By Theresa Ducharme

Theresa Ducharme from the Native Women’s Association of Canada recently participated in the Lutheran World Federation consultations for Indigenous issues during the UN Indigenous Permanent Forum in New York City held May 21-26, 2009. Theresa works with the Sisters in Spirit initiative, a group whose goal is to raise awareness and address the issue of violence perpetrated against Aboriginal women because of their gender and Aboriginal identity. Kairos Canada, an organization uniting church communities across Canada to foster positive social change and goodwill, recommended Theresa as a representative this year.

The first consultation took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2003, where the assembly asked the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to initiate a specific program for Indigenous Peoples to facilitate networking through regional and international programs. The assembly also recommended encouraging theological studies relevant to Indigenous spiritualities, as far as possible in cooperation with the World Council of Churches and other groups. The LWF and its members were also asked to support a process at the national, regional, and international levels to protect the human rights of Indigenous peoples, who are among the most marginalized and most discriminated against across the world.

During the second consultations held in Karasjok, Norway in 2006, it was determined that within three years the Lutheran World Federation would establish an advisory group consisting of one Indigenous representative from each of the following regions: Africa, Asia, Pacific, Latin America, North America and Europe concerning the indigenous program. This advisory group would focus on three primary issues: human rights and land claims, theological and ethical study and Indigenous spirituality, and facilitating networking for indigenous people through exchange programs and consultations at regional and international levels.

This year, Theresa Ducharme represented Canada in New York, where she spoke about the disturbing facts and trends of sexual and racial violence against Aboriginal women. She spoke about how the nation of Canada is all too silent about the horrendous crimes being perpetrated, reminding the assembly that this is not just a Canadian issue but also a global human rights issue. The world needs to know, and the government and the media should no longer remain silent. To date, there are approximately 520 Aboriginal women and girls from all across Canada who have been confirmed missing or murdered. Theresa feels that this estimation is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true number of Aboriginal women victimized by social violence.

The number may seem small, even insignificant compared to the population of our nation, but each of those women represents a human being: a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend whose voice has been violently silenced. Their absence is felt by many, and to keep silent or forget does nothing to empower social justice or positive change.

To learn more about issues affecting Aboriginal women, visit the NWAC website (www.nwac‑hq.org) or contact Sisters In Spirit by phone (1.866.796.6053) toll-free.

By Lloyd Dolha

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has relaunched a commission to look into the history of residential schools in Canada through the sharing of stories of survivor’s experiences with the aim of helping survivors heal. On June 10th, INAC minister Chuck Strahl announced the appointment of Justice Murray Sinclair as chair to head up the revamped Truth and Reconcilliation Commission. Strahl’s announcement came one day before the first anniversary of the Tory federal government’s historic apology to Canada’s First Nations for the atrocities committed at the Indian residential schools.

The Truth and Reconcilliation Commission’s mandate is to inform all Canadians about the truth of what happened at the schools. The commission was created as part of the court-approved $1.9 billion Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement negotiated in 2006. The landmark settlement was finalized in March 2007, after months of intense negotiations between the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the federal government, churches, former students, and other aboriginal organizations.

About 150,000 aboriginal children were forced to attend Canada’s 130 residential schools from the late 1800’s to 1996, when the last school closed. Only about 80,000 former students are still living, and that number decreases daily. The commission will document the stories of survivors, their families, and communities. During the next five years, the commission will create an accurate historical record regarding the policies and operations of the schools, as well as what happened to the children who attended them. The commission will host seven national gatherings across Canada to promote public awareness and complete a public report that will include recommendations to all parties of the settlement agreement. It will also establish a national research centre as a permanent resource for all Canadians.

The commission’s work stalled last year with the October resignation of Justice Harry Laforme, an Ontario Court of Appeal judge. He cited major differences between himself and commissioners Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Brewin Morley. In his resignation letter, Laforme said the panel was “on the verge of paralysis” because his fellow commissioners did not share his vision or accept his authority.

In the meantime, the commission has already become a source of controversy. Former Nunavut commissioner and politician Peter Irniq says it’s essential that one of the truth commissioners appointed be Inuit. He warned of significant support for an Inuit boycott of commission hearings unless an Inuit commissioner is appointed. Irniq said its essential that one of the commissioners speaks the Inuit language to understand the unique experience of the Inuit people in the residential schools. Two residential schools operated in the Western Artic and Irniq estimates that about 1,000 Inuit survivors who attended the schools are still alive.

