Posts By: First Nations Drum

By Lloyd Dolha

With the recent court decision upholding the Metis Nation of Ontario’s (MNO) harvesting agreement reached with the province of Ontario in 2004, the province has announced that it will not appeal the court decision and will renew negotiations with the Ontario Metis regarding their recently recognized harvesting rights.

Ontario Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay and MNO president Tony Belcourt renewed that commitment on Friday July 13th in Thunder Bay at the MNO’s annual general assembly.

“Ontario is committed to respecting Metis food harvesting rights,” said MNR Minister Ramsay. “We look forward to undertaking renewed discussions with the Metis Nation of Ontario.”

“MNO is prepared to work with MNR in a spirit of cooperation,” said MNO president Belcourt. “We have always been committed to conservation and to a working relationship with the Ontario Government.”

A recent Ontario Court of Justice decision stayed charges against three Metis men who held valid MNO harvesting cards pursuant to interim July 7, 2004 agreement between the two parties in light of the landmark 2003 Powley decision by the Supreme Court of Canada which confirmed the Metis as a rights-bearing aboriginal people in Canada.

On June 21st, the Ontario government announced it would not appeal the decision of Justice Greg Rodgers of June 12th, to stay the charges against Marc Laurin, Rodger Lemieus and Shaun Lemieux. The three were charged with illegal fishing in their traditional harvesting territory south of Sudbury – an important point.

Following the original July 7th, 2004 Metis harvesting agreement (or Interim Enforcement Policy), the Ontario government began to insist that the agreement was not “legally enforceable.” Eventually, Ontario stated that it would not implement the agreement south and east of Sudbury and new charges were laid against Metis harvesters. As of June 2007, twenty-five MNO members bearing harvesting cards were charged.

In recognizing the legitimacy of the July 7th, 2004 Interim Enforcement Policy, the judge noted that the objective of the enforcement policy was to “minimize the number of instances where aboriginal people are in conflict with the government of Ontario.”

While the Ontario government took the position that it would not recognize MNO communities south and east of Sudbury, the MNO argued that the 2004 agreement had no geographic limitations.

Justice Rodgers agreed with the Ontario Metis and found that:
“… the government was prepared in the short term to accept the legitimacy of the Harvester Card system and the MNO citizen registry … By accepting the legitimacy of the Harvester Card system, I find the ministry also agreed implicitly to accept on a without prejudice basis the territorial designation on each card.
“There is no reference anywhere in the July 7, 2004 Agreement to geographical limits apart from the harvesting being restricted to traditional territories.”
-par 19-22

According to a summary prepared by Metis rights lawyer Jean Teillet, the 2004 agreement was never intended to be a final agreement. It was only intended to facilitate further research and discussion toward and eventual final agreement. Thus, the parties agreement to rely on the MNO Harvester Card system in the interim is highly significant.

Article 1 of the 2004 agreement states that MNO will only issue 1250 cards n 2004. It further states that the parties would develop a mutually agreeable process to change the number of cards.

The judge noted that this was MNR’s agreement to potentially increase the number of cards. He further noted that MNR’s agreement, when combined with its knowledge that over 50 per cent of the cards were for areas south and east of Sudbury was “a strong indicator that the Minister in good faith was prepared to stand down on this issue in the short term and accept the territorial authorization that the Harvester Card System provided.”

To then insist that the agreement could not be implemented south and east of Sudbury, in light of this awareness, was certain to increase the number of instances where aboriginal people are in conflict with the province, which was “exactly the opposite objective of the Interim Enforcement Policy.”

“This is major step in the Metis hunt for justice,” said MNO president Belcourt. “It means our people, in all of our traditional harvesting territories in Ontario, can hunt and fish for food or ceremonial purposes without the specter of being charged by conservation officers … for exercising their rights.”

MNO chair Gary Lipinski said “Now we can look forward to entering a new era with the government of Ontario. Now that the MNO-MNR Harvesting Agreement is being fully honoured, we need to get back to the negotiation table to undertake our mutual obligations.”

By Morgan O’Neal

According to the most recent numbers, by 2017, there will be 1.39 million to 1.43 million aboriginal persons (4.1 per cent of the Canadian population) in Canada. The country’s aboriginal population is expected to grow by 1.8 per cent annually, more than twice the rate for the general population. The aboriginal birth rate is now 1.5 times the Canadian birth rate. These statistics are extremely significant, for if such a trend continues and greatly alters the demographics of the nation, problems now existing in isolated communities of the interior and the far north will no longer be able to be ignored. More and more displacement to the urban centers is predictable, as individuals, families, and entire groups of indigenous peoples flock the center where false advertising promises a better life through education and jobs.

It is now over a century since the great Plains Cree Chief, Pitikwahanapiwiyin, better known as Poundmaker, was alive and leading his people in similar negotiations and struggles for social justice. He was known in his own time as a visionary peacemaker and a great orator in defense of his people’s survival and progress. It is fitting that during this the first decade of millennial indigenous celebrations in 2007, that Poundmaker be remembered, as one who brought people together in peace and dialogue. The great Chief was born in 1842 and died on 4 July 1886. His name derives from his special ability to attract buffalo into pounds or corrals. Sometimes, these great beasts would be drawn in quietly by a person like Poundmaker, who would dress in a buffalo pelt and use a bell to capture the herd’s attention. Oral history has it that on one occasion he lured 500 buffalo into his pound; therefore, he was given the name Poundmaker. But he became a great peacemaker also.

