Posts By: First Nations Drum

Compiled by Staff Writers

U.S. approves drilling in Artic refuge
Ignoring opposition from Ottawa, northern aboriginal groups and environmentalists on both sides of the border, the U.S. Senate has voted to open up the pristine Artic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

The move overrides an 18 year-old pledge by Canada and the U.S. to protect migrating Porcupine caribou herds from the northern Yukon.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has expressed Canadian opposition to drilling in the Artic refuge personally and by phone to U.S. president George W. Bush and Environment Minister Stephan Dion has had at least two meetings with White House environment officials on the issue.

Some hope remains for opponents though because the House of Representatives still must pass a similar measure in its upcoming budget bill.

Members there have been more adamant than senators in support of drilling.

Drilling supporters say the stores of crude oil would raise 42.4 billion US in government leasing fees, reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil imports and create thousands of American jobs.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” said Jasmine Ponthky, a spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy in Washington. “We will continue to see what we can do to ensure the refuge remains pristine and an area where the Gwitchin people and the caribou herd can continue their way of life.”

The symbiotic relationship between the Gwitchin and the Porcupine caribou is believed to be at least 12,000 years old.

Chief Joe Linkletter of the Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, said the loss of the caribou herd would be akin to the loss of the buffalo from the Great plains in the U.S.

“When the caribou herd is threatened, our culture is threatened,” he said. “It’s the only culture we know.

Compiled by Staff Writers

New Scam Targets Aboriginals
Edmonton city cops are warning the public about a possible identity-theft scam aimed at the aboriginal community.

Detective David Vicen of the Edmonton Police Service’s economic crime section said the scam involves a fake MasterCard loyalty-card application form being sent out in mass e-mails.

The form says the cost of the card is $20 to cover set-up and activation charges and a monthly fee to be paid in advance.
It also asks for extensive personal information, including name, address and social insurance number.

The card depicted in the brochure is designed to appeal to aboriginal people. It features photos of two aboriginal men and claims to be linked with the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce, a legitimate organization based in Winnipeg. Applicants are instructed to mail the money to a Winnipeg address.

“It appears the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce is a completely unknowing party to this,” said the detective.

While the card depicted in the brochure bears the MasterCard logo, the number on the card is a Visa number, said Vicen.

As well, the hologram on the credit card is not one used by MasterCard. “The credit card application has not been sanctioned by MasterCard,” said Vicen.

He explained the card the scammers are trying to sell is not actually a credit card, but a card that works like a bank account. The holder would put money on the card and then use that balance to make purchases.

“A bank account with all the privileges of a credit card,” the application says.

City cops were alerted after the Competition Bureau of Canada received a tip on its Phonebusters anti-fraud website.
Vicen says police don’t know whether anyone in the Edmonton area has fallen victim to the scam.

Anyone who has received the e-mail should call Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501 or send an e-mail to info@phonebusters.com.

Contract specifies consultant leaves no paper trail
Federal officials are under fire for a $132,000 contract signed with an outside consultant that specifies the firm must leave no paper trail in government offices.

The deal Indian and Northern Affairs Canada signed with Ottawa-based Totem Hill Inc. explicitly states that “presentations shall be oral with supporting material provided to aid comprehension but not retained by the department.”

The February 2005 contract ensures there are no documents in the office filing cabinets that auditors can later verify and citizens can consult through requests through requests under the Access to Information Act.

“Verbal reports are completely unacceptable,” said Conservative MP John Williams. “It breaks all the rules of contracting.”

The Liberal government has already been under attack for previous consulting contracts that carefully specified that no paper work be generated.

In her scathing February 2004 report on sponsorship activities, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser uncovered five contracts that Finance Department had signed with Earnscliffe Strategy Group to provide secret “verbal” briefings and no written work.

Williams says the Indian and Northern Affairs contract shows that the vaunted clean-up of federal procurement is a sham.

“They have made all kinds of protestations since the sponsorship scandal broke loose that they were doing rigorous internal reviews to ensure the rules were being followed absolutely and completely,” he said.

“And here we are – a year after it all breaks loose = and they’re not applying the rules.”

Aboriginal Leaders angry over decision on man who assaulted girl
Aboriginal leaders are upset about a Supreme Court of Canada decision not to review the sentence of a Saskatchewan man who sexually assaulted a 12 year-old aboriginal girl.

Dean Edmondson avoided prison time when he was sentenced to two years of house arrest in 2003.

