CULTURE
COVER:
Aboriginal
Gangs in Prairie Provinces in "Crisis Proportions"
BIOGRAPHY
Chad
Denny Makes Quebec Major Juniors
BUSINESS
Casino
Of The Rockies: The Casino Where Everybody Wins
CULTURE
Buffy
Honours Dudley George's Life with Music Concert
Vancouver's
Museum of Anthropology Strives To Accurately Represent First Nations Culture
ENVIRONMENT
Chippewas
of Nawash Defend Lake Huron and Georgian Bay
HUMOUR
Bee
in the Bonnet: Artsy Fartsy
Bee
in the Bonnet: Halls!
POLITICS
AFN
Leader Seeks to Reorganize National Body
Buffy
Honours Dudley George's Life with Music Concert
By
Dan Smoke - Asayenes (NNNC Staff)
Buffy Ste. Marie will headline a benefit concert in Massey Hall October
10th to honour the life of slain activist Dudley George, to help the George
family with its trial costs, and to launch a permanent education fund
for Aboriginal youth, in Dudley's memory.
Contacted by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT), which raised over
$60,000 for the Ipperwash Justice Fund last year, Buffy said they hope,
"to raise both awareness and money at the concert.
I have utmost respect for teachers who refuse to take silence as an answer
to the questions surrounding Dudley's death."
She
will be joined onstage by emcee Tantoo Cardinal, and guests: Charlie Hill,
Pura Fe, and Derek Miller and others.
"As a teacher myself before I was ever a singer, I have a hard time
playing stupid when I want to know something and somebody wants me to
forget it. As founder of the Nihewan Educational Foundation that has,
since the 1960s, given away millions of dollars to students trying to
make the world better, healthier, and smarter, I have seen scholarship
recipients go on to great lives, including some who became the presidents
of tribal councils," she said.
She questions why there have been no answers forthcoming from the Harris/Eves
government. "Educators all over the globe teach children that the
world can be a better place through education, good leadership, healthful
lifestyles, and working together. How do we explain to them the events
of September 1955 that killed a member of our human family? Every autumn,
school children reflect on the big "What happened?" when Columbus
got off that boat."
Were the Europeans who destroyed the indigenous worlds they found really
as violent and underhanded as they seem? Or were they too victims of bad
leadership that recurs again and again in weak human societies."
Now Canadians, especially educators, are considering the possibility
that such bad leadership might actually be condoning violence and underhanded
coverups today, as in the death of Dudley George. As for me, I can't sleep
nights wondering what really happened. Like the Elementary Teachers of
Toronto, I just want to know."
Buffy Ste Marie has made 17 music albums, three television specials, spent
five years on Sesame Street, scored movies, helped to found Canada's "Music
of Aboriginal Canada" JUNO category, raised a son, earned a Ph.D.
in Fine Arts, taught Digital Music as adjunct professor at several colleges,
and won an Academy Award Oscar for the song "Up Where We Belong".
Deadly protest
On September 6, 1995, Dudley George, unarmed, was protesting the destruction
of a sacred burial ground at Ipperwash Provincial Park in southwestern
Ontario when he was shot and killed by the OPP.
Ex-Officer Ken Deane was convicted of criminal negligence causing death
to George and resigned from the OPP. The family launched a wrongful death
lawsuit against the provincial government and for eight years they have
been calling for a public inquiry, saying they would drop the lawsuit
if an inquiry were held.
The government has consistently refused so the George family proceeds
to court September 22nd, with the intention of exposing the truth about
the events in Ipperwash that night.
Dudley's brother, Maynard "Sam" George told NNNC having to go
to court will be "a hard time for me and my family to get through,
because that wound is still open."
The wrongful death civil trial is expected to last at least four months
before Mme. Justice Jean MacFarland, the judge who ruled in favour of
Jane Doe's civil lawsuit against the Metro Police. "I have to be
there for that whole time," George said, so he is moving to Toronto.
"It makes me feel good they're going to create a scholarship in Dudley's
name to help other young people. A lot of good hearted people are supporting
us. They believe in what we're trying to do."
George said he hopes the trial will allow "the truth to come out.
We're looking for who, why, when, where, and what happened that night.
We are going into this with an optimistic feeling."
The concert will be evidence of strong public support to see the truth
exposed, to make the Ontario government accountable for its actions, and
to ensure that Dudley's name will live on through a permanent education
fund for Native youth.
Date: Friday, October 10, 2003
Location: Massey Hall 178 Victoria Street (1 block east of Yonge Street, between Dundas and Queen Streets).
Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm; event starts at 7:30pm.
For further information, call Lisa Worthington at (416) 537-6100, Ext. 53.