During the North-West Rebellion, Poundmaker’s followers were falsely accused of attacking Fort Battleford. In actual historical fact most of the looting alleged to have occurred was actually done by whites, according to an observer at the time. Nevertheless, a military force led by Lieutenant-Colonel William Dillon Otter used this false information to justify a wrongful attack on Poundmaker’s camp near Cut Knife Hill. The military was forced into retreat. And still, Poundmaker shrewdly prevented his warriors from pursuing the soldiers, so that no more blood would be shed.

On the basis of a letter written by Louis Riel, bearing his name, Poundmaker was still convicted of treason in 1885 and sentenced to four years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary At his trial, he is reported to have said: “Everything that is bad has been laid against me this summer, there is nothing of it true. Had I wanted war, I would not be here now. I should be on the prairie. You did not catch me. I gave myself up. You have got me because I wanted justice.” Poundmaker was released from Stony Mountain Penitentiary after serving a year, but he was so weakened in spirit and in such poor health that he died of a lung hemorrhage at Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta on July 4, 1886, four months after his release. In a civilized country these circumstances would constitute ample reason for an inquiry into the kind of justice Poundmaker received in the Canadian Courts of law, and the most cursory medical examination would have shown that his imprisonment amounted to a death sentence in the first place. Therefore if one of the mandates of current ‘modern’ regimes of power in Canada is indeed to uncover and pay restitutions to the victims of false accuses and incarcerated citizens, the time has come to exonerate Poundmaker and clear him of any wrongdoing in these surprisingly recent historical events. Not only exoneration, but also celebration of his strong productive struggle in defense of his land, his people, and for the peace and security of Humanity as a whole.

As the indigenous population continues to grow in the urban centers of Canada, the memory and example of great leaders like Poundmaker will solidify as the rock upon which all future defenses of native integrity and dreams of progress in the building of safe and healthy communities in which the increasing numbers of native children can grow and thrive and achieve their dreams with the support of solid basis in their elders’ collective pasts as the original inhabitants of this land, and the strength to meet the changes of the increasingly more rapidly changing world in which we all must maintain our human traits of tolerance and compassion in order that everyone is treated with the respect they deserve, and that everyone is given the opportunity to develop in themselves the gore of their human experience in a positive way which can contribute to solving the many problems and issues that will emerge in the future.

By Lloyd Dolha

The Musqueam Indian Band sent out its first and only public statement on the growing controversy over the possible transfer of the popular 18-hole UBC gold course to the First Nation as part of its land claims settlement in the works with the provincial government.

“There has been a lot of speculation about what Musqueam would do if we got the UBC golf course, which forms part of our traditional territory, as a result of this negotiation,” reads the June 27th written statement to the news media by Chief Ernest Campbell. “I want to assure everyone that if we do get the gold course, we would keep it as a golf course until 2033.”

Since word of the possible transfer leaked out in early June, public speculation over the fate of the 120 acre golf course has been rampant among the upscale Shaunnessy residents of the affluent Vancouver-Point Grey riding – the riding held by Premier Gordon Campbell.

A petition to block the controversial deal has been circulating door-to-door and over the Internet among Point Grey residents. The petition also calls for greater transparency of the negotiations to quell growing fears among area residents of the future of the one of the oldest golf course in the city. The petition hopes to garner some 5,000 signatures

“Everyone associated is really upset and doesn’t know what’s going on,” said Bob Hindmarch, a former UBC athletics director, in an interview. “We will get thousands of people to sign this petition because people don’t want this deal to happen.”
The prime real estate on which the golf course was bought by the university in 2003 for $11 million over the objections of the Musqueam.

UBC bought the land for the paltry sum with the stipulation that it only be used for a golf course, when it is generally held to be one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the country valued in the hundreds of millions should it ever be redeveloped for residential purposes.

Challenged by the Musqueam in court, the sale of the golf course by the province to the university was suspended in March 2003 by the BC Court of Appeal, overturning an earlier Supreme Court of BC ruling which upheld the sale.

The appeal court ruled that the provincial government breached its duty to consult and accommodate the Musqueam before transferring title of the property.

The majority ruled that the order-in-counsel authorizing the sale should be suspended for two years while the parties negotiate an agreement.

Since word of the possible deal leaked out, the University Endowment Lands advisory council has been working to scuttle the deal. Representing 1,500 UBC-area households, the advisory council has made an application to the land title office to temporarily ban the possible transfer of the golf course to the Musqueam on the basis of their being a steward or trustee of the lands under negotiations.

“This is just our way of trying to freeze anything that would happen until we know a little bit more or until we are engaged in the process,” said Bob Kastin, president of the advisory council.
If the advisory council’s application is accepted, the land title will be frozen for 60 days or until another party successfully applies to have the stipulation removed.

Minister of Aboriginal Relations Mike de Jong said in a letter to Kasting that the Musqueam pledge should ally some fears for the upper-class golf course fans.

“Those who make use of the golf course at UBC will be able to do so with certainty many years into the future.”
de Jong went on to say the negotiations taking place are held in the context of a broader commitment by the province to meet its obligations to settle long-standing grievances with BC First Nations.