“I’m angry about it,” said Chief Robert Whitehead of the Yellow Quill First Nation, home reserve of the young victim.

“The justice system has never given Indian people a fair shot at anything … If anybody from my community did that to a 12 year-old girl it would be an automatic jail sentence and it wouldn’t be lenient one either.”

The girl’s uncle, who can’t be named to protect his niece’s identity, said she has turned to alcohol since her attack and has attempted suicide.

In an interview, he called the decision by the Supreme Court “awfully disappointing.”

“The girl’s life is ruined. There’s just no two ways about it,” the uncle said. “She’s just devastated by what happened.”

It was Saskatchewan’s Justice Department that requested the high court to review the issues surrounding Edmondson’s sentencing.

The three-judge panel gave no reasons for its ruling.

Beverly Jacobs, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and a lawyer as well, was bitter about the decision.

“Where is the real justice when it comes to aboriginal girls and women?” she said. “What kind of sentence is that? The impact of these cases sends a huge message out to society by saying it’s okay, it’s okay to sexually assault a 12 year-old.”

Dean Edmondson finished his house arrest sentence in September and is now working as a welder near Tisdale, Saskatchewan, the place where the assault took place.

No jail time for fed who tool $1.14 million
A Health Canada bureaucrat who took more than a million dollars, which was supposed to go to a First Nation health centre, won’t do any jail time.

In return for his testimony against the alleged ringleader of the scam, Patrick Nottingham was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day on Friday, November 18.

Nottingham is one of nine people charged after an investigation into what happened to the money given to the Virginia Fontaine Addictions Foundation on the Sakeeng First Nation, located about 145 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Earlier that week, Nottingham pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud after keeping $1.14 million intended for the addictions foundation.

He was Health Canada’s director in Manitoba, and was fired after a departmental audit found he had improperly approved $6 million in funding for the treatment centre.

Nottingham’s testimony will be important in prosecuting Perry Fontaine, former director of the foundation, Crown lawyer Jim Ross said.

Fontaine faces 13 charges but has denied the allegations.

Nottingham apologized and said he will repay as much as the money as he can.

Officials at the centre, which received millions of dollars in federal funding before it closed in 200, have been accused of misspending the money on bribes, lavish gifts and a Caribbean cruise for 70 staff members.

Nottingham was the second Health Canada bureaucrat to plead guilty in the case.

In March, a former assistant deputy minister was jailed after he admitted that he and his family received more than $200,000 in cash and gifts in exchange for funneling more than $70 million in contracts for the centre.

Paul Cochrane told the court that the kickbacks included nearly $30,000 in travel to Florida and the Caribbean, several SUVs and tens of thousands dollars in cash which he used to buy condominiums in Mount Tremblant, Que.

He alleged in court that they came from Fontaine.

By Lloyd Dolha

Canada’s aboriginal population has taken a wait and see attitude towards the new Harper-led government, which captured a minority government on January 23 putting an end to the Liberals’13-year reign. Will Conservative advisor Tom Flanagan, well known for his arguments against self-government, jeopardize the Kelowna Accord?

While the Conservatives took 124 seats of the 308 seats across the country, the Liberals managed to hang on to 103 ridings to form the official opposition, with the Bloc Quebecois taking 51 ridings; and Jack Layton’s NDP taking 29 seats.

It’s quite an interesting scenario. In a sense, everybody won. The Tories won because they took the most seats, making inroads into separatist Quebec and thereby maintaining the federalist option. The Liberals won because they maintained significant support nationally to form the official opposition despite the legacy of the sponsorship scandal. The NDP won because they increased seats from 18 to 29; and the Bloc won because they now hold the balance of power to bring down the Conservative minority government.

Aboriginal leaders from across the country breathed a collective sigh of relief at those results after some pre-election rhetoric by senior Conservative Party members that the long-sought Kelowna Accords were “something that (the Liberals) crafted at the last moment on the back of a napkin on the eve of an election” that could be ripped up by a Conservative government.

Prime Minister elect Stephen Harper cannot blithely tear up the Kelowna Accords, which was achieved with all major national aboriginal organizations, the premiers and territorial leaders, to end aboriginal poverty, prior to the fall of the Liberal government. To do so would incur the wrath of the combined forces of the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc, whose policy platforms are explicitly supportive of an aboriginal rights agenda.

The First Nations Leadership Council of BC said they are looking forward to establishing a constructive working relationship with the Harper government in the wake of his minority victory.