The AFN welcomed the appointment of Justice Sinclair, saying the commission will be an important vehicle to advance the national goal of fostering healing and reconciliation by building greater understanding among Canadians. “I know Mr. Justice Sinclair personally and professionally,” said AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine. “His experience as a judge and scholar and his strong understanding of his culture and traditions will ensure he brings the expertise, insight, and sensitivity that will be so important to the work of the commission.” Justice Sinclair was the first aboriginal judge appointed to the bench in Manitoba in 1988 and was one of the co-chairs of Manitoba’s groundbreaking Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. An Ojibway, Sinclair was raised on St. Peter’s First Nation near Selkirk, Manitoba. Also tapped for the commission was Marie Sinclair, an educator, award-winning journalist, and regional executive in both the public broadcast and public service sectors. She brings a deep personal knowledge of the residential schools legacy through her immediate family and community ties. Wilton Littlechild, Alberta’s regional vice-chief for the AFN will round out the three-member panel. A former residential school student himself, Littlechild was the first treaty Indian to receive a law degree from the University of Alberta in 1976.

By Bernie Bates

The two strongest emotions we humans have are pure white love and the dark abyss of hate. And if you have family, you know all too well of the gray areas in between those two feelings.

We all come into this world with such fan fair and joy – then we get a smack on the ass and cry our little eyes out as we meet our families for the first time. At that moment, we have no idea that both, the love and the pain, will follow us the rest of our days. There are times in life then we will deserve a swift kick in the back pockets and there are times when another family member will need a jolt of reality.

Just like all snowflakes are different, so too, are we. Personalities vary, even between identical twins – where one of them may be a handsome and gifted writer and the other might be a life-sucking, scum bag of an alcoholic. Family dynamics, too, are as different as apples and road apples (horse poop – to you city folk). I’ve heard about families who are supportive and kind to one another. They do things like; hug, kiss, praise, comfort and say: “I love you!” We, too, did things like that in my family, but, only in between the squabbling, quarrels and the screaming of: “I hate you!” Don’t get me wrong, we still love each other to this very day, but we had our differences and opinions, like most families. We weren’t the best nor were we the worst, for example, we didn’t shoot anyone – we just aimed a little higher.

There are large clans with ten children, aunts, uncles and a sperm bank worth of cousins and yet they seem to co-exist and function as a tight nit group. Then there’s the only child household that can’t even agree on pizza topping, let alone things like; education, discipline and weather or not to let junior get a scull tattooed on his or her scull?

Now that I’ve touched upon the subject of discipline and the family unit, here are a few of my thoughts on the matter. We first go back to the swat on the ass at our birth, it didn’t really hurt us, in fact it provoked us to take our first breath of air. Later we get spanked on the bum when we’re dumb and then cuffed up side the head as addlebrained pre-adolescents. Then it comes to a disastrous stop when the government takes over and decides that teenagers have rights and that corporal punishment isn’t appropriate.

Young adults begin to think they can get away with robbery, spreading their legs and opening their uncouth mouths. Just when they need the most guidance society abandons them. Teens start to talk back to their parents, teachers are beaten up and the police are as useless as tits on a bore. Then society wonders why the rate of teen pregnancies are so high, why the mortality of teen drivers is going through the roof and: “How come our jails are overflowing?” Personally I’m surprised that any of them survive into adulthood. Let’s face the facts, at this point in their lives, teens don’t know everything, even though they may think so. Their hormones are reeking havoc with their bodies and they’re about as stable as an drunken, menopausal woman with a grudge and a telephone.

Most of us grow up and mature into useful and productive adults, who swear to not make the same mistakes our parents did. We’re determined to be friends with our children and treat them like we’d like to be treated … so how’s that working out?

Families can be trying to say the very least, but for the most part we love them despite their flaws and short comings. We somehow muddle through life and try to forgive and forget. And we must, if not for them, but to preserve our own sanity. If we let them rent space in our heads we have no one to blame but ourselves. The ones I truly feel sorry for are all those mothers out there – the heartaches, the trials and tribulations they go through. >From the pain of birth to sleepless nights and I’ve been told that the worrying never stops. Sorry Mom!

THE END

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

By Lloyd Dolha

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and the AFN’s Women’s Council (AFNWC) united in their opposition to Bill C-8, the newest version of a federal act regarding division of matrimonial real property (MRP). They say it will do nothing to solve problems associated with the division of matrimonial property on-reserve when an aboriginal couple breaks up. They also say that the federal Tory government has failed to adequately consult and accomodate First Nations views on the matter, resulting in a bill that is “fatally flawed” and cannot be fixed.