“These are complex issues, made even more challenging in an urban environment where the Crown is limited in its options to resolve aboriginal land disputes,” he wrote.

“It is important to remember that a primary basis of all these issues is the reconciliation of Crown and aboriginal interests and that land is a critical component in this process.”

The Musqueam Indian Band will make no further announcement on the future of the UBC golf course until negotiations with the province are complete in the settlement of two outstanding court cases.

The other case involves the River Rock Casino in Richmond, where the Musqueam successfully challenged a provincial government decision to allow the casino to relocate to a Bridgeport site and expand.

An announcement on the result of those negotiations from government is expected in sometime in late July.

By Bernie Bates

I promise I’ll get to it first thing tomorrow – or the next day, but definitely by the weekend. If not, next summer at the very latest! Procrastination is such a terrible trait to have, it has delayed or even destroyed some people’s dreams. Inventions that could’ve relieved mankind’s burden, turned out-laws into in-laws and even the ebb and flow of love’s desire. “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today!”

Procrastination: is nothing more than stealing time from your own future. Why put off until tomorrow, what you can do today? But if you’re a true procrastinator you probably say things like this; “Oh, why worry? The mess will still be there tomorrow, I’ll clean it up then!” Or, right now, you might be thinking: “Ah, what the hell, I’ll read this another time.”

But, if you’re a person who hates to look at an unfinished job or won’t leave work until a project is finished, and done well, I might add, then you my friend, will always be able to find a job and you will enjoy the fruits of your labour: nicer surroundings, a healthier life style, cool toys and a better sex life (strike that last summation, it falls under the category of: ‘all of the above’)!
I’ve always wanted to be a millionaire with enough wampum to choke the words of every jerk, who’s ever said: “Oh, he’ll never amount to anything!” The first thing I’d do is give them all a brand new car: then have the cars repossessed! Then I’d … Hey, wait a minute, if I did that, then I’d be the jerk. Ah, what the hell? I’d be so rich I could buy all the friends I wanted. I think I’ll get started on that list first thing tomorrow.

Being a person who practices what I preach – I, too, am one who would rather ‘do it tomorrow.’ In fact, I thought about writing this story last year … Wow! How time flies! Time: is like trying to hold sand in your hands, it just seems to slip away. Why couldn’t it be more like the sand that gets stuck in your bathing suit … Euwww!

Most of us have heard the old saying: “Indian time.” For those of you who are not familiar with this witticism: it’s a jab at how we Natives disregard the White mans perception of time! Natives, for generations, far too numerous to count, have looked at time much differently than the ticking of a clock. The sun, the moon and seasons were our tools for measurement. How fast could you run, how sharp was your hearing, your sight, your wits and how many teeth you had – that’s how Natives could tell what time it was.

Then along came words like; punctual, exactly, precisely and “You’re fired!” In defense of our tardy ways, I’d like to explain that it’s not that we Natives are lazy, it’s just our outlook on life, itself. Take, for instance, the English: they must have their ‘tea time.’ And for the French: It’s time for ‘Amour.” Even other things have their time and place. Our stomachs can tell us, it’s time to order pizza. A woman has an inner clock … tic, tic, tic! Even the government has a clock: they just can’t seem to locate it, and they blame the previous government for losing it in the first place – that is – until it’s tax time.

“HOLY CRAP!” Oh, excuse me – I just looked at the calendar. Where does time go? I was supposed to have written this column (the one your reading, right now) last week – hence the holy crap. Where does time go? I know you can spend it, lose it, waste it, find it and even make time. But you can’t touch it, smell it or hold it! It’s either coming or going and never, ever stops! “HOLY CRAP!”

Even now, time has me by the short hairs, I’ve still got my “Honey-Do-List,” to get done, plan the up coming week, draw an illustration for this column … “HOLY CRAP!” Or … I could do it tomorrow! The only problem with that is – it creates the ‘domino effect.’ What doesn’t get done today, gets piled on tomorrow’s plate of ‘things to get done today.’ You know what I mean, you have things on your ‘To-do-list,’ from last week … am I right? Don’t worry, everyone has them!

I think everyone on Mother Earth should change their time to “Indian time!” Why live and die by the clock? Why not enjoy time? After all, you couldn’t spend it a better way.

THE END

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

By Flynn Lowe

Over seven months after Kelly Morrisseau, a pregnant mother of three, was found fatally wounded in Gatineau Park, there has still been no justice for her family. The police still don’t have any information on the killer(s) who remain free and untried. Meanwhile mainstream Canadian media gives cursory coverage of the grisly murder while subtly insinuating that Kelly was somehow involved in the sex trade even with no evidence to prove it. A greater tragedy in all this is the fact that Kelly is not the first in the Morrisseau family to meet such a horribly tragic end. Kelly Morrisseau is originally from the Sagkeeng First Nation in Fort Alexander, Manitoba and back in 1991 her aunt, Glenda Morrisseau was found in Winnipeg, Manitoba a victim of a similarly brutal killer. To this day, Glenda’s killer has never been caught.