In a letter sent to the PM-elect, the Leadership Council congratulated Mr. Harper and requested a meeting during his first official trip to British Columbia as prime minister.

“For now, we must put aside our concerns and work to establish a new relationship of trust and cooperation with the Prime Minister and his new government,” said Shawn Atleo, BC regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations. “We have our priority issues and are confident once we have had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Harper, we will reach a mutual understanding of the required actions on key aboriginal issues.”

The letter further urged the PM-elect and his minority government to work with opposition parties to ensure aboriginal issues are given the high priority they received under the Liberal government.

“We are confident Mr. Harper will honour the historic government -to- government accords signed between First Nations and the government of Canada at the conclusion of the First Minister’s meeting in Kelowna in November,” said Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. “We will also be seeking meetings with all opposition parties to ensure they fully support the implementation of both the Kelowna Accord and the BC Transformative Change Accord.”

In a press release, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, noted that with the Conservative minority status and a strong opposition, parliament should work together with First Nations to maintain the momentum achieved in the 18 months of discussion that led up the Kelowna Accords and the Residential Schools Agreement-in-Principle.

“Closing the gap in quality of life between First Nations and other Canadians within ten years must remain our shared legacy project,” said Fontaine.

Fontaine said the AFN was reassured that the Conservative Party would respect the objectives and targets of the First Ministers meeting and would implement the Residential Schools agreement.

The national chief also noted that PM-elect Harper has stated that he is seeking to give the provinces and territories more say in decision-making on national priorities, as well as more access and control over resources in their regions.

“In many ways, this is what First Nations are seeking. A prime minister from a western province is no doubt aware of the issues that face our people. This includes the pressing labour market needs, and that tapping the potential of our young and growing population is essential to Canada’s continued success and productivity.

“There are many win-win approaches to our mutual issues and we want to work on an agenda aimed at getting results that honours the Conservative legacy of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples by honouring its recommendations.”

Harper has said that he “supports the principles and objectives” of the Kelowna Accords, but would not be bound by the $5.1 billion price tag. And really, Harper has no choice but to honour those commitments made in the dying days of the Liberal government.

Given the Conservative’s minority status, Harper must seek consensus with opposition parties to move any legislative agenda forward. He must, therefore, bend with the existing political winds to a large extent to move his agenda forward.

Still, the man is a Conservative who staunchly believes in smaller government, traditional values and giving citizens greater control of their lives.

Former advisor anti-rights crusader
And there is the question of what role his former mentor and member of his inner circle of advisors, Tom Flanagan, will play in aboriginal policy development.

Flanagan, the conservative American-born political science professor at the University of Calgary was a senior advisor in the Conservative campaign and is expected to play a similar role in a Harper government.

Flanagan has spent most of his career arguing against self-government and aboriginal rights.

His writings and public statements are inflammatory and racist. His book First Nations? Second Thoughts, published in 2000, argued that aboriginal people should be assimilated.
Flanagan was the co-chair of the movement that brought Harper back into federal politics, during the Stockwell Day leadership review in 2001, and later went on to be Harper’s Chief of Staff.

In First Nations? Second Thoughts, he describes what he calls the “aboriginal orthodoxy.” At the centre of this orthodoxy is the idea that aboriginal people are “nations” with an inherent right to self-government and sovereignty. Although the Supreme Court confirms this, Flanagan rejects both these propositions.

“Contemporary judicial attempts to redefine aboriginal rights are producing little but uncertainty. Recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions define aboriginal title in a way that will make its use impossible in a modern economy.”

Flanagan writes that aboriginal people should be viewed as the “first immigrants” and that “Europeans are, in effect, a new immigrant wave, taking control of land just as earlier aboriginal settlers did. To differentiate the rights of earlier and later immigrants is a form of racism.”

He also argues that aboriginal culture is inferior and their colonization was inevitable and justifiable, that aboriginal people are incapable of governing themselves.

It would be the ultimate horror show for First Nations if Flanagan played a significant role in the development and implementation of aboriginal policy and practice on the national scene.

At a press conference just prior to the election, Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations Summit addressed that stark possibility.

“We’d have to take a very serious look at that whole scenario. Who advises the prime minister, should they form a government?”

By Frank Larue

East coast aboriginal leaders vowed to continue their fight for logging rights despite a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that rejected their claims to a right to harvest timber on Crown lands.

On July 20, 2005, the nation’s top court found that First Nations of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia do not have a treaty right to commercially harvest timber on Crown lands without a permit.

