Topic: 2002

By Lloyd Dolha

Despite threats of court action and a massive demonstration on the front steps of parliament, INAC minister Robert Nault will place his hotly disputed First Nations Governance Initiative (FNGI) before the House in the first week of June 2002, updating the 126 year-old Indian Act in a major legislative overhaul.

On May 22/23rd more than 400 delegates, including some 200 chiefs met in a special AFN assembly to map out an action plan against the Nault-led FNGI agenda.

“We’re in a situation that can’t wait. If you’re standing on the deck of the Titanic, saying you’re not going under because you have a treaty, or you are at the negotiating table, or that you’re rights are protected by the Constitution, be prepared for a pretty cold bath,” Ontario Chief Roberta Jamieson told the cheering delegates.

First Nations leaders asserted their right to self-determination that is guaranteed by international law and the Canadian constitution. They condemned the FNGI as a “unilateral attempt to undermine the inherent right to self government of First Nations Governments.” A national representative committee has been mandated to implement their action plan immediately.

In his speech to the delegates, AFN National Chief Matthew Coon Come said the proposed legislation will restrict aboriginal and treaty rights by placing those rights under the control of the Indian Act administrative framework.

“If those rights are not defined, they are at risk and any perceived abrogation or derogation will lead to more court battles. Our rights of leadership selection could also be affected. Legislation could infringe on our right to self-government by trying to tell us how and when we can and cannot elect our own leaders.

This will be the first piece of post-1982 legislation attempting to define Section 35,” said Coon Come.

AFN Objectives
The AFN action plan is based on the test laid out in Sparrow and clarified in Badger. The test has three basic components. These are :

• any initiative that alters aboriginal rights must have a clear objective;
• the duty to consult (which has expanded significantly in recent case law);
• and any infringement on aboriginal rights must be at a minimal.

Coon Come said that the governance initiative failed on all three counts, especially the duty to consult and the fact that any infringement on aboriginal rights must be minimal.

Earlier in his speech he pointed out that the Manitoba Chiefs banded together to completely block the community consultations. He told the delegates that “the consultations were a sham. More of a public relations exercise than an attempt to gather real input from our people.”

According to the AFN estimates, participation at the community consultations conducted last summer was at best three per cent or at worst one per cent for the ten million dollar exercise.

The people who did participate were concerned about a lack of information, that they couldn’t give an informed comment on such technical subject matter. People wanted to talk about issues such as housing, land, treaties and aboriginal rights.

According to the AFN analysis, the FNGI legislation deals strictly with: financial accountability; powers and authorities; elections and leadership; and, legal standing and capacity.

“One thing is clear: participation does not mean support. It does not mean consent,” said Coon Come.

Change at all levels
The AFN action plan sets out four streams of change:

• nation rebuilding;
• redistribution of lands and resources;
• treaty implementation;
• and, new fiscal arrangements.

The plan will identify activities at the local, regional and national level to bring about change in each of these areas.

Activities will focus around: capacity building; institutional change; increasing First Nations’ participation in the Canadian economy; and, meeting urgent needs.

The National Chief urged the federal government to show some good faith by “dusting off” the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) final report and working with the AFN to implement its recommendations.

“The lives of our people will not substantially improve unless we build on the key elements of the RCAP report,” he said.

The AFN told the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs in early February that the government should seriously consider two recommendations from the RCAP report as a starting point.

The recommendations are to convene a meeting between First Ministers and First Nations to review RCAP and establish a Canada-wide framework agreement for its implementation.

The second recommendation calls on Canada to establish an Aboriginal Peoples’ Review Commission to monitor the progress of implementation.

In his speech to the Standing Committee of May 9th, Minister Nault cited a recent Ekos public opinion poll that found that aboriginal people on reserve are optimistic about their futures, their children’s futures and their communities.

The survey, the first of its kind ever undertaken by the Canadian government, also found that First Nations people link good governance with improved social and economic development in their communities.

A majority agreed that strengthening the responsibility of First Nations leaders to their citizens would improve conditions on reserve. An even larger majority at 88 per cent believe the Indian Act needs to be changed or replaced and most respondents want a direct voice in those changes.

Survery results
Conducted in August 2001, 1427 First Nations people on reserve from every province in Canada were surveyed by the Ottawa-based Ekos Research Associates and its results were made public in an INAC press release on October 30, 2001, that went virtually unnoticed by the mainstream and aboriginal media.

“First Nations people told us that they want government to focus on day-to-day issues like education and health care, and particularly those which affect their children. They also make a clear link between good governance and improving social conditions,” said Nault.

Nault pointed out that at a recent joint press conference, Ontario Chief Joe Muskokomon said the following about the Indian Act.

“It does not put the First Nations and the First Nations communities accountable to their own people. But more accountable to the government of Canada and, in particular to the Department of Indian Affairs,” he said.

He called it paternalistic at worst and outdated at best.

Outspoken grassroots leader Ed Gladstone in a letter to the editor in The Province in late May said the rhetoric from Chief Matthew Coon Come regarding revisions to the Indian Act is a “rant coming from those who elected him, not from grassroots natives.”

“The rights of the chiefs come before the rights of the rest of us. To have accountability would put a thorn in their ‘lottery,’ sometimes called band funds. Federal money for the future of our economic growth has been put in the hands of irresponsible people. The lavish lifestyles afforded these privileged few is an affront to taxpayers and to those who are supposed to receive the benefits. Native bands failing to meet accountability deadlines do not blame spending by leaders, instead they blame band administrators. This is sad because a band administrator with years of university education must endure tirades and rants by chiefs with huge ego problems and less than grade-school education. With the advent of accountability, we hope to see the qualifications for these positions rise,” wrote Gladstone.

Remember Nault angered the male-dominated First Nations leadership last spring when he went straight to the grass roots communities, going over the heads of chiefs, regional and national organizations, holding more than 450 consultation sessions in more than 200 First Nations communities.

Overhaul of Act
And Nault’s plan to overhaul the Indian Act is sweeping in scope. The First Nations Land Management Act was recently opened up to other First Nations. Four new institutions are planned to strengthen the fiscal capacity of First Nations.

These are:

• a First Nations Tax Commission to provide alternative sources of revenue;
• a First Nations Finance Authority to clarify borrowing authority;
• a First Nations Management Board to provide independent accounting and other services;
• and a First Nations Statistical Institute to provide reliable data on things like population and economic growth.

Nault has called the 126 year-old Indian Act an “embarrassment” and later hinted that over a billion dollars in Indian trust accounts could be turned over to First Nations after his FNGI is passed in the fall.

And not all aboriginal groups are opposed to the FNGI.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), representing over 800,000 off-reserve aboriginal people of Canada’s 1.1 million aboriginals were involved in the consultations from its start in April, 2001. CAP was also involved in the Joint Ministerial Advisory Committee (JMAC) that met to advise the minister on governance amendments to the Indian Act.

Nault’s FNGI agenda has three phases: the pre-legislative consultation phase; the post-consultation drafting of a parliamentary committee phase; and, the regulatory phase.

Throughout the consultation phase, one issue dominated the off-reserve peoples’ discussions. They want the archaic act replaced by a more comprehensive and inclusive Aboriginal Peoples’ Act.