It has long been known that aboriginal women are many times more likely to face the dangers of violence and sexual exploitation. According to StatsCanada, aboriginal women are five times more likely than other women to die as the result of violence. There are two important aspects of Canadian society that are revealed by this statistic: first, aboriginal women make up just a small fraction of the Canadian population but are the demographic that is most under threat of violence; second, the government is aware of this but has done very little to deal with the problem. Even international human aid organizations like Amnesty International openly recognize the racist and sexist stereotypes that are denying aboriginal women their honour and dignity. The lack of respect for aboriginal women is what encourages predatory men to engage in acts of violence against our women because many such men feel they can get away with these crimes.

On Aboriginal Day, aboriginal women’s leaders from across Canada met in Corner Brook, Newfoundland to show their united solidarity and to say, “We are not going to take it anymore. The violence must stop!” Beverley Jacobs, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada made it clear that victims like Kelly Morrisseau will not be forgotten or relegated to nothing more than another statistic. “It’s cases like Kelly Morrisseau’s murder which have drawn us all together here in Corner Brook. We are united in finding concrete solutions to the crisis facing Aboriginal women.”

The summit was co-hosted by NWAC President Beverly Jacobs and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, who is providing a commendable example for public servants to contribute more to this growing problem. The National Aboriginal Women’s Summit focused on empowering aboriginal women through their overall theme of “Strong Women, Strong Communities” in order to strengthen aboriginal communities. Three main themes are being promoted under the Strong Women, Strong Communities banner: 1) Health, Safety and Welness; 2) Equality and Empowerment; and 3) Strength, Balance and Honour. Participants reviewed all three themes in order to prioritize the short, medium and long term recommendations for all levels of Government. These recommendations will be consolidated into “the 10 Year Action Plan” that will give aboriginal organizations and the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Governments a clear and concise course towards protecting and improving the lives of all aboriginal women across Canada.

The AFN has already released some initial responses to themes in the Summit. “Issues such as violence, poverty, a lack of access to adequate medical care and illiteracy are all symptoms of a much broader failure to recognize and invest in the unique socio-economic needs of First Nations women.” Furthermore, the AFN is already calling on the Federal government to restore core programs and services for aboriginal women, especially in areas such as education and housing. Many aboriginal organizations have started initiatives to help counter the public perceptions of aboriginal women and help empower them as important members of their communities and the Canadian community as a whole, which we are all a part of. The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Sisters in Spirit Initiative has been the most effective to date. Sisters in Spirit has already begun to initiate nation wide vigils on October 4th as well as numerous other events to help keep missing and murdered women like Kelly Morrisseau in the public eye. These are truly excellent first steps in protecting aboriginal women.

However, more still needs to be done about the existing institutionalized racial and gender stereotypes that limit aboriginal women’s access to many health and socio-economic programs. While the Canadian federal government claims that ending violence against women is a top priority a recent report from Amnesty International raises grave concerns about this claim. While Stephen Harper has been pushing for improved human rights in other countries his government is failing its people at home, making our Prime Minister a hypocrite and further confirming how deeply the racial and gender stereotypes run in our country. In June 2006, the Conservative Government voted against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the UN Human Rights Council. Since then, the Conservatives have stated that Canada will vote against the Declaration when it goes before the UN General Assembly and has been actively lobbying other countries to do the same.
So, based on the actions of Stephen Harper’s government we can safely assume that protecting aboriginal women is in fact not a priority. Despite acknowledging that aboriginal women are five times more likely to be victims of violence, government officials actively vote against an international declaration acknowledging the rights of all aboriginal peoples globally while trying to encourage other countries to follow suit. At this point in our history, with so little true effort by the Federal Government being put into honouring and protecting our mothers, sisters and daughters we must encourage aboriginal organizations and those levels of government that actually are willing to put forth the effort. In time this support will show those in the highest levels of power that they will not remain there for long if they refuse to protect those most in danger in our great land.

Already there are signs that people truly want to see change. On Aboriginal Day it was announced that MKI Travel, Ottawa based lawyer Richard Warman and the Women of the Metis Nation would all be making contributions to the reward for information on the murder of Kelly Morrisseau; bringing the total reward up to $19,000. As Rosemarie McPherson, the National spokesperson for the Women of the Metis Nation said, “Women in general are being targeted. This is not merely an Aboriginal issue. And that’s why all women must stand in solidarity.”

By Frank Larue

The Pickton trial has unveiled the brutal ways in which women were killed on the pig farm in New Westminster. The horror show will continue until the present trial comes to a end, then it will repeat itself two more times. The projected time period for the present case, two years; so far the projections have proved accurate. We can safely assume then, the last trial will end in 2112.

Will anyone care at that point? Remember we are talking five years from now. The judicial decision to have three trials reflected little wisdom from the Ministry of Justice and since we have five years to wait for the results, let us consider the pitfalls of that decision.

During the next five years, the media coverage on Pickton and the trial will wane but not stop; public interest is another question. The most ghoulish homicide acts can become stale editorial copy after five years of repetition, as a result the public will distance itself from the proceedings. The curiosity and media sensationalism created by the first trial won’t be repeated. Irrelative of the verdict, the general consensus will be, ‘Get it over with’ instead of what can be done to make sure this never happens again.

The legacy of the trial should have ramifications that will only be understood years down the road but since a large percentage of the victims were native women. The first item on the post-trial agenda should be acknowledging the marginalization of native women by sexual predators and why police won’t accept this fact and act accordingly. Consider for a moment the demographic breakdown of the province, the native population in B.C is 2.5 percent of the total population yet the percentage of missing women who are native is 56 percent.

