bob Staffanson Speaks Out

The world that we know is in serious jepardoy because of the destructive capacities of selfish, uncaring and narrow people and because technology is out of control. Cultural arrogance and worship of technology have clouded our societies moral compass. The unprovoked war in Iraq is symptomatic of our worst impulses masquerading as our best. The corrupt election in the USA testifies to the degree to which the American people have been brainwashed by conniving and brutal leadership using the language of benevolence and compassion.

All of the destruction to Mother Earth and our childrens future is in the same context, we are creating lies, injustice, negativity and death, the people who are forced to prison and taken away from their families for speaking out in defence of Mother Earth are protectors for their people in the history of the earth.

Elder Bob Lovelace Speaks Out

On February 15, 2008 Bob Lovelace received a 6 month prison sentence and a $25,000 fine for protesting peacefully against the Frontenac Ventures Ltd uranium mine. Bob Lovelace is a professor at Queens University and native counciller at Flemming college here in Ontario, Canada. Bob says he has a responsibility to his children’s future and that he has a responsibility to protect Mother Earth for his tribe, the Ardoch Algonquin Nation. Our Mother Earth is sacred, her body is sacred, the rivers and streams are Mother Earth’s blood, we need to keep her clean for our childern’s future, all my relations.

Natives Jailed for Defending Our Childrens Future

On March 17, 2008, Judge George Smith of Ontario Superior Court in Thunder Bay sentenced Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Chief Donny Morris and 5 other band members to 6 months in jail for contempt of court. The natives had disobeyed an October court order that directed them to stay away from exploratory drill sites opperated by Platinex, Inc. KI leadership also rejected a compromise propossed by Ontario Aboriginal Affaris Minister Michael Bryant that would have greatly increased the bands legal costs and required Platinex to consult with natives. KI leaders said they objected to the plan because it assumed drilling would go ahead.