CAP wants to see legislation that reflects the reality that, in Canada today, more than 73 per cent of all aboriginal peoples live off Indian Act reserves and do not receive any benefits from the provisions of the act.

Alternative principles
The guiding principles for an Aboriginal Peoples Act should be:

• that all aboriginal peoples have the inherent right to self-government, self-determination and their treaty rights, independent of the Indian Act ;
• and, that all aboriginal peoples retain their rights regardless of residency or status.

In their final report on the phase one consultations, submitted in February, 2002, CAP points out that off-reserve participants frequently expressed their concerns about the FNGI.

“A fundamental problem with the First Nations Governance Initiative is the federal assumption that the Indian Act can be rehabilitated in an interim partial way. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples feels strongly that this approach is likely to compound existing inequities in, and flowing from the Act. A piece-meal approach is likely to simply replace some old policy problems and rights violations with new policy problems and rights violations. The 1985 amendments (Bill C-31) to the Indian Act are an example of this,” states the CAP report.

CAP constituents participating in the consultations frequently expressed their objection to a legislative exercise not aimed at addressing fundamental inequities and rights violations flowing from the Indian Act in terms of identity issues such as: Indian status and band membership entitlement; recognition of aboriginal peoples governments; and, aboriginal peoples off-reserve organizations and aboriginal women¹s issues.

Many spoke of the many forms of discrimination flowing from the Indian Act and the discrimination experienced by off-reserve aboriginal people, and people reinstated under the 1985 amendments under Bill C-31, especially women and children as well as discrimination flowing from decisions and actions of band councils elected under the Indian Act.

Off-reserve aboriginal people reject federal definitions of Indians and gave real life examples of the damaging impact of these definitions on individuals and families. CAP says the current definition of “Indian” is an arbitrary one and their constituents reject the imposition of racially and sexually discriminatory legal categories within the aboriginal community through federal law.

Off-reserve aboriginal people want to see a restructuring to reflect the social reality of the significant numbers of aboriginal people living off-reserve because INAC is focused exclusively on reserve communities where only a minority of aboriginal people actually live.

There was a universal sentiment that the broad range of inequalities created by the Indian Act at the individual and collective level must be abolished and more specifically:

• there must be equal recognition of Aboriginal peoples and Aboriginal peoples governments in federal legislation including off-reserve Aboriginal peoples organizations;
• the individual equality rights violations embedded in the Indian status entitlement and band membership provisions must be corrected;
  the equality rights of Aboriginal women must be addressed in any governance or self-government legislation;
• off-reserve Aboriginal peoples organizations should be properly resourced to meet the program and service needs of off-reserve Aboriginal people and at a level proportionate to the funding provided on-reserve Aboriginal people;
• off-reserve Aboriginal peoples organizations must continue to be involved in further consultation processes flowing from this initiative or further initiatives to review the Indian Act;
• off-reserve Aboriginal peoples organizations should be funded at least on an equal basis with on reserve organizations in respect to their participation in consultation processes such as this one;
• equality rights with respect to political participation in elections and other forms of leadership selection must apply to all custom bands as well as bands operating under the Indian Act election system.

“CAP is participating in this process because we know that any changes to the Indian Act will affect part of our constituency off-reserve registered Indians, ” said Dwight Dorey, CAP’s national chief.

By B.H. Bates

It’s that time again, it’s National Aboriginal Day! Time to beat the drums, put on your best bonnet, hold your head high and exclaim: “I’m proud, I’m brave, I’m Native!”

I’m a few moons shy of being considered an Elder. Which means I’ve seen how things have changed over the years. I’ve listened to my father’s stories about his time on this earth. I’ve felt the heart ache my mother suffered, at the hands of prejudiced people.

If you’ve seen a few moons yourself, you know how things used to be. If you’re a youngster, gather around the proverbial campfire, here are a few – “Did you knows!”

Did you know there was a time, when natives were not allowed to be taught the English language, in the same room as English people? If you think that’s ironic…did you know, priests told the North American native not to believe in the great spirit? Then, weren’t allowed to be in a place that sold spirits?

Did you know that in the famous World War Two photograph, of the men raising the American flag on Iwo Jima, there was a native named Ira, among them?

Speaking of World War Two, the Navajo people used their language as a code. A code that the enemy was never able to break. Thus, saving countless lives. Now that’s something to be proud of!

Lately, I’ve been doing some volunteer work at the local friendship center. It’s been a real eye opener. Mere days ago, I was of the opinion; If you’re an Indian, who happens to be down and out on the streets, it’s your own damn fault! One thing I’ve learned as a volunteer, is, there are many forks in the road of life.

If you have a roof over your head, a full stomach and a buck or two in the bank, there are good reasons for your success. You more than likely have had some kind of support along the way. Be it a parent, a spouse, an education or a strong personality. Let’s just say for instance you took a different fork in that road of life.

Let’s say your parents had problems of some sort. Let’s say you grew up around people with various addictions. And maybe you were unfortunate enough to be brought up in poverty. Wow! …. I think I just described myself and most of the people on my Rez.

Even though I made a few bad turns on the way to becoming the man I am today, I was lucky enough to have had people that cared about my well being.

I’d like to thank every one of them, but the list would be so long, that my editor would crap ink! And more than likely I’d, unintentionally, forget to mention someone.

You see, as I said before, I learned that there are many forks in the road of life. And all it takes is one wrong decision, and you too, could find yourself up the creek without a canoe. I’ll never look at the ‘unfortunate’ in the same way again.

One day, under a warm sun, I sat down and talked to one of these Ol’ Bros and he told me his story. He said he wasn’t always a drunk. “One time, a long time ago, I was a foreman on this big ranch. I was the god damn boss! People looked to me, for things to do!” He said with tightened lips, a scowl on his weathered face and with such pride.

“Yep! But no one needs an old Indian like me these days, you know?”

He went on to say that his grandson was graduating soon. Again his eyes light up with pride, when he said. “He’ll be a big man one day, just you watch!”

Speaking of native pride, lately I’ve met some extreme ‘drum beaters’. You know the type – the in your face, mad at the world, my ancestors were mistreated, look at me, listen to me whine and complain!

All I can say to them is, go look in a mirror and ask yourself; “Am I furthering the cause,
or am I just pissing people off?”

After all, pride is something you earn from your actions, not something you get simply by beating a drum!

Happy Aboriginal Day!

By Dan Smoke – Asayenes (NNNC)

The Caldwell First Nation celebrated an historic legal victory when the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in its favour regarding its 212-year-old land claim. Despite the neighbouring municipality’s relentless efforts to interfere in this matter, the courts have upheld the nation-to-nation relationship between Canada and the Caldwell First Nation.

The municipality of Chatham-Kent and the Chatham-Kent Community Network (CKCN) have repeatedly sought to intervene in the Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) between the Caldwells and the Canadian government.

These third party groups were hoping to challenge the validity of the Caldwell land claim. In upholding the relationship between the Federal government and the First Nation, the municipality was successfully excluded from the process. The court also ordered the municipality of Chatham-Kent to pay Canada $2500.00 in legal costs.

Last year, motions by the Chatham Kent Municipality and CKCN member Jack Rigby requesting disclosure of the Justice department’s legal opinions on the Caldwell claim were denied in the Federal Court of Canada. This meant that the legal manoeuvring of the municipality and the CKCN could only move forward on appeal.