In a pair of unanimous decisions, the Supreme Court found that treaties signed in 1760-61 only granted the Mi’kmaq the right to continue to trade in items traditionally traded at that time.

The court said there was no evidence to prove the Mi’kmaq were logging 250 years ago when they signed treaties with the Crown.

“In order to be protected under these treaties, trade in forest products must have been the modern equivalent or logical evolution of Mi’kmaq use of forest products at the time the treaties were signed,” wrote the court.

“Logging is not a logical evolution of activities traditionally engaged in at the time the treaties were entered into.”

The court also noted that the First Nations of New Brunswick did not have aboriginal title to the lands they were trying to log.

Call for rights
Chief George Ginnish, of the Eel Ground First Nation, emerged Wednesday from a meeting of about 45 aboriginal leaders to speak on behalf of all 15 New Brunswick First Nations.

“We think another case can move forward with another set of facts in regards to aboriginal treaty rights and title. We clearly believe we have title and treaty rights,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs, co-chair Chief Lawrence Paul of the Millbrook First Nation, expressed the concern that: “The ruling could have strengthened the covenant chain of treaties upon which we feel is the foundation on which Canada was built.”

Paul further noted, “The relationship between the Wabanaki Confederacy Nations and Great Britain was cemented in the treaties signed between 1725 and 1794. This relationship was, and continues to be based on peaceful co-existence and mutual cooperation and sharing and I am disappointed that the Supreme Court did not further expand our treaty rights.”

New Brunswick Justice Minister Brad Green said the court’s decision brought much needed clarity to aboriginal rights in the province including questions about land title.

“It said no, there is no treaty right to engage in commercial logging on Crown land. (It) also made clear, that they were not convinced there was aboriginal in the lands pertaining to this specific case,” he said.

Natural Resources Minister Keith Ashfield said the province will maintain its forest management agreements, which gives the province’s 15 First Nations access to 5.3 per cent of the annual allowable cut. That access gives the New Brunswick First Nations timber harvesting, sale and royalty agreements.

“We will continue to honour these agreements,” said Ashfield.
President of the New Brunswick Forest Products Association Yvon Poitras, said the decision is a relief.

“If you have uncertainty over your head, it doesn’t matter which industry it is, if you have uncertainty it creates problems. Before everything is clarified, what do you do next? Now, we have a clear situation,” he said.

Joshua Bernard, a member of the Eel Ground First Nation and one of the principal defendants named in the lawsuit, said he was disappointed with the ruling and was unsure of what to do next.

“I still feel that I have a right to harvest Crown timber,” he said.
“I have to go back to my community, talk to my chief, my elders and see what steps we’re going to take.”

Previous conviction
The case began in 2000 when Bernard was convicted of illegally possessing 23 spruce logs harvested from Crown land near the Eel Ground reserve.

He appealed his conviction on the grounds that he had a treaty right
to commercially harvest logs stemming from treaties signed in 1760’s with the early British governors of the Maritimes.

But the Supreme Court decided the right emphasized trading activities, not the item being traded.

“The right conferred is the right to trade,” Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin wrote in the main judgment. “The emphasis therefore is not on what products were used, but on what trading activities were (contemplated by) the parties at the time the treaties were made. Only those trading activities are protected.”

AFN national chief Phil Fontaine noted the decision was local and is not precedent-setting.

“This Supreme Court decision is disappointing for First Nations but it is not the final word treaty rights and aboriginal rights and title in Canada, or even in the Atlantic,” said Chief Fontaine. “The decision has local application only and does not set national precedent … In future litigation, a fuller examination of the historical record will hopefully lead to a full and respectful understanding of the importance our forests have always had to the social, economic and spiritual life of the First Nations of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,” said the national chief.

Grand Chief Ed John, a member of the First Nations Summit political executive in British Columbia, said, after reviewing the decision, “Today’s Marshall and Bernard decisions will not affect political or legal issues in British Columbia with respect to commercial logging. These decisions do not establish new legal principles. They are based on the facts about the Mi’kmaq’s relationships to the Crown and to particular portions of their territory in the 1760s.”

The court’s rejection of a Mi’kmaq treaty right to log will not affect First Nations in B.C. because such a treaty right is not asserted in B.C. since the federal and provincial governments refused to negotiate treaties here until very recently.”

By Todd Burnell

The last thirty years have seen a great evolution of the Aboriginal music scene in Canada. So much so that when someone asks me to explain what Aboriginal music is I tell them that it is whatever Aboriginal artists want it to be.