The facts speak for themselves yet police continue to cast a blind eye, there a many women’s groups who have tried to make the public more aware of the problem, the march on Hasting’s every year, a reminder of the women who have died or are missing is one of the more prominent protest. The problem is most of the organizations are volunteer based and act independently with little or no financial support. One of the few organizations that are government funded and have been operating across Canada. SISTERS IN SPIRIT have taken on the role of dealing with the missing native women and have become an umbrella for other women organizations.

Sister’s in Spirit are dealing with some of the families who have lost a daughter or a sister, helping with the healing and networking with other families and support groups. They are also raising public awareness, helping native communities educate the children on the plight of these women and how their fate could have been avoided.

The most daunting challenge for Sister’s in Spirit lies ahead, when the Picton trials have ended. Will they be able to initiate dialogue between government , police and native leaders along with representatives from their organization to address the tragic problem of Missing native women?

The missing native women issue may never disappear but surely a change in police attitude might go a long way in dealing with the problem. Government’s laissez-faire attitude could use a little tweaking, perhaps funding for some of the women’s shelters and organizations would show a real sense of commitment. It won’t be a easy task yet Sisters in Spirit want to be the difference. Let us say a prayer for the Sisters because the lives of native women hang in the balance.

Photos and story Danny Beaton

I suppose if you want to talk about my past, my life, you’d have to start back probably the year 1956-1957. When I was working in the states at the time I took a holiday and came back to Cape Croker and while I was home I noticed a man, later I found out he was an Indian Agent, standing by a large bonfire by our community center. Another person there was one of our caretakers for public buildings, he was keeping the fire going. As I approached and looked at the large mound of fire, I noticed that it was books, real thick journals. So I noticed one that wasn’t burning very good, so I kicked it out of the pile and picked it up and started to read, it was hand written land sales from that book. In them days Indian Agents had total power over our people. Even though I had been to war and back I was still reluctant to say anything about this burning that he was doing, he said to me “put that book back and get out of here”. “You have no business here”, so I left him, I actually went back to the states, I went back to work, but that image of them books burning never left me.

Some years later I came back, around 1960, on the reserve, I used to attend council meetings and in 1963 at a council meeting there was an invitation to have some delegate to attend an organization called the Folk Schools. The Folk Schools was a group of people who would get together, who would get other people together, to talk over problems that they were having in their communities, trying to find solutions. I didn’t know about this group and the council didn’t know really what this group was about, so we were joking and I said I would be glad to go and represent the reserve and go find out what this school is all about. Later they decided I should go, a couple of our councilors decided they would go too, so we decided to go together to the meeting in a little village called Collingwood and that is where we went, where they had a whole motel complex rented to hold this meeting.

It was a meeting with all natives, natives from different tribes and reserves. We came together, we stayed there for some time, the key note speaker was Mr. Bono who was director of Indian Affairs in Ontario. He got up and gave a long address, about how the Indian was advancing and moving ahead and all that. When he was finished he said if anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them. That gave me the opening and I remembered them books that I’d seen burning. So I said, “I only have one question, a very simple one Mr. Bono, who gave our Indian Agent the authority, the responsibility, of burning books of land sales”. I said to the director of Indian Affairs, “I know this because I was there to witness the burning of these books”. I said “Did you instruct him or do you know who did”. Well he gave me some long speech but didn’t answer my question. Then I said “you didn’t answer my question, who gave the Indian Agent the authority”, he answered me this time by saying that is all I have to say now we must move on. Most of the people, the native people, had never seen anybody defy authority to the Indian Agent and here was the director of Indian Affairs being defied.

After we had this little verbal tussle a lot of our people I’m sure thought, maybe we are wrong for accepting everything they put in front of us. This exchange I had with the director of Indian Affairs kind of set the tone for the meeting, which lasted one week, on the way back home the delegates from Cape Croker and Saugeen Reserve said, well you should run for Chief and I said I have never even been a councilor. They said it doesn’t matter, we’ll canvas for you. So I said if you think so, I’ll give it a try. An election came up and they stated canvassing for me. It was the first time I ever ran for office and they made me Chief, that was 1964.

So as Chief I had known the past very well from the time I was born in 1921 and left residential school in 1935. I was well aware of the problems because when I came back from residential school my dad informed me that he and my older brother had been arrested for fishing off our 1 and 1/4 miles of water that we had around our reserve. He said they had took his boat from him, he didn’t have a motor because we didn’t have motors in them days. They also took his fish and nets. He was left without any way of making a living, eventually he got some other fishermen and went to Ottawa. They went directly to Indian Affairs to get his boat and nets back.

There were many stories that I had heard after I came back from the war, I had been an infantry man and in many battles on the front line, here I was thinking about what do you do when somebody takes your boat and nets and doesn’t allow you to fish in the waters that you had and grew up with. I guess this starts a resentment and maybe anger. This anger can only go away when some kind of justice is perpetrated, is relieved. This then would relieve the anger that you had. As long as I was Chief now, I decided certain things had to happen if we were to have any results. So the first thing that I thought was a unity.