Caldwell FN legal counsel, Jim Mays said, “I believe their hope was to use that opinion to undermine the AIP. The courts have ruled, and now the Court of Appeal has confirmed, that the government does not have to give over that opinion.”

Caldwell Chief, Larry Johnson observed, “If this DOJ opinion had been given out, then it would have broke down Aboriginal/Crown relations right across the country…because it would bring in this very negative, right-wing, cheering section to every land claim process.” He remarked, “I have my problems with the colonial law system, but in this case it protected the rights of Aboriginal people across the country.”

The next step
The Caldwells will now proceed to the next step, which is a hearing to decide whether the court has the right to set aside the Minister’s decision to settle the Caldwell claim. Department of Justice lawyer, Charlotte Bell explains, “The municipality commenced this action by way of ‘application supported by an affidavit.’ This is how one does it if the case is about setting aside the decision of a Minister.”

“When a case is commenced by an ‘application supported by an affidavit,’ the process is that the opposing party gets to cross-examine on the affidavit.” She elaborated, “the process that was followed here was that the parties cross-examined on the affidavit filed in support of the application [to set aside the Minister’s decision].

It was in the course of the cross-examination that the DOJ was asked to turn over its legal opinion, and refused…All of the cross-examinations are now complete…We are awaiting a hearing date.”

According to Brian Knott, Director of Legal Services for the Chatham Kent municipality, a hearing date for the judicial review has been scheduled for the week of September 16th for up to three days, in either London or Toronto. As for the Chatham Kent Council’s next move, they will not be appealing the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision.

The settlement offer of $23.4 million dollars gives the Caldwells’ 25 years to buy up to l,800 hectares of land on a “willing seller, willing buyer” basis as it becomes available.

Several members of the Caldwell FN have served notice that they are not interested in a land settlement offer. They have been litigating against the Chief and Council since the l998 AIP was signed.

Two dissident groups formed and tried to litigate against Chief Johnson.

This forced the courts to grant an injunction against allowing the Caldwell membership to participate in the ratification vote for the land settlement offer by the Crown. The Chief and Council were willing to release documents, but the Crown refused to hand over this “documentary disclosure.”

Justice Dawson, who heard the case, ruled that such documentation is protected by “settlement privilege.”

Business obstacles
Subsequent to this, an election was called last June by band custom. Chief Johnson was re-elected. On his Council, he has one councillor who supported the AIP and two Councillors who supported financial compensation.

This has created an impasse, which is preventing band business from being conducted.

According to an Indian Affairs directive, the previous Band Council was authorized to sign checks to maintain an operative band administration. Unfortunately, they are not authorized to sign a Band Council Resolution (BCR) request for a ratification vote on the land settlement offer.

Chief Johnson perceives this as “a way to topple our leadership, but also, to cause us to lose this land.” This would include present and future landholdings. He says there is a petition being circulated among the membership calling for a new election. He explains that because Caldwell FN is a band custom government (INAC does not ratify its elections), “there would need to be 75 signatures of band members to be considered for calling a new election for the l78 Caldwell members.”

According to Mays, “the year started off with one of the band member groups who sued Council agreeing to drop their case against the Council, sign a declaration that there is no evidence of fraud by the Council, and concede that Larry Johnson won the election for Chief in the June 2001 election.”

He added, “the other group of band members still have not seen the light, but I think that this year will see the end of that claim as well.”

Until then, the internal litigation progresses. Johnson observed, “the colonial law system has been severely abused.”

One galvanizing effort in the area has been the uniting of the Caldwells with the local citizenry who are opposed to the expansion plans of area pig farmers.

Beaches have closed and boiled water advisories have become more frequent owing to pig manure spills into the local water system.

Water monitoring investigations by the Ministry of the Environment are ongoing.

Johnson noted that this is “showing the moderates that we’re good neighbours and that we’ve been good neighbours for the past nine years.”

By Raymond Barfett

It was a beautiful autumn morning in New York City — a few soft white clouds were floating against the blue sky. Most people were on their way to work and everyone was enjoying the freshness provided by the cool air from the North; it had been an extremely hot summer.

Several Mohawk Ironworkers were already at work, fifty floors above the bustling city streets at a job site in Lower Manhattan.

They were from the Akwasasne Reserve in upstate NY and over the past one hundred and fifty years ironwork had become a part of their long-standing tradition as architects and builders.

The normalcy of their day ended suddenly and abruptly. Richard Otto and his crew looked up in amazement as an airliner flew by the building, a scant fifty feet from their crane. It was headed in the direction of the World Trade Center (WTC), just ten blocks away. A moment later it crashed into one of the Towers.

Otto quickly got on his cell phone and called Michael Swamp, Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 440 on the Akwesasne Reserve to inform him of the tragedy. While they were talking another airliner passed by, heading in the same direction. This could not just be an accident, something was seriously wrong here.

Otto told Swamp the plane was going to hit the second Tower. Swamp heard Otto frantically telling the workers to get out of there, then there was a thunderous boom and the phone went dead.

There were about one hundred Mohawk men from the Ironworkers Union working at construction sites in NYC and New Jersey that morning and those who could headed directly to ground zero.

Some of these men had worked on the WTC from the beginning; they knew their way around the buildings and they hoped they could help save some lives.

Grave danger and pressure are a daily way of life for these men who toil high above the ground. They showed no fear; they knew the Great Spirit and the Spirits of their Forefathers were with them. They were some of the first rescuers on the scene; helping stunned and injured people out of the buildings. After the buildings collapsed they immediately began searching for survivors.

Meanwhile Michael Swamp had called the sister locals in Utica, Albany and Syracuse and coordinated recruitment of union members to relieve the hard-pressed workers.

They would spend days, weeks, and months clearing up the rubble. These brave and courageous Mohawk men followed a path that was walked before them by several generations of Mohawks from New York State, Quebec and Ontario. It was a path well worn, evolving out of necessity, courage, and pride.

History of the Mohawk ironworkers

In the year 1886 the Grand Trunk Railway wanted to build the Victoria Bridge and it would span the mighty St. Lawrence River and connect Montreal to the Kahnawake Reserve.

They contracted out the job to the Dominion Bridge Company. In exchange for being allowed to run the railroad through Mohawk Territory, Grand Trunk arranged for Dominion to hire some of the Mohawks as laborers to work on the bridge site. This decision would have a huge impact upon the lifestyle of many Mohawks, an effect that remains to this very day.

Their first job was to supply the stone for the large piers that would support the bridge.

When their shifts ended, they would hang out on the bridge watching the other workers to see what they were doing.

Even young Native children became curious and soon they were climbing all over the span, right alongside the men. The workers noticed that the Mohawk’s agility, grace and sense of balance made it seem as though they had a natural disposition for heights.

Fearless Wonders
When management became aware of this, they hired and trained a dozen tribal members as ironworkers. The original twelve, all teenagers, were so adept at working at high altitudes, they were known as the ‘Fearless Wonders’.

They would walk on narrow beams several hundred feet above the raging river and yet it appeared as though they were just on a casual walk along a forest path.

In their book ‘This Land was Theirs’ (1999), Oswalt and Neely state, “Some outsiders have suggested that an absence of fear of height was inborn, but it seem more likely that the trait was learned”.