Beverly Jacobs, president of the NWAC said the groups met with Aboriginal women who were “directly affected by the lack of legal recourse in matters relating to the division of matrimonial real property.” She emphasized the need “to ensure that the voices of the women we talked to are heard and their solutions are implemented.” Jacobs said that NWAC held meetings with Aboriginal women prior to the introduction of Bill C-47 (last year’s version of the act) and produced a “People’s Report” that included a number of solutions to address the problems associated with the division of matrimonial property. The new bill, they say, ignores all of those recommendations and does not provide the necessary resources to implement non-legislative solutions.

Echoing the concerns of Jacobs, AFNWC chairperson Kathleen McHugh added that Bill C-8 also ignores the recommendations of Wendy Grant John (Minister of Indian Affairs’ representative on MRP), who tabled a report stating that unilaterally-imposed legislation is not the answer. “All Bill C-8 does is force families into provincial courts. This is not a solution,” said McHugh. “For many families it’s unaffordable and it will force families in remote communities to endure long waiting periods before their cases can be heard.” Jacobs added that she’s concerned the bill will put women experiencing family violence at greater risk by forcing them to wait longer for justice without adequate social supports, services, or shelters.

Both the AFN and NWAC say the bill is a one-dimensional approach to a complex problem that does not address the real issues on the division of matrimonial property in First Nations communities. They say the legislation attempts to pit the individual rights of women against the collective rights of First Nations. They called for greater collaborative efforts between the federal government and First Nations to address the root causes of the poor socio-economic conditions that can contribute to marital breakdown among First Nations couples. They want the bill scrapped in favour of a new approach that would include non-legislative measures such as local dispute resolution processes, counselling services, and emergency shelters on-reserve.

Last month, AFN leader Phil Fontaine noted that a motion to “hoist” Bill C-8 did not recieve broad support among opposition parties in the House of Commons. Hoisting Bill C-8 would have taken the contoversial bill off the parilementary agenda. Fontaine said that a motion by the federal Liberals to hoist the bill was defeated beacause opposition parties didn’t take the opportunity to reject the flawed legislation. The Liberals wanted to have the bill delayed for six months to allow federal Tories to properly consult with First Nations on the changes they believe are necessary. The Liberals believe the bill imposes a default law on First Nations communities without ensuring they have adequate resources or the capacity to develop their own matrimonial codes.

The Tory bill also mandates “verification officers” who would play an active role in the development and approval of local matrimonial real estate property regimes—an approach they say is an insulting throwback to the use of Indian agents. INAC minister Chuck Strahl countered, saying the proposed bill (formally known as “the proposed Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act”) provides First Nations with a mechanism to enact their own culturally-relevent martimonial property laws without any involvent by the federal government—the very thing First Nations are seeking.

Strahl said the bill also ensures that in the meantime aboriginal families will be immediately protected while communities develop their own codes. The minister also pointed out that federal Conservatives held more than 100 consultation sessions to give organizations such as NWAC and the AFN ample opportunity to provide input and feedbck into the development of the bill. He said numerous studies about MRP and committees from both the House of Commons and Senate have recommended immediate action be taken. “There’s a lot of misinformation spread about Bill C-8 by those who seek to block this reform, which is long overdue,” said Strahl.

But Fontaine said that given the bill’s serious flaws, it could be subject to legal challenges because the government did not meet its constitional duty to adequately consult First Nations and that the bill itself infringes on First Nations rights. The national chief added that it is unlikely that the strict parameters imposed on First Nations will allow communities to create solutions that reflect their traditional laws and cultures and realities. Some of those realities include geographic remoteness, lack of access to the court system, high-priced lawyers, overcrowding, and lack of emergency shelters. “A number of First Nations have already taken a proactive approach to this issue and have worked with their communities to develop rules and policies related to MRP,” said Fontaine. “Under Bill C-8, the flawed federal approach will be imposed on First Nations, and these existing community-based solutions could be struck down and replaced.”

“This is not democratic,” he said. “It is inconsistent with the values of First Nations and Canadians, and only serves to do more harm to First Nations families.”

By Malcolm McColl

The residential school system has led to a multi-generational catastrophe in First Nation life. The schools were such a complete disaster that the Government of Canada had to make a formal apology in 2008. Financial compensation is underway, but healing requires grassroots action.

That’s where people involved with the Residential School Gathering Committee in Lytton come into the picture. “[The committee] is made up of about 10 to 15 people, and at times there were up to 20 to 25 in the group,” said Gilbert Isaac, one of the organizers. “Lorraine Hance is in charge, and Verna Miller is also heavily involved. Jean York is the president of the group.”