I had been doing a lot of construction work, we had all these different people in different trades which would come together and strike and hold up the job if they weren’t satisfied with their wages or living conditions. So I thought this is a good idea to get the people together. I called some Chiefs who had just come into office, one was Jimmy Mason from Saugeen, Omar Peters from Arabian Town and Jimmy Daboskay, West Bay. We all got together to talk about unity and how we could get together. Eventually, I think it was Jimmy Daboskay, he says I have all their addresses and phone numbers of all the Chiefs in Ontario. He said if you want them I’d be glad to turn them over to you. We called a meeting of them Chiefs of Ontario at Cape Croker, we had Mohawks from Six Nations, we had Doctor Montour, Ethel Montour, Mohawks from Wahta and many other tribes and leaders, we even had some women from Quebec. After 3 days we had formed a constitution. The one thing that I had, I really insisted on, was a fact that we would not depend on the government of Canada to finance our organization. I said, “we will finance it ourselves and therefore we will have every opportunity to make or do our say without choking on their money”. We adopted that as part of our constitution that never would this organization take financing from the government.
In order to do that we had to have some way of financing our organization even if it was just to come for meetings. One of the ways we did this was charging 25 cents for every member on the reserve and adults had to pay one dollar for a union card, if they wanted one. This wasn’t much money but it tied the different reserves together in unity. This was the beginning of the Union of Ontario Indians.

After we became united, we had some real serious power, we had our own people go onto the government side and try and defeat them. If you were to try to find out today where the union started they’d say in 1840 or something, the actual fact is it was formed in Cape Croker in 1964. It became a very very useful tool for getting things done. We had improvement of housing, great great improvements at that time through the union because the public could not ignore the fact that we needed housing and our health care. Our union did great great things for people when we first started, we had spirit, we had guts and we had real concern for real justice for our people.

Citizens Plus

In a copy of Readers digest of Canada, in a special issue that was written, Native Peoples in Canada had seen the tragic results of the United States termination policies of the 1950’s and so they organized as never before against the Trudeau’s government proposals. Chiefs and elders presented the Prime Minister with an alternative native position paper, soon nicknamed the Red Paper. This document dismissed outright the ending of Indian Rights and instead advanced the notion that Aboriginal Peoples in Canada have the status of Citizens Plus. What this meant was that they should have all the rights of Canadian Citizens plus special status as confirmed by their treaties with the Crown.
The apparent dogmatic attitude of the present federal government with respect to treaties and Aboriginal Rights perpetrates the inequalitites of centuries and shuts the Indian off from forms of just redress.

Faced with broad organized resistance the government backed down. But the White Paper made an impact all the same – it had highlighted wide socio economic gaps between Native and non Native Canadians. To correct this imbalance, the Indian Affairs budget was expanded and some monies were channeled into support for Indian political organizations. Among other things, there was funding to help Aboriginal organizations set up permanently staffed offices in federal and provincial capitals. Thus it became possible for Indian activists to become full time lobbyists and political organizers. Many welcomed the possibilities for Aboriginal self determination. These advances seem to promise, not everyone was pleased with the changes. Expressing his fears, Wilmer Nadjiwon, one of the architects of the Union of Ontario Indians asked,
“How can you be expected to negotiate competently and honestly with the very party that is providing your funding. In allowing the federal and provincial government to take over the purse strings of our own political organizations we gave up too much and opened the door to a very insidious process that tends to compromise or even subvert our own leadership”.

Nadjiwon’s fears about Indian leadership being subverted would echo later at Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake. By then many other questioned how Indian leadership could be accountable to their own people, when Chiefs and Band Councillors are legally and financially accountable only to the Minister of Indian Affairs. Back in the 1970’s, however most Native Peoples welcomed changes that gave them some control over such things as education, health care and social services. What real alternatives were there, given that most Aboriginal economics had been replaced by welfare, chronic unemployment and despair.
Wilmer was Chief for 14 years, he was paid three hundred and sixty four dollars a year, $364.00 per year, less than a dollar a day and he never asked for a raise. If Wilmer were elected Chief again he would try to improve the fishing rights and fishing industry for his people. Wilmer says, elders know what life is all about, young guys are learning stuff in school these days. In the old days we used to share a steam engine to cut our wood or to build a house, then we would share the same engine to thrash our grains because we lived in a tight community, we all shared this community engine. We don’t have anything like that any more. If we stayed here on the Cape our kids could learn a lot about life and our crafts and our way of life. We just need a place to sell our work, we are almost surrounded by water here. I know what I say and think, this Cape Croker property is Mother Earth’s body and is here to help the people survive.

I don’t want to talk about the first Indian Agent that I kicked off the Reserve when I was made their Chief, but I did it, he, the Indian Agent said to me, his name was Al Adams, you’re the Chief and I’m the boss, then I said back to him, “there is no room for the two of us here”. I had my people remove him from the Reserve quickly. After that they sent three more Indian Agents to Cape Croker, one after another they left, I tried to work with them, but in time we learned that they were trying to control us with the support of the RCMP. Our people are getting evil minded now, we used to be social people, we used to be a real community, we worked together, we were socialists in a real way, there was a real harmony even peace. Today we can’t trust one another to the point where we can’t trespass on each others property. In the old days, this was never an issue, we are acting like our white brothers now.