Perhaps some of these men did not fear heights and those that did likely repressed their fear in order to gain employment. Constructing bridges and skyscrapers was extremely dangerous work and many of the young Mohawks were drawn to it not only for high wages, but also perhaps for an opportunity to prove their courage. They worked very hard at learning their newfound trade and soon began to train other men from their Reserve.

The Mohawk ironworkers used their native language while they riveted steel beams, high up on bridges and skyscrapers. They spoke to each other continuously in Mohawk and this reinforced their own language competency.

Sometimes they even taught Mohawk to their non-native co-workers. The Mohawks also used ‘sign language’, signals made with the hands, which was instrumental in allowing them to communicate with each other quickly and clearly, while working on narrow iron beams, hundreds of feet above the earth.

Over the next fifty years many people from various First Nations would follow in the footsteps of the Mohawks of Kahnawake.

They became renowned for their ability to walk high steel beams with balance and grace, seemingly without any fear, and ironwork became a matter of identity and great pride within the First Nations.

The legend of their innate abilities began to apply to native men from all over the Woodland area and thus allowed them to get hired all across the US and Canada. These men helped to shape and build the ‘New America’.

Skywalkers
By the early 1900’s the emergence of the modern-day skyscraper occurred. Iron bridges and tall buildings, those were the future. Chicago and New York City were reaching for the stars.

From the beginning of that new age of construction, the Mohawks were there, ‘sky-walking’ on the clouds, high above it all. The men made the long journey from their reserves to the big cities alone, leaving their families and then returning once or twice a month to visit.

These Mohawk men, who worked in the Ironworkers Industry of America, soon became legendary and were known in later years as the ‘Skywalkers’.

By the 1930’s the Mohawks began to move in large numbers from the Kahnawake and Akwesasne Reserves in Canada and upstate NY. They were attracted by New York’s great building boom, fueled by Depression-era Public Works, and later the post-war economic revival.

Entire families set up their own little communities within the midst of the unknown bustling city. It was quite a contrast to their quiet lives back home.

One such community was formed in Brooklyn in the vicinity of the Cuyler Church. Reverend Cory welcomed these Mohawk families to attend his church and treated them the same as any of God’s children.

He spent a great deal of time learning their language, so much so that he was able to translate religious readings into the Mohawk-Oneida dialect. He also promoted the reacquisition of Mohawk traditional culture and made the resources of the church available to the Native community for that purpose.

The church also served as a community center where people would often gather to hear news from home, tell stories, trade information, and hold cultural events. By the late 1950’s construction in New York City diminished, thus decreasing employment and causing numerous Mohawk families to vacate the North Gowanus enclave.

Manhattan Island needs healing
The Mohawks from New York State and Canada once controlled all the land in the Hudson Valley, including Manhattan Island and most of Long Island.

They were the Keepers of the Eastern Door of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Mohawks were instrumental in the construction of many of the bridges and skyscrapers of New York City; such as the Woolworth Building, the Empire State Building, the Waldorf Astoria, the RCA Building (now the GE Bldg.), the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Columbia Center, the George Washington Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Henry Hudson Parkway, and any other ironwork project that required courageous men with nerves of steel.

In his statement to the Members of Canada’s Parliament, National Chief Matthew Coon Come said, “I want to convey to you the sense of seriousness that First Nations peoples hold for the September 1, 2001 events. This is our homeland. Our Elders refer to the land as ‘Mother Earth’, and when anyone harms our Mother, be it through the destruction of the environment, or by the taking of human life that was put here, it hurts us all.”

The damage of 9/11 had to be dealt with immediately and the Great Spirit had to be invoked to aid in the healing process. The drums started beating, word spread out quickly and millions of prayers were forthcoming from Native peoples all across North America. Deeply touched, not only did they send their prayers, they started sending millions of dollars in donations.

The Elders knew that that there was an open wound on the tip of Manhattan Island; a wound that had to be healed before everyone could move forward with their lives. They were honored when an invitation was offered to attend the 17th Annual Candlelight Vigil of Remembrance and Hope to be held at the West End Collegiate Church in NYC on April 21/02.

This year’s theme was ‘Bringing Honor to Victims’ and would pay special tribute to the families of the 9/11 disaster. The Mohawk peoples would lead everyone in the Healing Ceremony.

Kwan Bennett, a Cherokee member of the Thunderbird Dancers, coordinated the New York City American Indian Community’s participation in the Candlelight Vigil. She told Jim Kent, a reporter for the Native Times, that she knows many Mohawk ironworkers who’ve taken part in the recovery efforts at ‘Ground Zero’ and at times feels overwhelmed by the impact the tragedy has had on them and the rest of the city’s American Indian population.

“I know that the people of the Iroquois Nations who are taking care of this land that was once part of where their people lived are really touched to the core by what has happened,” Bennett observed. There’s been a lot of talk, particularly by the Elders, that we actually need to have a cleansing…a healing at the site. There’s a lot of spiritual work that needs to be done.”

The opening procession was led by the NYC Dept. of Correction Bag Pipe Band, followed by the Pipeline Pipe and Drum Band, Mohawks from the Kahnawake and Akwesasne Reserves, and members of the First Nations from all across North America. They were wearing their traditional regalia and carrying fans, rattles, turtle shells, and smudge pots.

The opening prayer by Arthur Powless, a Medicine Elder and former ironworker, was given in his Native language and was interpreted by Jerry McDonald of Akwasasne, a member of Local 440.

Don Cardinal, a traditional healer from the Cree Nations, placed the Men’s Eagle Staff and Peace Pipe on the podium and Kwan Bennett placed the Women’s Eagle Staff.

The Eagle Staff has represented Native peoples for thousands of years and has ceremonial and symbolic purpose. The Eagle Staff is carried to focus the intent of those it represents and signifies a strong spiritual message for those it honors.

Every Eagle Staff is unique in design; made that way through the knowledge of its maker, according to the purpose and representation. The decision to make and use such a staff is always a serious undertaking.

Survivors, family members and children read original poetry and messages of hope and recovery. The Akwesasne Women’s Singers, the Heyna Second Sons, pianist Eric Alderfer, the Young People’s Chorus of NYC, and Luis Mofsie, Director of the Thunderbird American Dancers, provided musical enrichment and entertainment.

The Candlelight Vigil included spirituality and rituals. Guests received ‘solace stones’ as a symbol of the long journey of restoration, not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.
The Grey Elders from the Pine Ridge Reserve offered the ceremonial sage. White Pine needles were brought for the ceremony from Ohswegan, the Six Nations Reservation in Canada and were lit at the same time as the candles, as a symbol of ‘Unity’.

During the solemn candle lighting ceremony, attendees recited the names of family members and friends who were so suddenly taken away. While loved ones offered testimonials to the civilian and uniformed heroes of 9/11, meaningful and inspirational slides were shown. A book of ‘Remembrance and Hope’ recording the names of victims was ritually dedicated.

Kwan Bennett delivered the introduction for the closing prayer, recited by Rayne Holley, Gabrielle Perez, Kia Benbow and Hunter McDonald, four children ranging in age from seven to twelve. Luis Mofsie played the Men’s Drum for the closing song and healer Don Cardinal smoked the peace pipe to close the ceremonies. A marvelous feast was presented and greatly enjoyed by all.