It is a busy committee, currently organizing an event to accelerate the healing process by gathering together residential school survivors in Lytton, B.C. this Fall. The organizing committee is putting together a three-day program scheduled for August 1st-3rd, 2009. “We started in April to get things done with posters, invitations, news releases, First Nation news outlets, and recruiting entertainers,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert expects it to be a good-sized gathering. “It will be at the site of the St. George’s Residential School that burned down in the 1980’s. We have people from all over the province who attended the school in Lytton. We have heard from Prince Rupert where a lot of families with school survivors will be coming to Lytton. This gathering is open to any residential school survivor.”

Nkixsten James, a member of the Gitxsan Spirit group, wrote to tell Gilbert Isaac, “We must honour the Gitxsan for their devoted efforts to end the battle of the Residential School Syndrome. You can come and greet them as they enter into Lytton heading towards the battlefield where the Residential School Survivors Gathering is going to take place on August 1, 2, and 3. We need your voices to sing our chants of welcome to them as they arrive.” Nkixsten explained that the Gitxsan Spirit is a group of residential school survivors established in February 2004 “to support, encourage, and educate survivors and their families in healing and healing issues.”

The group’s thirty-plus members gather informally on a monthly basis, and are organizing the Gitxsan Spirit Walk in BC from Hazelton to Lytton (about 600 miles apart). The main purpose of the Gitxsan Spirit Walk will be to continue to raise awareness of residential school survivors and their families’ life long healing process. Family members and supporters are encouraged to walk beside survivors and attend the reunion in Lytton, BC. They will be making their entrance into Lytton this coming July 31st, which is the National Day of Reconciliation.

Nkixsten recounts some of the history: “Up to five generations of Aboriginal children had attended residential schools, with the BC province having the most government and church-operated schools. Children were relocated from their families, nations, and lands. On a national level, the past nine years have had healing programs and projects open and close, all dependent on short-term funding.”

Nkixsten says, “Healing is a lifelong issue crossing generational boundaries. And the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal is also at a critical moment.” He adds that a real commitment to genuine reconciliation and a renewed relationship will affect the social conditions faced by all future generations.

To learn more about Gitxsan Spirit, contact William Matthews by email (wlmatthews21@hotmail.com) or phone 1-250-842-5742. For more information about Lytton please contact Lorraine Hance at 1-250-455-0025.

By Clint Buehler

EDMONTON – Willie Littlechild has a new honour recognizing his athletic achievements and contributions with his induction into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

Currently the Alberta vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Littlechild has been passionately active in athletics since he was a young boy, and credits that passion with laying the foundation for his illustrious career.

“I could have been dead on the streets somewhere, Littlechild says. “Sports really gave me that chance to live.”

A gifted athlete, he would go on to win more than 45 university, national and international competitions, including stellar performances as a member of the University of Alberta’s hockey and diving teams, plus serving as general manager of the university’s Golden Bears football team. He ultimately earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physical Education.

His accomplishments in sports and health earned him both the Alberta Award for Excellence in Athletics and induction into the University of Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. He would later also be inducted into the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame and the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

A passionate advocate for Aboriginal participation in sport, Littlech in Geneva, Switzerland.ld began organizing an international sporting even for the indigenous peoples of North America, and in 1990 the first North American Indigenous Games was held in Edmonton, with games later taking place in various locations in Canada and the United States in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2002.

For his contributions to this initiative, he was awarded the Ingternational Gold “Medaille d’Excellence” as Lauriette for Sports 1999/2000 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Willie was pursuing his interest in law, becoming the first Treaty Indian from Alberta to earn a law degree when he graduated in 1976 from the University of Alberta.

That was when—after 24 years spent gaining his education—the Elders called him into a teepee and told him that would be the first day of his “Indian Law School.” The Elders were concerned about violation of their treaties and, because the Ermineskin Treaty (Treaty 6) had been signed by Queen Victoria, they had decided that those violations needed to be dealt with in the international arena.

Littlechild, who had thought he would never have any use for knowing international law, would go from representing his own nation in international legal proceeding to the broader international jurisdiction of the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, with ever increasing responsibilities and influence.

In 1980 and 1981, he was a member of the legal team sent to the British High Courts in London, England as part of a lawsuit to block patriation of the Canadian Constitution until Aboriginal and Treaty rights were protected and included in the Constitution.

He would also successfully venture into partisan publics, elected in his home riding of Wetaskiwin in 1988 and serving five years in Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government where he made a number of significant contributions.