There are, of course, the styles that have stood the test of time: Pow wow, hand drum, peyote, fiddling and throat singing have been and will remain vital forms of musical and cultural expression for Aboriginal artists. But there are few genres of music that do not have at least some representation from Aboriginal artists.

How reflective each artist chooses to make their music of their Aboriginal heritage varies a great deal. Some make a conscious effort to let the world know where they are coming from and others simply create from the perspective of their environments without trying to distinguish themselves as Aboriginal.

Today I often need to encourage people to let go of old stereotypes of what an Aboriginal perspective is. We are often still dealing with an expectation that “Aboriginal” is synonymous with a natural and traditionally spiritual environment. While these aspects may be reflected in the music of some of our artists they are by no means the rule.

For me, Native American flautist Kelly Kiyoshk from Walpole Island is the embodiment of an artist who is deeply spiritual and closely connected to nature. I do not need to explain to anyone that Kelly creates from an “Aboriginal” perspective. But, when it comes to an artist like Dave Boulanger from Burnt – Project 1, I have had to go to great lengths at times to explain that his songs about themes common to a new generation of Aboriginal youth growing up in an inner-city environment are also true “Aboriginal” perspectives.

Boulanger is at the leading edge of Aboriginal artists who are creating powerful songs that are reflective of their lives in urban settings. He knows he is aboriginal and he knows that people have preconceived notions of what to expect from him, but he will continue to write about the experiences that are relevant and powerful for him.

When people expect songs about soaring eagles and spirit winds and instead get songs about lives touched by suicide and prostitution they are challenged to open up their minds about what is truly reflective of the “Aboriginal” experience.

Today’s artists have found the confidence to create from the perspective that has the greatest relevance for them. In the past many struggled with what their heritage meant to them as individuals and as artists. Now they know it, they feel it, and it drives them forward as they create some of the most moving and deeply relevant music to be found anywhere. It is new and it is old, it is deep and it is diverse, and it is proudly aboriginal.

I know from my experiences in the music industry, and specifically in the Aboriginal music industry, that there is no limit to the diversity that the creative spirit will present us with. We just need to keep an open mind and enjoy the ride.

Todd Burnell is the director of marketing and communications for Sunshine Records, Canada’s oldest Aboriginal label. He is himself a recording and performing musician and is currently performing with the Prairie Notes.

By B.H. Bates

Violence against women has been with us dating back to Org, the first caveman who bonked his betrothed up-side the head and dragged her back to his cave. Ahhh – what a way to show your love!

When ever I see men trying to control women through intimidation or just plan old brute force, it makes me wonder – just how far have we come as human beings?

Take for instance in some male-dominated cultures, led by religious fanatics, who smother half of their intellectual potential under a stupid bed sheet – and some, if not most, would say: the smarter half, too.

Females, in general, are the care givers, the nurturers, the bonding force that holds the family unit together. Yet, as gentle as a mother can be they can be equally just as ferocious, when provoked. If you need proof of this, just ask any male grizzly bear with claw marks across his face.

When a female growls – it’s a warning! So, unless you want your friends asking you: “Where did you get those claw marks?” I suggest to men everywhere: Stop what you’re doing immediately, be very still and quiet or run! What ever you do – in the name of the Great Spirit, don’t hit! Set an example to the next generation, prove that you’re a civilized Injun and not a savage neanderthal.

And like the Great Spirit, who made every snowflake different, so to … not all women are alike. Some ladies are as kind and as gentle as the elegant deer, while others are Grizzlies who demand respect!

But, keep in mind, don’t rush to judge the grizzlies, until you first look at the bear she lives with. Maybe there’s a reason why she growls so much. It could well be that life has hurt her, been unfair; it may have even beaten her down.

It also stands true, that not all men are the same, from the type who are timid as the mouse, to the ones who are as tricky as the coyote.

Native culture has been tied to nature for millenniums. We’ve looked to Mother nature for our lessons on how to live. Natives took examples from our animal friends and incorporated them into our lives.

Unfortunately, we’ve strayed from our ancestral teachings – I mean it, really, when was the last time you saw a young cougar spend his last beaver pelt on drugs? Did you ever hear of an adult bird sleeping in and losing his job? Can you ever recall some rutting Buck getting drunk and slapping the brown pellets out of his deer wife?

I recall my dad smacking my dear Mom, and to this very day it breaks my heart to hear a women sob. Violence against women should not be tolerated in Native society or any other, for that matter. There are other ways to express yourself without raising your hand or in the case of the Native – ‘Stands With Fist!’