The Great Spirit had been invoked and the healing process of Mother Earth was well underway.

Weytk! My name is Tina Matthew and I am from the North Thompson Indian Band, Shuswap Nation.

My parents live in Chu-Chua and I have two sisters, one older and one younger. I am 30 years old and a recent graduate of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC.

I graduated with: Bachelor of General Studies with a double minor in First Nations Studies and Anthropology Liberal Arts Certificate Teaching Certification for the Elementary Level (PDP) (Professional Development Program).

It took me a while to return to college and university because I worked a lot of minimum wage jobs and traveled around. But then I realized that most of these jobs were dead-end jobs, with no room for advancement or fulfillment.

I realized that in order to fulfill and accomplish my dreams I needed to go back to school and obtain my degree. My parents and my community have always emphasized the importance of education, and my older sister was very influential in my returning to school.

I think I really “found” myself in university. I met other First Nations people who were just as scared and unsure of their goals as I was, but we were all willing to give it our best shot. But most importantly, I met other strong, educated First Nations women who would become my mentors and friends through all of the trials and tribulations of university.

I had a really hard time with some courses, but I persevered and hung in there, thanks to the support of the people around me. So many times I felt like throwing in the towel because it seemed like there was no end in sight, but my friends and family believed in me and helped me through it.

The most gratifying and rewarding day culminated for me on June 6th, 2002 when I had my convocation at Simon Fraser University. It symbolized for me the success of all of my hard work over the last 6 years and made me realize that all of the time and effort I had put in had finally paid off!

I truly feel that my job opportunities have increased tenfold because of the education that I have attained, and I don’t regret all of the hard work one bit. I think the most important thing that is has given me is the ability to think critically about issues and have the confidence and knowledge to stand behind my beliefs.

It’s funny, when I was in school I didn’t realize why we were studying the things we were and how it was relevant to the big picture, but now that I look back at everything in retrospect it all makes sense. You have to go though a lot of small tedious details and information, but in the end it all connects and forms a comprehensive, cohesive whole.

I am working at the First Nations Employment Centre right now doing the Youth Programming and I love it. I plan to move to the Okanagan in the future and teach there.

Thank you for hearing my story. Kukstemc.

Tina Matthew

By Dan Smoke – Asayenes (NNNC)

MUNSEE DELAWARE NATION: Bob Antone, executive director of the KiiKeeWaNiiKaan Southwest Regional Healing Lodge near Muncey, Ontario, dreamed of a circle of men talking about the true meaning of a First Nation man.

Seven years later, the dream was fulfilled as KiiKeeWaNiiKaan graduated the first class of Indigenous Community Workers from its “Tending the Fire” leadership program March 28, 2002.

‘Tending the Fire’ is an accredited diploma program offered by the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) through the auspices of Loyalist College, Belleville, Ontario.

Course instructor Jim Dumont, of Laurentian University, said this unique program “gives men the courage to enter the path of healing as well as the path of learning.”

Developed from “our own traditions, culture and spirituality”, it provides “the means by which we educate our own people to create effective change.”

The Indigenous Community Worker Program is the first entirely culture-based curriculum offered by a First Nations educational institution to help men who have internalized the oppression from Western culture and have not had opportunities to decolonize.

Through imposition of Indian Act legislation, they have lost sight of the gender equity that used to be a part of First Nations culture and tradition so that our communities have the highest social pathologies in the country.

Another chance for men
This course shows men who had violent, self destructive, alcoholic pasts the traditional roles, responsibilities, teachings, and indigenous knowledge that come from the elders and oral histories of our people.

Over a two-year period, a group of 26 men, of whom 17 graduated, met with resource professionals for one week every two months. Course requirements included making fire using flint; fashioning a bow and arrow using traditional indigenous knowledge systems; with healing work involving behavioural modification, and traditional ceremonies such as the sweat lodge.

The men came from communities all over Ontario. Glen McDougall – Lahwe’nu:nihe’, from the nearby Oneida Settlement, said the best moments were “when we sat around the fire, in a big circle, talking as we used to years ago. We had to look at what caused us to act in certain ways.”

Revelations
A revelation for all the men was how they treated women. “It was not very nice.”

Nowhere in the creation stories is there violence towards women and children. It is time to unlearn this negative behaviour and bring back the supreme values and principles that guided those relationships: courage, love, respect, truth, honesty, humility and wisdom.

Hearing the creation stories helped participants to reclaim their own spirituality and identity. Jim Dumont’s Ojibway creation story “touched us in a way I can’t describe”, Lahwe’nu:riihe’ said.

“I was reading a book when I thought about how those words are written down, but without feeling or spirit. When we as Onkwehonwe or Anishinabe sit down to talk, we share the spirit in the words that come out through us and touch us. That’s the power of our ways, because we were an oral society, with nothing written down.”

Making fire with flint caused the most “excitement” as “the fire’s spirituality came to each individual man”. Lahwe’nu:riihe’ described the pressure he felt when asked to make the sweat lodge fire from flint. “You strike and strike, and then you remember the teachings of being a good person and then calmness comes over you, and all of a sudden the fire comes to life.”

Using wisdom
Another highlight was making a bow and arrow from indigenous knowledge.

Instructor Clayton Brascoupe explained the protocol of asking permission from the trees giving their lives for the bow and the arrow. Further protocol requires the one going hunting with that bow and arrow has to ask for permission from the hunted animal to take its life, followed by the protocol of giving thanks.

The result of this teaching was formation of the Traditional Bow-Making Society, a group of men who will meet to discuss ways to empower their communities.

Counselling using the “lifeline” process enabled the men to see how a childhood experience can manifest itself in later life. Most were already on their healing journey; many are elders in their own communities.

Many have been alcohol- and drug-free for some years, all had violent, self-destructive, alcoholic pasts and were now learning a holistic way of living using the medicine wheel approach to life.

“The most important learning was, that the more we know about something, the less we really know, and that’s the way our teachings are,” Lahwe’nu:riihe’ said. There is always more to learn. “People who possess a lot of indigenous knowledge and wisdom reach plateaus and then continue to learn more.. I have much more respect for them now, knowing this.”

“Inside every man is a personal fire. It may be like the small spark that comes off the flint so we have to fan it. Learning our culture is like that.. Soon, the fire will burn and it must be controlled. If it gets out of control, it will hurt people. That same teaching comes to us from our eldest brother, the sun, nurturing energy that helps to give life. And beside the fire is the water so we learn a sense of balance from the fire and the water. If the fire is too strong, then we must use water. And that’s why we honour the women in the world because they are the water carriers. All life comes from water. All life will continue to grow because of the fire, the sun. And if we don’t have those two elements, we don’t have anything,” he reflected.

The mother of graduate Leland Thomas, 20, said she had been praying for a way “to restore our men to be the keepers of the fire. I saw my son begin this course two years ago, as a boy, and today he has become a man, a firekeeper.”

Following the ceremony, a traditional feast was prepared for the men and their families who came to support them. In the traditional way, the men served all the guests.

By Ingrid Olson

Years ago I moved to a very remote part of Canada. At a moment’s notice I had left my world.

I knew what I had to do. It was about getting reacquainted with that warrior spirit that lives within all of us and I had stumbled on the place to do it.