(While some unofficial biographies credit Willie with being the first First Nations person elected to the Canadian Parliament, that achievement goes to Len Marchand of the Okanagan Band, who served as parliamentary secretary to Jean Chretien when he was Indian Affairs minister, and as Minister of State for Small Business, and who was later appointed to the Senate by Chretien. He is credited with significantly advancing the Aboriginal cause during his more than three decades in public life)

As a Member of Parliament Littlechild served on several senior committees, including the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution, and as a parliamentary delegate to the United Nations. Working at the international level, Willie organized a coalition of indigenous nations that pursued and gained consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations which led to him being appointed to the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples by the ECOSOC President.

He was the key player in securing a voting seat for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples at the International Labour Organization, and was a founder of the International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development, and a founding member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace. He is currently one of 16 members on the United Nation’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

For those and many other achievements, Willie Littlechild’s contributions have been acknowledged in many different ways. He is acknowledged by the law profession as Queen’s Counsel and Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel, and is a member of the Order of Canada.

Reflecting on the motivation for his activism, he has written: “Our ancestors in some areas have secured our traditional ways and food systems in Treaties. These international agreements were signed ‘for so long as the grass grows, the rivers flow and the sun shines.’ For sharing our lands, we were to maintain our ‘vocations of hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering’ through certain tracts. We were to be able to do these for food at all seasons of the year. In others, we were to be assisted by Treaty ‘to be engaged in cultivating the soil’ as a right to development. There are other principles in international covenants which state that ‘Peoples’ may not be denied ‘their own means of subsistence.’”

By Lloyd Dolha

A prominent group of Aboriginal-rights lawyers say the prposed Recognition and Reconcilliation Act, a source of intense controversy in British Columbia, has more negative aspects than positive ones. Fourteen well-known aboriginal rights lawyers (including Jack Woodward, Robert Morales, and Peter Grant) have come to a consensus of opinion on the issue. In a report, they stated, “One option we believe deserves serious consideration is to abandon the legal recognition of a watered-down or artificial form of Aboriginal title and remove the concept of reconstituting First Nations.” They also suggest that First Nations should consider focusing on opportunities for “ministries and statutory decision-makers to engage in shared decision-making and revenue-sharing with First Nations with a simple political commitment to recognition [of Aboriginal title] from the province that would not require the agreement of First Nations.”

The group says that including a “non-exclusive” form of title in provincial legislation agreed to by First Nations would invite the courts to move away from the exclusive form of Aboriginal title already recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada. They argue that there is a high risk that proposed legislation would prevent First Nations from negotiating accommodations based on infringements of rights and title and substitute a “one- size-fits-all” approach to revenue-sharing.

Grand Chief Ed John, proponent of the act, said that assessment is way off base because the province does not have the constitutional authority to weaken Aboriginal title. “It’s wrong in law, it’s wrong in policy, and it’s wrong in the politics of our community. We are not giving away the farm,” he said in an interview. Chief John is one of the First Nations leaders helping to draft the recognition legislation through the Recognition Working Group.

The proposed legislation is currently making the rounds before the province’s First Nations in a series of regional consultations throughout the province. Critics say extending any form of Aboriginal title over the entire province, as proposed in the act, would make every ministry and agency subect to the act and take priority over all provincial statutes concerning lands and resources. They say such a law would create a new layer of Aboriginal government with a potential veto over all economic activity in the province.

In early June, 22 chiefs attending the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) quarterly council meeting voted in opposition to the continued engagement of the UBCIC executive in the Recognition Working Group. The chiefs want more clarity and a tangible document to share with First Nations. “We are not opposed to recognition and reconciliation. We are opposed to the opaque framework of the proposed Recognition and Reconciliation Act,” said Chief Wayne Christian of Splatsin. “We want nothing more than for our Aboriginal rights and titles and authorities to be recognized.”

In a release by the Shuswap Tribal Council, Christian said a letter sent from Michael Wernick, federal deputy minister for Indian and Northern Affairs, to Bob de Faye, provincial deputy minister of Aboriginal relations and reconciliation, makes it clear that the federal government does not approve of the lack of consultation concerning the province’s proposed legislation. “While the government of Canada fully respects British Columbia’s ability to take whatever legislative and litigation steps that it sees fit, the federal government has played and wishes to continue playing a key role in resolving Aboriginal issues of critical importance to all concerned,” wrote Mr. Wernick. “Being briefed in the short term future of these matters and the apparent significant shifts in long-standing approaches … will be critical in ensuring that this remains the case.”

The Shuwap say that British Columbia has neglected to engage in meaningful consultation with the federal government, leaving little hope for First Nations to recieve fair treatment in the development of the proposed legislation. They further argue that the proposed legislation is outside the scope of the province’s power under the Canadian constitution.