So, if I may, I’d like to ask all of you lovely, kind and understanding
women out there to stop reading at this point, as I have to let the male readers know: HOW TO BEAT A WOMAN!

Instructions on how to beat a woman
Hello, mighty Braves, here are a few tricks that will help you overcome the opposite sex … and still get some!

One sure way to dupe a gal into doing what you want, is to ask her ‘not’ to do something (Hello, lady readers!). Another maneuver I’ve used with constant success is: “Killing with kindness.” If you want to go out with the boys: Be under foot for a few days, every time she turns around – be there, calling her Pooky Wooky, kissing her, hugging her, pawing at her. Before you know it she’ll be saying to you: “I need some alone time. Why don’t you go out, before I kill you?”

Again, ‘hello’ to the curvaceous and curious. And that, my male friends is another tool (curiosity) at our disposal. Let’s say you want your better half to pay more attention to you: Try pretending that you have a secret, pretend you did something, act aloof … and you can take my word for it, soon she’ll be on you, like stink on road kill!

And my most devious deception to get peace and quiet, that they’ll never expect: Honesty!

Now here’s the funny part – these few suggestions that I’ve made. They work equally as well on both sexes. We’re more alike than we care to admit: we all need to be cared for, listened to and, of course, loved. The short of it: “We need one another!”

If you’re wise enough, to be the first one to initiate a smile and make the other person feel at ease – you’ve beaten ‘violence’ to the punch!

By B.H. Bates

“The fish are coming! The fish are coming!”

Or are they? Natives up and down the mighty Fraser river, in British Columbia, have been asked by the Department of Fisheries not to catch the sockeye salmon, which the Natives are dependent upon for food.

For as long as the river has flowed and the salmon have spawned, Natives have dipped into these waters to feed their families. But all that has changed, the comparatively few Natives who fish along the river are the ones who’ve been asked to let the dwindling numbers of salmon to pass them by while large commercial trawlers continue to rape the sea- so they can feed their ever-growing bank accounts!

If it wasn’t so sad, you’d think it was funny: how a Native can go to
Safeway and ‘pay’ for a salmon to feed his family, but can’t go to the river and catch his own.

Natives, for countless generations have dipped nets into the river for
sustenance, while multi-million dollar corporations dip their nets for huge profits, and it’s the minority, the statistically poorest Canadians, the most deserving, the only people who have an ancestral right to these fish, who are the ones that can be fined, have their vehicles seized and even be put in jail if they’re caught with a catch!

There’s something ‘fishy’ here if you ask me! It’s almost as if the idiots at the head waters of Fisheries are blaming, and I’ll even go as far as to say that they’re punishing, the handful of Native bands along the Fraser River, for the declining numbers of salmon.

Let’s look at this logically, something, politicians rarely do. The salmon egg, if it’s lucky, hatches in a gravel bed, up a river without a paddle.It then risks his or her life as it makes its way out to the ocean, where it survives many, many dangers for the next four years, until it grows into adulthood. Then, it has to fight its way up a mighty river to lay the next generation of eggs. After all this, they’re wiped out by the worst predator of them all – the deadly ‘Forked tongued politician.’

Now this is the part I don’t get: how can they (the department of fisheries) think that a small group of Natives ‘up river’ can make or break a salmon run? When ship loads of salmon are being harvested en masse out at sea? That’s like blaming the gynaecologist for the pregnancy!

The only explanation I can think of is: Super Grocery Stores have more rights to the salmon than the poor, hungry Natives along the Fraser River.

And these sea going fish factories have been decimating the salmon runs for decades upon decades. And while all this was going on, where was Fisheries Canada? Back east of course, protecting the now extinct Atlantic salmon runs!

The Native way of life
When the Natives ran North America there were no taxes, there were always enough animals to feed the entire tribe and salmon so plentiful, a person could almost walk across the river on the backs of the fish. Water was crystal clear, the air clean and fresh. The biggest crime committed was when someone farted in the tepee.

It’s only been in the last few years that people from around the world have started to take a closer look at the ways of the Natives: how they managedthe forests with fire; how they revered the animals for their abilities. Even the way Natives worshiped.

Only after all their technologies have failed to control the environment have modern societies taken a closer look at the old ways. Solar power from the sun can warm our homes, wind mills can light our way in the darkness.And hopefully we’ll be smart enough to understand the ways of nature and create a symbiotic relationship with the food stocks we have remaining.