Haida Gwaii is a land of mists, eagles and lush rainforests; a land of magic and mystery.

As the ferry pulled into the Haida village of Skid gate, a journey that had taken one and a half days up the inland passage of British Columbia, the beating of drums over the water welcomed me. Shivering with the beauty of that moment I knew my healing had begun.

I have a story to tell of a beautiful Tshimsian woman who became my friend. Her name is Sherry.

Soon after my arrival I had rented a small one-room cabin from her. Other than not having any facilities, it was perfect! We got to know each other in her kitchen where I had to go to make tea and meals.

It was a careful relationship; on my part especially. Too many times I had seen the truth in the old saying ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’

In the 16 months I was there, our visits were half-hour sessions in her kitchen. We would catch up on news in the town and of course the current shenanigans complicating her love life.

We were both careful not to intrude in each other’s space.

Sherry was a person of paradox. Within her, she had to have been at war with the repercussions of murder, alcoholism and sexual abuse that had coloured her world as a child. Multiple tragedies….too many to name here.

These demons seldom extradite themselves from the fabric of our lives on their own. As a Tshimsian living among the Haida, she also knew the sting of not belonging. In her heart she carried the hope of being loved enough to be adopted among the Haida.

Many times she had witnessed white people moving to her island home of 17 years and being welcomed into their world. No such honour for her or her five children. But this is not what this story is about. This tale is about how a tradition of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect still thrives among those who have been the most wounded. And how laughter heals some of our human follies.

Laughter heals
I remember that night like it was yesterday…it was raining so hard. Sherry had decided to go to the community dance and had told me earlier that Johnny was driving her. I knew that Johnny had a ‘thing’ for Sherry; I also knew he didn’t have a prayer in that department.

That night I went into the house around 2 a.m. to make some tea. Two rooms from the kitchen I heard some very colourful language screaming from Sherry’s mouth and the sound of a man whimpering.

I stood there transfixed, not knowing what to do. Did someone need help? Should I offer or would I be intruding? In seconds I was laughing to myself. Johnny must of got out of line.

My friend Sherry grew up a street-fighting girl on the streets of Prince Rupert; she was brought up in the house of bootleggers mixing drinks as a child and dodging drunks from the time she was 7. Sherry had a side to her you didn’t want to mess with. Whatever was going on clearly Sherry was in no danger. I left closing the back door to the pitiful blubbering’s of some poor man. As always, the tale would get told the next day.

Morning finally came and with great anticipation I went to the house to make tea. I glanced at the dining room – pages and pages of foolscap with large black scrawls littered the floor and table. Sherry came through the door wearing a huge grin. As I looked at the dining room and then at her with eyebrows raised we both started to chuckle.

“Was that Johnny you were screaming at last night?” I asked, figuring Johnny had finally pushed his luck.

After a rather expensive and unsuccessful venture into the world of Asian mail-order brides, Johnny had set his sights on Sherry some time ago. If nothing else it was very brave of him. None too few white men in that furthest outpost of Canada had deemed western women suitable wives. Something to do with our lack of compliance. Either Asian women were a quick study or their legendary subservience was a myth.

Several months after this story took place ,when Johnny’s vision of l’amour with Sherry petered into home alone the fallout from his inability to handle rejection required an “intervention.” Johnny had concluded -around town- that Sherry was suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome. He couldn’t fathom her lack of interest in scooping his sorry-ass up any other way. Ego! The ship that keeps even idiots afloat ! And idiots intervening! Yes….moi. Let me continue!

To my question Sherry replied, “No….no. I was yelling at Tommy. I ended up home from the dance around 1am, curled up on the couch in my pajamas, and woke up to Tommy glued to my boob.”

I stood there staring at her…not knowing what to say or think. Who the hell was Tommy? Lightening struck and the visuals got the best of me.

Peeping Tom
Up in the Charlottes most people don’t bother to lock their doors. It’s a small community where eventually everybody gets to know who’s who. Sherry used to walk down the main street and have her hand up the whole time waving to people. Like the pope on tour. She didn’t even have curtains on her front window and in poor Tommy’s defence, Sherry’s PJs were a sexy black negligee.

A bonanza for a peeping Tom passing by looking for a place and persons to peep.

Although I didn’t know it at the time Tommy had been the Skidegate peeper in residence for years.

Sherry continued, her voice a few octaves higher, body language registering cooking.

“I woke up and there he was buck naked sucking away. I jumped up…grabbed him…and hauled him over to the table screaming.. ‘What the #*@# do you think you’re doing ..you want to end up in jail…’ …and he starts crying on me! So I shove him into a chair thinking, ‘By Golly! I have to teach this bastard a lesson…he needs help!’ So I go him a beer……”

My lips mouthed the words “you got him a beer.” It was starting to make sense. Get your molester a beer, get him nice and comfy…then soc it to him. Yep , the islands were working their magic on me.

Before Sherry got back to her story I interrupted her so we could co-elaborate on other ways we could have made that poor distraught lost man so comfy he ‘d be thinking his inner child had returned.

It turned into an episode of ‘Springer’ with Oprah awakenings. I know interrupting is somewhat of a trademark of white-folk. Annoying habit. Eventually curiosity got the best of me and I had to ask “What’s with all the foolscap?”

“As I’m freaking out at him and he’s bawling and blubbering at me, I realize I’m not getting through to this guy,” Sherry says, shaking her head. Sherry had forgotten and I was to learn that the reason Tommy wasn’t getting the picture was because Tommy’s a deaf mute. Enter pen and paper.

“He can read ….right! So I start talking that way… ‘You want to go to prison? Stop being a goof!’ And I rip off a page and hold it to his face ’til it gets read.”

Exhausted, Sherry falls silent. I can see it all plain as day. Sheet after sheet, rip after rip. And Sherry loves to talk. Remembering his whimpering the night before I know now that Tommy was traumatized. If I’d been there and had boobs I’d have given him one, I’m feeling so bad for Tom.

Sherry goes on to tell me she had him get dressed, finish his beer and leave. Tommy goes off into the rainy night. Well actually he had to come back to see if Sherry would call him a taxi. But of course!

My friend sending Tommy off in a cab so he wouldn’t catch cold, was the last straw for me. Doubled over and choking with glee, I had a profound realization.

“Sherry, my friend….life is such crap for us women sometimes. How often do we catch a man red-handed….where he knows he’s wrong, you know he’s wrong and he knows you know he’s wrong. It really bites when you’ve got some sorry-ass cornered who’s waiting to take it….and by God is going to get it…and the son of a bitch can’t hear a word your saying.”

Probably as a result of the storyteller’s big mouth Tommy’s antics eventually reached the ears of the local law. I’m not apologizing….it would have killed me not to have it go unsaid.

Justice our way
The R.C.M.P. arrived at Sherry’s doorstep a few weeks later, wanting to know if she wanted to press charges. After all, a series of offences had occurred and retribution was in order. Had they been there, I mused, they would have understood that being around Sherry when she’s pissed and on a roll was Tommy’s punishment. He certainly never returned.

Sherry had no intention of taking this out of her community. Jail would not fix Tommy’s propensity for peeping. We didn’t know for sure what would. But we knew that many of her people languished in jails with no hope for healing the wounds that ultimately sent them there.