By Lee Waters

Looking at the latest press pictures of Lucie Idlout, one can see a hint of matured femininity. Listening to her latest album Swagger, one can hear that hint as well. Ten years after her debut album E5-770: My Mother’s Name attracted critical acclaim and saw her perform at the Aboriginal Achievement Awards, open for the White Stripes in Iqaluit, and generated lot of media buzz, the Nunavut born rocker is back and exposing her softer side.

The first time I saw Lucie Idlout, she was standing on a stage in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Railway club in Vancouver in 2005 performing a line-up of songs from her first album. She crawled on the stage; she raged; she held nothing back. I was impressed. A fan of true hard rock women always has an eye out for an inspiring newcomer. Nearly five years later, as I listen to Lucie’s new album in my living room—admittedly a much less stimulating environment—something is different. Her debut album, bound with hard rock influences, had glimpses of youthful experience and her indigenous heritage, but Swagger explores personal experiences of love and loss mixed with her signature hard rock sound. Stripped of haunting Aboriginal influences like throat singing and traditional instruments, Lucie explores lighter sounds with more pop and country style influences this time around. Lyrics consist primarily of the emotions evoked by love. It seems Lucie herself (an open advocate of seal hunting in Inuvik) might have been speared by Cupid’s arrow.

The first two songs “Berlin” and “Whiskey Breath” blast out, still holding the power of heavy rock. The next song “My Shine” has a more Avril Lavine-style pop beat with energetic, harmonized voice tracks repeating the lyrics almost sarcastically: “You’re so impossible, yet so predictable.” Then the mood shifts to the more sombre “Tonight” in which her husky voice sweetens, and she croons, “I can’t get you out of my head. I’d rather love you instead.” It seems Idlout is trying her hand at a bit of everything, each song testing the boundaries of rock and slipping into pop and folk genres. But she’s far from having lost her edge, as she proves in the last song on the album “Be There For You.” She sings these bitter lyrics with lullaby sweetness: “When you’re tired and feeling down, when you’ve lost the will to go on, I won’t be there for you. Not for the stars in the sky, not for the tears in your eyes, not for a comforting moment, not for you. I won’t be there for you.”

There seems to be a very intentional cleansing of the traditional sounds, influences, and subject matter found on her first album, which is not surprising considering the artist’s frustration with being unable to shed her Inuk ancestry as a blanket identity in media reviews and interviews. During an interview with Saturday Night magazine she argued, “I’m Inuk. That means that I’m automatically pegged as an ambassador for Inuit regardless of what I say. This winds me up a bit. I can’t seem to get through an interview without it being brought up. I write songs about issues that people experience internationally. Yes, I write about abuses, but you would be hard pressed to tell me there are no wife beaters in the U.S. or no alcoholics in Germany.” She also told the magazine she dedicated all of her gigs to her Grandfather Joseph Idlout, whom she never met. He was the subject of the 1990 documentary Two Worlds and was also one of the Inuit hunters depicted on the Canadian two-dollar bill in the “Scenes of Canada” series of bank notes. Lucie seemed torn between a great attachment to and respect for her ancestry (she often wore seal skin when performing) and the desire for her art not to be examined through a cultural microscope, as it often was.

Regardless of how Lucie feels about her Inuk roots, her music still influences her community. Her new album features a song called “Lovely Irene” (originally titled “Angel Street”) about a woman who suffered domestic violence. The song inspired Iqaluit mayor Eisapee Sheutiapik to launch a campaign calling attention to domestic violence, urging all Canadian cities to name a local street “Angel.”

It’s expected that an artist will explore many sides of themselves through their art, whether crowd pleasing or not, in order to maintain creativity. In her first album, the ancestral sounds were perhaps its most redeeming and promising quality. However, in Swagger, there is something to be said for sheer simplicity and the willingness to depict personal emotions in the lyrics. By exploring different artistic directions, Lucie Idlout may have achieved that cross-cultural appeal she was looking for.

Q & A : with Lucie Idlout

Q: What were some of the inspirations for your latest album ‘Swagger’?

A: “They are songs written based on my personal experiences, or stuff witnessed in other peoples lives. I record things that happen in life lyrically. The album is a commentary.”

Q: How is your first album, ‘E5-770 My Mother’s Name’ different from ‘Swagger’?

A: “They’re not so much different, because they both come from me. Otherwise, I think there is growth in my song writing, or at least I hope there is! I think it’s a much tidier album. The craft is tidier than it used to be. I did a lot of experimenting on the first album. It was my first time in a studio EVER, and I played around a lot. Everything on ‘Swagger’ was very carefully chosen and tidier, I think there is simplicity in beauty.”

Q: Do you have any favourite songs on the album?