Maybe all the politicians in the world should be paid on a commission basis: that way they’ll only get paid if they produce. All in favor of this plan raise a finger, any finger … I thought so.

As a Native this whole thing troubles me – if the same government in charge of Fisheries is in charge of Indian Affairs there’s a damn good chance Natives may become extinct too!

If you think about it, history might repeat itself. Wasn’t it the
political elite of yesteryear who thought that the best way to rid
themselves of those pesky ‘Injuns’ was to kill off all the Buffalo? Just
some food for thought (you may need it).

By B.H. Bates

I went to see my doctor last week – and I’m afraid I have some bad news.

The day started out as any other, the sky was such a eautiful blue, the birds were singing and all was well under the watchful guardianship of the Great Spirit. The only thing different about today, was that I had a doctor’s appointment.

I was sitting in the waiting room, twenty-two minutes before my noon appointment. I know it’s silly to be that early for a doctor’s
appointment but I know how much I hate it when people are tardy.
Besides, I don’t want to be known as the ‘late’ Mr. Bates, before my time!

And wouldn’t you know it … at the stroke of twelve, high noon, a lady dressed all in white suddenly appeared. She called out my name in such a soft, sweet angelic voice: “Mister Bates, Mister Bernard Bates, the doctor will see you now!”

As I looked up the bright sun light cast a glow all around her and I
couldn’ t see her face. Shielding my eyes from the bright glare, I stumbled into the light. I went down a long corridor and wound up in a sterile white room, all alone … except for my thoughts.

And there I sat, and sat, and sat – doing ‘Doctor time’ and cursing the wasted twenty-two minutes of my life. The meaning of time seemed to slip away, little by little. I picked up a book and started reading a section, appropriately called: Life’s Like That. The next thing I knew I was lost in thought … reviewing events that happened years and years ago.

One passing thought I had was of my early childhood. I was in grade school, during recess and I had a young kid, by the name of Tommy, in a headlock and I was telling him I was going to make him eat a dead black widow spider.

Then a feeling of profound guilt came over me – all these many years
later.

I wished that I could’ve gone back in time, at that moment, and told
that kid; “I’m sorry!” And not only him, but all the folks and even all the animals that I’ve wronged! “I’m sorry, so very sorry!”

“Sorry, Tommy! Sorry, Dicky! Sorry Harry etc. etc. etc. Then I came to the name Karen, then my thoughts turned to other memories … happier thoughts, happier times … if you know what I mean!

I went from, apologetic to appreciation and in some cases, even all out admiration.

I was no longer a child in the ‘spring’ of my life, but in my prime, in
my ‘summer’ time, my glory days! I was full of piss and vinegar, ten feet tall and bullet proof. Then a few fleeting seconds later, I found myself thinking of things that have just happened lately, and sadly, I was now in the ‘fall’ of my life, looking at signs of the approaching, cold, dark ‘winter!’

If you think that was a ‘downer’ – you should’ve seen the look on my
doctor’s face as he came into the room with my open file in his hand. His brow was furrowed and he had a look of utter sadness.

After he sat down, he started out with the usual small talk: How are
you? How was your summer? And that’s when I asked him, what’s wrong, is everything okay, do you have some bad news?

Then with a forlorn sigh he told me:”I hate to say this, but, I hate
this time of year! I have the end of summer ‘blahs!’ The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder and soon the trees will look like theboney hands of death.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about – the poor bastard. Because I too suffer from “Fall-itus!” It’s a new word that I’ve made up, to describe that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, when you see that first TV commercial about ‘back to school.’ It’s the death of the carefree days of sum-sum-summer time!

Even though it’s been many, many moons since I went to school, those damn advertisements still get to me. They’re just one more sign that freedom will be over, all too soon. It’s like looking into the mirror and seeingone more wrinkle, one more gray hair … AAAGHHH!!!

As I left the Doctors office he looked at me with a little grin and
said, “Thanks.”

“For what?” I asked.

Now wearing a big smile he replied: “At least we have ‘Indian summer’ to look forward to!”

You know something … he’s the only person, who has ever thanked this little Injun, for those last beautiful, warm days known as: “INDIAN SUMMER!”

Dear reader,
if you have a bee in your bonnet about Bee in the Bonnet column, or suggestions for future articles please feel free to contact B. H. Bates at: beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca

By Jim West

The premiers, territorial leaders and aboriginal leaders have agreed to push for a ten-year plan to narrow the poverty gap and improve the standard of living of natives to bring them in line with the standard of living enjoyed by other Canadians.