I expelled them four Indian Agents which I feel, was positive work back in the 1960’s and 1970’s while I was Chief elected by the people. It’s important to Nish na bie People, the Ojibway Nation, to know there was someone who cared for them, someone who loved them enough to get rid of Indian Agents, even though many of our own people wanted them. Today the money is coming from Casinos, the government wants to give it to us, that money is built on misery, the misery of the people who lost it, people lose something when they lose everything. There‘s so much to think of now, there’s so much to think of when there is misery and there is a lot of misery on Mother Earth, just think of the misery being caused to our Mother Earth’s body.

The whole emphasis of Treaties was on the preservation of the Indian’s Traditional way of life, we are the Saugeen and Chippawa’s of Nawash and will never forget our Ancestors.
As I sit with this old man, the Thunder is speaking to us in the backgound outside his old cabin. Wilmer Nadjiwon is now 86 years old and has been a hunter, fisherman, trapper and is known throughout Ontario as the Carver for his incredible Totem Poles and carvings of Eagles, Bears, Beaver and of course his People. Wilmer is a legend for being outspoken for Native justice, for being a voice from the residential school nightmare era, he has been a bushman and more. He has been an Indian his entire life, because he could not survive any other way. He has been trying to restore and maintain the beauty, magnificence and spirit of North American Native culture.

This article is out of respect for Wilmer’s life and journey and work for our culture with a strong focus of his insight into the first Indian Agents who he expelled. This article is certainly only a few short paragraphs of a man’s life who is full of spirit and guts.

By Lloyd Dolha

AFN national chief Phil Fontaine welcomed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement of an inclusive, pro-active approach to the archaic specific claims process unveiled in the PM’s June 12th announcement from Parliament Hill.
Calling Harper’s proposed new process to deal with the backlog of specific claims “historic,” Fontaine described the Harper proposal as a “positive response to what our people have advocated for decades.”

First Nations have chafed for decades under the impotent Specific Claims Commission where government acts as both judge and jury over long-standing unresolved disputes of historic injustices committed by past governments. There is currently a backlog of more than 800 specific claims that take, on average, some 13 years to process.

“In the coming days and over the summer, the AFN will be working with government to draft new specific claims legislation that will hopefully speed up the backlog of hundreds of unresolved treaty claims that have been the source of so much frustration among our people,” said the national chief. “The government’s commitment to our full engagement in implementing this important initiative will be critical to its success.”

The establishment of the quasi-judicial body to deal with the growing backlog of some 900 outstanding specific claims among First Nations will provide a “fair, independent, binding and just approach to resolving specific claims,” said the AFN leader.
The Specific Claims Action Plan proposes four key initiatives that would:

• Create a new tribunal staffed with impartial judges who would make final decisions on claims when negotiations fail;
• Make arrangements for financial compensation more transparent through dedicated funding for settlements in the amount of $250 million a year for 10 years;
• Speed up processing of small claims and improve flexibility in the handling of large claims; and,
• Refocus the existing Indian Specific Claims Commission to concentrate on dispute resolution.

The Harper plan involves discussions over the course of the summer with First Nations and provincial and territorial governments with the goal of bringing forward legislation to implement the specific claims action plan in the fall.

The move comes in the days and weeks of growing apprehension unfolding across the nation over the AFN’s call for a national day of action among First Nations on June 29th, the leading national body put out following a special conference in Gatineau, Quebec in late May.

Fontaine raised the eyebrows of business across the country in a speech to the Canada Club of Ottawa where he warned of a summer of protests and the need for the government to move quickly to address land claims and poverty in aboriginal communities.

The most troubling aspect of the call for a national day of action for Canadians was perhaps the AFN’s call to the national railways to voluntarily shut down operations nationally in a show of support for First Nations.

Chief Terrance Nelson of the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation of Manitoba said he would blockade CN rail lines running through his reserve for a 24-hour period on the national day of action. His fiery rhetoric has cost him some measure of credibility among his own people who have called for his resignation.

In an interview on CTV Newnet’s Mike Duffy Live, Nelson told the nation, “… there are only two ways of dealing with the white man. One, either you pick up a gun, or you stand between the white man and his money.”

It was Nelson’s resolution at the special AFN conference in Gatineau, that called for the voluntary shutdown of national rail lines.

Nelson also applauded the federal announcement on specific claims, but said he could not call off his blockade because of “the simple promise of another white man.”

The Anishinabe chief sent a letter to Canadian National, offering a five-year truce with the company in exchange for CN’s agreement to voluntarily halt train traffic on June 29th and a promise on behalf of the company to pressure Ottawa on land claims.

The First Nations Leadership Council of British Columbia extended cautious optimism regarding the federal government’s announcement of a new independent body to make binding decisions on specific claims.

“An independent panel on specific claims is long overdue,” said AFN BC regional chief Shawn Atleo. “Given this body will possess the necessary mandate with full decision-making authority and an appropriate level of financial and human resources, e expect they ensure that specific claims are fairly considered and equitably resolved in a timely manner.”

The AFN has called for peaceful marches across the country on the “Day of Action.”

By Clint Buehler

EDMONTON – The Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Woman has granted Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) President Audrey Poitras its highest recognition.

Poitras was inducted earlier this month into IAAW’s “Circle of Honour” at the Institute’s gala “Esquao Awards” honouring Aboriginal women for their contributions and achievements.