Maybe you had to have been there. Maybe you have to see that most of what we do and the importance we attach to our judgments is our folly. Or just maybe this whole story is just a reflection of the compassion, honesty and humour that me and my friend Sherry walked for a time together on that path of heart.

By Dan Smoke – Asayenes (NNNC)

Two Native American films were shown in Toronto on May 27th.

They feature Respected Native Elders sharing their wisdom on respecting and protecting Mother Earth for our future generations. Mohawk director/producer and environmental activist, Danny Beaton was present for the screening.

Both films, “Mohawk Wisdom Keepers” and “Iroquois Speak Out For Mother Earth,” feature Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Elders, including Oren Lyons, Tom Porter, John Mohawk, and Audrey Shenandoah, sharing their knowledge and wisdom about man’s relationship with the Natural World.

Welcoming over two hundred guests to the film screening, Beaton introduced his teacher/advisor, Robertjohn Knapp, Seneca elder and the subject of his next film project, “The Second Thanksgiving.” This film, which is currently in post-production, was filmed on the Six Nations reserve.

Both Danny and Robertjohn shared their vision of a future world requiring a supreme transformation in our relationship with Mother Earth.

Robertjohn is a spiritual leader from California who has been a Sundancer for 30 years.

He has brought spiritual teachings into the federal prisons and has been a leader in the struggle for unity amongst all Native Americans. He says, “I believe love is very simple, it’s a decision to care or not.”

He explains, “My effort here is to share with you some things…and bring us together with one mind to create a spiritual force To change the attitudes so we quit hurting each other… quit hurting the earth.”

He asserts that life is about healing or hurting and our choice between the two.

“Water, air, fire, earth…each has two elements…because they can heal or hurt. We are the water, the air, the fire and the earth. We are made up of those four things. So in that way, we can decide – are we about the healing or the hurting.”

He suggested that is the decision humankind has to make for the future.

The sundance taught Robertjohn how to offer himself in a good way to humanity. “It is his prayer which also has two elements – one to ask and the second to give thanks. So, we are praying all the time whenever we do this ceremony,” he said.

He has learned from the elders and the ceremonies that “you only have one decision in life. You have free will, with only one decision to make – stay awake, or go to sleep. If you’re awake, then you cannot deny the truth, so there is no decision. But, if you’re asleep, anger, jealousy, drugs, alcohol prevail and your decision was to blindfold yourself to deny the truth. So when you see the truth, you can’t deny it, it is what it is!”

Beaton has had four films shown on national television beginning with “Indigenous Restoration,” 1991, and “Indigenous Restoration.”

“I’ve been working with these elders who are in the films for 12 years. The reason for these films is because our elders are speaking out for the sacredness of Mother Earth.”

Beaton believes in the way of life of our ancestors and that’s why he films Elders. He says the Elders maintain, and are the protectors of, our culture. He has been attending the Youth/Elders Gatherings for the past twelve years and is their official photographer.

This year’s ceremonies will be taking place on Ted Turner’s ranch in Montana in August.

“Robertjohn’s father is from Six Nations but he was raised in California and has worked with Leon Shenandoah, Thomas Banyaca and works with Corbin Harney, Joe Chasing Horse and others today,” said Beaton about why he was working with Knapp.

The working title, “The Second Thanksgiving,” refers to the spiritual nourishment given by First Nations people to non-Native people “in the same way we provided physical nourishment to the people on the Mayflower and Columbus’s voyages.”

“We’re feeding the non-Native people our spiritual way of life,” explained Beaton.

By Lloyd Dolha

Now that the Mackenzie Valley pipeline route has won out over the proposed Alaska Highway route, a note of caution was sent out in an open letter to all the Northwest Territories chiefs of the Denendeh by Chief Charles Furlong, of the Aklavik Indian Band of Aklavik, NWT, on June 3, 2002.

The Mackenzie Valley route offers one-third ownership to the Acho Dene, the Gwich’in, the Sahtu and the Inuvialuit, training, thousands of jobs during the construction phase and impact/benefit agreements and will be the focus of consultation on NWT First Nations community agendas over the summer months.

“On the other hand, we have the Arctigas Group proposing 100% ownership of a pipeline, which will carry American gas over the top of the Beaufort Artic Ocean up the Mackenzie Valley to southern Canada,” writes Chief Furlong.

The Arctigas Resources Corporation has the third rival pipeline route, the proverbial dark horse of the pipeline race. Arctigas is the Canadian subsidiary of the Artic Resources Company (ARC), a consortium of American investors.

Arctigas proposes to finance their project using bonds and investors and has offered aboriginal landowners along their route 100 per cent title to the pipeline. The pipeline would be financed through the sale of non-recourse revenue bonds.

These bonds are sold to raise money for projects of this magnitude and are redeemable with interest, only in the case of the company’s success.

In Alaska, the Inupiat people would own the American section of the pipeline through the Artic Slope Regional Corporation.

Their proposed route, the Northern Route Gas Pipeline, would carry natural gas east, from the rich reserves of Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, a reported 30 to 35 trillion cubic feet, to the Mackenzie Delta, tapping resources there and then south, following the Mackenzie Valley into northern Alberta.

The costs
Arctigas estimates the cost of its proposed pipeline at $7.6 billion, based on 5.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Four billion cubic feet would come from Alaska and one and a half from Canada.

The Mackenzie Valley stand-alone pipeline will tap an estimated nine to eleven trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas reserves, with a further estimated 55 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Sea area around Inuvik.
Their pipeline would have the capacity of only one billion cubic feet of gas per day.

The Mackenzie Valley pipeline route is cheapest to build as it would transport natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta with some 800 miles of pipeline that would hook up to existing pipeline infrastructure in northern Alberta.

Both the Mackenzie Delta Producer’s Group, the consortium of Imperial Oil, Conoco Canada Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd., and Exxon Mobile Canada, and the Arctigas have been lobbying hard to solicit and maintain the support of NWT First Nations groups.

Last year, the Artigas offered Mackenzie Valley First Nations groups loans of $50,000 for legal fees associated with the investigation of their proposal, then another $50,000 to groups available at the signing of a program administration agreement.

In January 2002 the Northern Route Gas Pipeline Corporation filed a Project Information Package (PIP) for the Northern Gas Pipeline Project with the National Energy Board of Canada, and continues to consult with community leaders, councils and members of impacted communities in the NWT.

“As leaders, we must all realize that unlike the 70’s, both the governments and industry need our support. The project could provide leverage to initiate other projects for long-term sustainability. We have to be cautious of outside influence by those who seek our input for personal gain.

We are already seeing our ranks splintered at both the community and regional level and worst, some of us refuse to use our ability because ego’s and personalities to see the power and benefits of working as an aboriginal force. We must evaluate what a 100% ownership model may look like whether it be with Arctigas or someone else,” cautioned Chief Furlong.

The story thus far:
Despite promises of $10 billion U.S. in loan guarantees and tax credits from the U.S. Senate, the fate of the Alaska Highway pipeline route was sealed on May 14th, when energy giants BP, Exxon Mobil and Phillips Petroleum all with significant gas reserves in Alaska released a long-awaited feasibility study that said the mega project is currently too expensive to be economically feasible, costing nearly $20 billion U.S. to build.

“Right now, as the project pencils out as a result of our feasibility work, the risks outweigh the rewards,” said BP spokesman Dave McDowell from Anchorage, Alaska.