A: “It changed actually, it used to be ‘Belly down’ and before that ‘ Whiskey Breath’ but now its’ ‘For you’. I just like the simplicity and the sentiment.”

Q: Do you have any advice to other up and coming artists, whether they be Aboriginal, Canadian, or starting out from anywhere else in the world?

A: “I don’t know, everyone’s experience is so different, I think I’ve been pretty lucky. I guess just If your passionate about what you’re doing and stick it through, you will achieve your goals.”

Q:Where would you like to be in the future, either musically or career wise?

A: “I’m doing it, man! I’m living the dream! I’m doing it right now.”

Photography and Story by Danny Beaton

In Tiny Township, Ontario, across the road from where the County of Simcoe is now in the process of draining and raping one of the world’s purest sources of water on Mother Earth is the protest camp set up by 5 native women against what is called Dump Site 41. Local farmers, fishermen, native and non-native citizens organized as “Citizens for Safe Water” are trying to convince Honorable Dalton McGuinty and Minister of the Environment John Gerretsen or any one else who will help to STOP this dump site. Scientist William Shotyk, a geochemistry professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany states in a Dec. 16th Globe and Mail article by Martin Mittelsteadt, “It’s the best water on Earth. This is an area of artesian wells, where water frequently rises out of the ground under its own pressure. This is kind of like the old growth forest of natural waters.”

The machines are roaring and clanking away in the distance as I sit on a pine stump in the clover field across from Dump Site 41, writing. We had just finished a traditional ceremony at our Sacred Fire, led by Leon King (brother of Spiritual Elder Gloria King of Beausolei Island First Nation, sacred Ojibway territory for thousands of years). As a Mohawk, I have witnessed and experienced the healing of the land after feasting on Lake Trout, Whitefish, fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, venison, corn soup and the power of mineral waters from the Alliston Aquifer, which clean and rejuvenate our wounded bodies from Western diets.

Henry Lickers, Environmental Science Officer for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, says the Alliston Aquifer appears to be one of the most pristine water sources in Ontario. Protected over centuries by forests and natural occurring barriers, this aquifer has survived in this time of industrialization and massive resource utilization. The building of a landfill site on this aquifer does not make ethical sense. Money, politics, and waste are poor substitutes for pristine water, health, and clean environments. I hope that the Ontario and Canadian governments are extracting very large long-term liability insurances for this site, since the cleanup cost will be enormous when the barriers fail. Building Dump Site 41 on this sacred Alliston Aquifer is shortsighted, foolish, and irresponsible.

Wilmer Nadjiwon of Cape Croker, Georgian Bay, understands the Sacredness of the Waters because his nation survived using the resource of the fish for their very existence. The biggest concern is that the Dump Site 41 is so close to the creeks that run into the rivers that run into Georgian Bay. This should be of interest to every Canadian that depends on Georgian Bay for their drinking water, for their livelihood through sports and tourism activities, for fishing opportunities, for inspiration to clear thinking about what is really important for our welfare on this Sacred Mother Earth. Our children deserve to have a good life for their children and their children. Clean water is LIFE!

Gloria King Speaks Out For Mother Earth:

My birthplace was Midland, Ontario. My parents were Wilson King and Lavina Sylvester. My Dad never had a middle name; he was Podawadami and my Mom was Ojibway. We come from Christian Island; originally my Dad and his family came from around Wisconsin area where the red dirt is. I am here because I come to do Water Ceremonies with the women here. This is my role as an Anishnabia Kwe, to speak for the water and pray for the water. I was told that when I pray for the water it turns to medicine.

I really love what my niece Vicky Monague is doing here to stop the dump site. I taught her how to care for the Water and Mother Earth. The people who are coming here to join us all care about what is happening—they are coming to protect Mother Earth from harm. When the people first came here they were not at all happy, but through the Sacred Fire and our ceremonies with our Sacred Teachings that we shared, we are changing them into happy people. The youth are changing; you can see a difference. They are looking shinier—they are looking shinier than I’ve ever seen them. I am very proud of our youth. I am happy they are here helping our camp, helping with fire keeping, helping with all the chores of making this camp work. I am happy that they can help us protect Mother Earth.

When I was young, we grew up surrounded by water. We would go down to what was known as Douglas Lake, and we would swim all day. Soon as we had something to eat, we’d be gone all day. We’d be swimming like fish all day long. We knew the lake, but we were surrounded by water. We were able to go to the main village and swim off the dock there. Water has been our Life.