“The award is given to Aboriginal women who are in leadership positions and are an example for others because of they know the struggles many Aboriginal women have to overcome in their lives,” says IAAW Founder and President Muriel Stanley Venne.

“Their courage, their strength and their beauty are shining examples for all of us, but especially for our young women and little girls.”
Prominent members of the Circle previously honoured include Dr. Colleen Klein (wife of former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein), Senator Thelma Chalifoux (retired), Member of Parliament and former federal cabinet minister Ethel Blondin-Andrew, and Member of the Alberta Legislature and former Alberta cabinet minister Pearl Calahasen.

Poitras, a descendant of the storied Dumont family, has been active in the Metis community throughout her life. Her direct involvement in the MNA began in 1990 when went to work as a clerk in the finance department, soon becoming finance director.

After observing first-hand several years of tumultuous conflicts and changes in MNA leadership, she ran for the top position in 1996, becoming the MNA’s first female president, and was re-elected in 1999, 2002 and 2005.

While serving as Interim President of the Metis National Council in 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled for the Metis in the historic R v. Powley case, a landmark decision affirming Metis as Aboriginal people with rights protected by the Canadian Constitution, including hunting, fishing and trapping.

The Powley decision was the hammer Poitras needed in negotiating with the Alberta government, and a year later the historic Interim Metis Harvesting Agreement was signed with the Alberta government, the first agreement in the country to deliver harvesting rights to Metis.

In her ten years at the helm, Poitras has led the MNA through an exciting and challenging decade of transition and achievement.
The MNA is now a recognized Nation with Aboriginal rights and is responsible for the ongoing delivery of programs and services aimed at improving the lives of Metis people in Alberta.

Under her leadership, the MNA has become results-based, as evidenced by the signing of a $52 million Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement with the Canadian government in 2005 to deliver training and employment assistance to Metis through its network of 17 Metis Employment Service Centres across the province.

Because of its success in fulfilling this agreement, the MNA continues to be considered by government and contemporaries as the leading Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement holder in Canada.

In April 2004, Poitras represented the Metis Nation at the historic Canada Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable attended by more than 20 federal cabinet ministers and 70 Aboriginal leaders from across the country. Sitting next to the prime minister, she affirmed the Metis Nation’s commitment to a Canada-Metis Nation Framework Agreement. (She had the benefit of the experience and success of an almost two decade-long Framework Agreement with the Alberta government to bring to the table.)

While under her leadership, the MNA has purchased buildings to house the offices of the Metis Nation and its affiliates, the biggest MNA real estate venture is as much about history and culture as it is about land and buildings. That venture is the ongoing development of the historic site now known as Metis Crossing at Victoria Landing northeast of Edmonton, opened in August 2005, which includes an interpretive centre and the ongoing development of facilities for a wide variety of activities, including becoming a tourist attraction.

Poitras is more than just Alberta’s Metis leader, who has worked so hard and accomplished so much for the Metis Nation and Metis people, however. She is equally—and probably more—devoted to her husband, Gordon, and as a devoted mother and grandmother.

For Poitras, the work she does is not just dedication to her family, but about building a better life for all the families in the Metis Nation.venture is the ongoing development of the historic site now known as Metis Crossing at Victoria Landing northeast of Edmonton, opened in August 2005, which includes an interpretive centre and the ongoing development of facilities for a wide variety of activities, including becoming a tourist attraction.

Poitras is more than just Alberta’s Metis leader, who has worked so hard and accomplished so much for the Metis Nation and Metis people, however. She is equally—and probably more—devoted to her husband, Gordon, and as a devoted mother and grandmother.
For Poitras, the work she does is not just dedication to her family, but about building a better life for all the families in the Metis Nation.

By Frank Larue

VANCOUVER – Six B.C. First Nations artists who translate their stories and language into paintings, carvings, photography, sculptures and weaving were honoured by Premier Gordon Campbell today at the first annual BC Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art. Two master artists were also honoured with the first annual BC Lifetime Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art at the ceremony at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

“First Nations artwork is internationally admired and is vital to understanding B.C.’s history and culture,” said Campbell, who is director of the BC Achievement Foundation. “Through their work, these artists tell traditional stories that have been passed down from generation to generation and that add immeasurably to British Columbia’s diverse cultural heritage.”

Dempsey Bob, a master Tahltan-Tlingit carver known for his prolific totem poles and sculptures, and Robert Davidson, a leading Haida artist and recipient of both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, were named the first recipients of the BC Lifetime Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art.

The six recipients of the BC Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art were:
· Barbara P. Marchand, Okanagan Nation
· Marianne Nicolson, Dzawada’enuxw
· Chester Patrick, Gitxsan
· Susan Point, Coast Salish (Musqueam)
· Christian White, Haida
· William White, Tsimshian

Each received a $5,000 prize and is granted the use of the British Columbia Creative Achievement Awards seal to signify their creative excellence. The BC Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art were created to recognize the important role of First Nations art in British Columbia’s history and cultural identity.

The British Columbia Achievement Foundation is an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province in 2003. The Creative Achievement Awards for Aboriginal Art are one of five initiatives of the foundation. The others are the BC Community Achievement Awards recognizing those who have made a significant contribution to their community, the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction recognizing excellence in literary non-fiction, the BC Creative Achievement Awards recognizing excellence in applied arts and design, and Time to Read: the BC Achievement Award for Early Literacy.