“We had a very positive and constructive dialogue with the premiers and territorial leaders. They are recognizing that our approach is one of constructive engagement: we are presenting concrete proposals and options to address the issues we raise,” said AFN national chief Phil Fontaine. “Simply put, we want to close the gap between ourselves and other Canadians and to enjoy the same quality of life and opportunity.”

The agreement will form the basis of a first ministers’ meeting on aboriginal issues scheduled to take place in November.

Specifically, the provinces and territories will work with the federal government to address five key pillars, that include education, health, housing, economic development and fostering better relationships with the provincial, territorial and federal governments.

Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty said the deal is substantive.

“”You now have before you a critical mass of Canadian leadership which has decided to move beyond treating the quality of life for aboriginal communities as the political equivalent of the weather, where we all talk about it and none of us do anything about it,” said McGuinty. “We’ve decided collectively that we want to move the yardstick forward. That’s what’s really meaningful here today.”

The plan includes a series of targets and benchmarks that all parties would strive to achieve.

“We’re talking about Canada’s future and the future of aboriginal people in this country – people that have been left behind for the entire history of Canada,” said BC premier Gordon Campbell. “The gap that exists between aboriginal people, First Nations and the general public is something we all should be ashamed of.”

Fontaine said the premiers actually came through.

“We wanted to secure commitment from the premiers that they would embrace the challenge we’ve put to them establishing this ten-year target,” said the national chief.

“We’re very, very pleased with the tone and substance of the meeting we had,” said Fontaine.

The national chief also called for a more comprehensive and holistic approach to address First Nations priorities by integrating or coordinating government programming and services under increased First Nation control, with comprehensive models for financing services to First Nations people, including those living away from their communities.

The aboriginal leaders met with the premiers and territorial leaders in Calgary in advance of their annual conference in Banff.

By Lloyd Dolha

Delegates to the annual general assembly of the Manitoba Metis Federation unanimously voted to rescind a special honour they had planned to bestow on Premier Gary Doer, refusing to grant him the Order of the Sash, because of an ongoing dispute over harvesting rights.

“There’s a lot of anger,” said David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, from Brandon where the organization was concluding it annual assembly on September11, 2005.

In 2003, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling, known as the Powley decision, recognized the status of Metis as a distinct aboriginal group with protected constitutional rights, upholding their rights to hunt, trap and fish without a provincial license in areas where they have historically lived.

However, while other provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan have accommodated the ruling, others such as Manitoba have not.

Last year, the MMF believed Premier Doer would accommodate their new status and voted to grant him the prestigious Order of the Sash, the highest honour the Metis can bestow upon an outsider.
But problems over the implementation of those rights over the past year and comments made by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers, led the 2,000 delegates to refuse the premier the honour.

The Metis are upset that Struthers has yet to clarify the provincial government’s position on Metis rights in Manitoba.

Manitoba Metis don’t have the same rights as other jurisdictions to hunt and fish freely and dozens have been charged with illegal hunting, said MMF spokesperson Conor Lloyd.

Struthers was jeered as he took to the podium to address the assembly. While he spoke, dozens of Metis wearing T-shirts that read “Metis Rights Aren’t Wrong,” surrounded the stage in protest.
Struthers told the assembly that he respects the Powley decision, but offered no specifics on how or when hunting rights would be extended to the Metis of Manitoba.

“Our government is committed and has been committed to uphold the Powley decision,” he said.

Mr. Chartrand said he does not understand the approach of Minister Struthers.

“I’ve been in politics a long time.” Said Chartrand. “I can’t figure this guy out.”

There are two key issues: the first is the general conservation of wildlife in the province; the second is the issue of who holds Metis status.

Chartrand suggested the question of Metis status is being handled almost arbitrarily.

“Allow this family, but not that family,” he said and lashed out at the province on the question of conservation, saying the Metis are more careful than provincial bureaucrats in Winnipeg.

He noted that the province issues 176,000 hunting licenses each year, while the MMF hands out only about 800 to its members.

The honourary sash is two metres long and about 30 centimetres wide. The colours blue and white run through the middle, harkening back to the colours of the first Metis flag in the region during the early 1800s. The red, white and black represents Manitoba and the green signifies prosperity.

“He made a commitment to recognize these rights at last year’s annual general assembly,” said Lloyd, after the vote.