In the old days, we could play without worrying about contamination. I truly believe today, if you offer your tobacco, the slime on the water will float away. I have seen it with my own eyes. Our ceremonies are very powerful. Our people have always maintained them. We respect our medicines. We have a way of life with the Creator and Mother Earth by giving thanks throughout our lifetime. This has been passed on to us from our ancestors. I think about my grandmother. We used to haul water a ways down from the road. My Mom and I would be carrying a big washtub in between us and a pail in each hand beside us to get it to the house so we could do laundry. I truly believe when my grandmother was younger, she would go down to the water’s edge, put her dipper in water and lifted, and they could drink that water.

Today we can’t do that, and I’m sorry to see all this happening here. It’s such a beautiful place here. If you would ever look at this area where we are you would find we have valleys here, the land where they want to build the dump site is our home, too. It is the home of my ancestors. I hope for myself that this dump site never happens.

We have been told by our prophecies that the water is going to be forever flowing, and I believe that. Being a Water Speaker is being able to see that water, and we as women can do praying for that water, that the Gift of Life that is going to flow through us. This is not good what is happening here.

Most everything we ate when we were little came from the water and the bush. My father used to travel to our three islands here in the winter to feed us. We lived a good life here for many years. The water for us is very important. I myself have diabetes. I need clean water everyday to clean the diabetes out. If I drink our water, it cleans my system out; the more water I drink, it cleans me out. Water is my people’s main source, as we make a lot of our juices and teas with it.

Fish is something our people eat a lot of—all the water is so important. Being one who lives by myself and getting older, I cannot fish anymore; my sons bring me my fish now. We have a water treatment plant for many years here, but when I found these surface springs here in Elmvale just across the Bay and down the road, I began to pray for that water, and when I tasted that water it was so good—it was the most beautiful water that you have ever tasted. There is nothing in it to change it; they never put anything in that water to clean that water. It is completely natural water from a natural spring with no pump. It’s just pure water; it is medicine for our people. If most of our people drank this water I am sure they would not have much diabetes. This water would clean their system and the sugar would leave their bodies.

Everything grows with water. If you have a garden, you have to spray your plants with water. When the waters come from Spiming up above where the thunders come from, I believe what it does is the Water comes and purifies Mother Earth before we walk there. The sky, the Manados, cleanses you; the water that comes from there cleans you, purifies you as well as your gardens.

When it rains on us or my girls, I know that the Creator is blessing us. He is blessing us with his water—that is what is happening. Rains clean everything and purify everything when we do our ceremonies. That’s the way I Iook at it, before we step on Mother Earth when we’re doing ceremonies.”

Conclusion from Danny:

We have been camped out across from Dump Site 41 since May 8, 2009. We are watching machines rape the most beautiful farmland and water in North America, and it hurts us deeply. We have decided to protest peacefully without intimidation or violence. This is a call for all people of Good Minds to speak out for our children’s future now. We are all witnessing the mismanagement and rape of our Sacred Mother Earth. We need to organize now with Native spiritual elders to defend what belongs to our children. It is a crime to rape the Alliston Aquifer and Sacred Surface Springs of Georgian Bay. Leachate and contamination will seep into the Alliston Aquifer and under to the Laurentian River, traveling along on top McDonald Creek to the Wye River, into the Wye Marsh, then into the Georgian Bay. This is hypothetical to government analysts. Our fish, berries, cedars, pine, herbs, and our plants and Sacred Springs will become polluted. Possibly our clean air will become toxic. Our traditional native diet, which is all we have left to heal with, will become poisoned, say our elders.

We need support from native studies and environmental studies, teachers and students, using their computers and networks, to pressure the Premier of Ontario Honorable Dalton McGuinty (send email to dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org) and the Minister of the Environment of Ontario Mr. John Gerretsen (send email to jgerretsen.mpp@liberal.ola.org).

Add your name to our online petition (www.dannybeaton.ca)—over 5000 people have already signed! Anyone willing to help is most important to us. Please Contact National Chief Phil Fontaine at AFN (toll free 1-866-869-6789) to unite all of our chiefs now to stop this eco-genocide to the Ojibway people’s homeland. Contact Ontario Chief Angus Toulouse (807-626-9339) for further strategy. Additional contact info is available on the AFN website (www.afn.ca).

Visit our peace protest camp at Elmvale, Township of Tiny, across from dumpsite 41.

For further information about Citizens for Safe Water, contact Mr. Stephen Ogden (705-322-2398 or email stephenogden@sympatico.ca) or Mr. & Mrs. John and Anne Nahuis (email nahuis@csolve.net) or Mrs. Vicki Monague (705-247-2636).

This is why I am here: to support my Ojibway relations and relatives to defend our children’s Water. Please help me. Please help us. Your support is needed. Thank you for listening. All My Relations.