At a cost of $125 million, the Alaska Highway pipeline study noted that any future pipeline will need better regulatory certainty in the US, Canada, the provinces and First Nations.

“A clear governmental framework on the Canadian side is also an essential ingredient on moving forward,” said MacDowell.

The state of Alaska¹s Gas Pipeline Office will close and its coordinator William G. Britt Jr. has resigned effective June 14th.

Confident of their success, on May 1st, the Mackenzie Delta Producer’s Group and the Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Pipeline Corporation (MVAPC), formerly known as the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, announced that the Producer’s Group will be opening up regional offices in the NWT this summer.

The Producers Group, composed of Imperial Oil, Conoco Canada Ltd. Shell Canada Ltd. And Exxon Mobil Canada, will open three Mackenzie gas project offices in Inuvik, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson.

The Producer’s Group announced earlier this year that they will spend about $250 million to prepare the applications for the pipeline estimated to cost $4 billion.

Economic studies show the potential impact of gas development in the NWT at $57 billion, which will open up new areas for Canadian gas development and spawn further development of the Canadian petroleum industry.

“The economic impact of developing new gas resources in the NWT and connecting Mackenzie Delta natural gas to southern markets via a Mackenzie Valley pipeline dramatically increases the benefits to Canadian industry and governments,” said Antoine Minister of Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development for the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).

On May 16th, the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group awarded the conceptual and preliminary engineering for the Mackenzie Gas Project to COLTKBR. Headquartered in Calgary, COLTKBR is a long-term joint venture of Colt Engineering Corporation (Colt) and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).

The engineering work will assist in optimizing the commercial viability of the Mackenzie Gas Project and support the development of regulatory applications. Imperial is the operator of the gas gathering and pipeline systems for the project.

The Mackenzie Gas Project involves natural gas production facilities, compression and gathering pipelines in the Mackenzie Delta area, with a pipeline to the Norman Wells area where a liquid recovery and compression facility will be installed. A natural gas pipeline with compression facilities will then proceed south from Norman Wells through the Mackenzie Valley into northwestern Alberta.

Speaking on behalf of the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group and the Mackenzie Valley Aboriginal Pipeline Corporation (MVAPC), K.C. Williams, senior-vice president and director of Imperial Oil Limited, said “awarding this contract marks another significant step towards the preparation and filing of regulatory applications for the Mackenzie Gas Project. As the Producers Group and the MVAPC continue to move forward, we will ensure the project remains focused on safety, care for the natural environment and technical quality, as well as the owners¹ shared objectives for Aboriginal and northern involvement.”

John Read, Chief Executive Officer of Colt Engineering Corporation, acknowledged “COLTKBR is extremely pleased and excited to be awarded this contract and to be involved in this significant Canadian project. COLTKBR understands the performance expectations that the Mackenzie Delta Producers Group have for this project, including the importance of the involvement of Aboriginal and northern peoples in work related to this contract.”

Engineering services will be executed in Imperial’s and Colt’s offices in Calgary, with the participation of specialists from the Mackenzie Gas Project owners and COLTKBR.

Colt is a major Canadian engineering contractor with more than 2,200 employees. Colt provides multi-discipline engineering, procurement, construction management and construction services to the upstream and downstream oil and gas industries in North America and internationally.

The Producer’s Group and the MVAPC began the initial round of community consultations in March, beginning with the Sahtu in Tulita on the 18th and additional groups have been visited up to late May. During the following 18 months, the Producer’s Group and the MVAPC are currently visiting and conducting more extensive consultations in every community throughout the NWT.

According to the open letter, the initial consultation meetings have been sparsely attended.

“We also have to carefully evaluate what percentage of ownership with major oil producers could mean. We should also realize that there are a lot of other oil companies who may consider contributing as partners in our percentage ownership of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group proposal. By partnering with us, they will be able to transfer their resources in the pipeline.

I believe that the majority of people supporting the pipeline see the opportunities for employment and business ventures. These opportunities will be there for only a short time and the support mechanisms for the trunk (main) line and future tie-ins will provide sustainability for some regions. If we want employment, training and business opportunities, let’s negotiate under our access provisions and set up a royalty package for any resources flowing on our lands. Unlike the 70’s, both government and industry need our input and we are in the driver¹s seat because we are recognized as the landowners,” wrote Chief Furlong.

Potential benefits
There are other potential benefits as well. Natural gas will become a source of cheap fuel for NWT communities. The pipeline will need state-of-the-art telecommunications through fibre-optic cable, so there may be opportunity to provide fibre-optic technology to northern communities.

Three NWT groups have signed on with Artigas Resources Corp. in support of the Northern Route Gas Pipeline. These are: the Ernie Macdonald Land Corporation of Norman Wells; the Metis Financial Corporation of Fort Good Hope; and, the Nihtat Gwich’in Council of Inuvik.

In a June 10th letter to the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and the Producer’s Group, Chief James Firth of the Nihtat Gwich’in Council (NGC), endorsed by the Inuvik Native Band, stated that they have been reviewing the Arctigas Northern Route Gas Pipeline for the past six months.

“Clearly we have great difficulty with the direction in which the Mackenzie Valley Producers and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group is heading. Our review has concluded that the proposed benefits and liabilities of the 1/3 ownership of a MVP through a joint venture, in its current form makes the business proposal to the Inuvik Gwich’in unacceptable,” said Firth.

The letter states while the NGC is a signatory to the Memorandum-of-Understanding (MOU), signed last summer with the Producers Group, the MOU was not intended to be a “legally binding” document.

“NGC believes that the interests of the aboriginal peoples represented by the NGC can best be served by evaluating a pipeline project proposed by the Northern Route Gas Pipeline Corporation.”

Sitting in his Calgary office, Arctigas CEO, Harvie Andre commented, “We have always believed that the most economic pipeline is from Prudhoe Bay, down the Mackenzie Delta. The alternative is two separate pipelines.”

“We’re talking about a pipeline that would maximize the economic benefit for the Northwest Territories and Alaska. Our view has been, from Canada¹s perspective, we ought to be looking at one pipeline. We remain convinced that the economic benefits are so huge, they must be pursued,” said Andre.

First Nations is the term that I think best describes who we are and what our position is in North America.

First Nation’s people in Canada have endured essentially the same experiences as those in the United States.

The Americans did it mostly with guns and the Canadians did it with paper, but after a certain point the Canadians got into guns and nooses as well.

The border doesn’t make any difference to the indicators of sickness in our societies; alcoholism and substance dependence, abusive domestic situations, the high suicide rates and depressing statistics are on both sides of the border after generations of brainwashing and assimilation.

We have to get rid of that brainwashing in order to reclaim healthier communities and at least in Canada, First Nation’s people have a higher profile than in the States.

I think that the way the emancipation has been dealt with, and the way that leadership has proceeded, has made a difference in Canada.

We are really behind in the United States so far as receiving any kind of recognition as a people but in Canada there’s something in the newspapers relating to First Nation’s issues nearly everyday.

Those contributions that are natural for us to make to society and civilization, that we haven’t been allowed to make for generations because of colonization, are closer to the surface in Canada but in the United States I think that African-Americans have the strongest civil rights profile.

I try to stay out of political structures now, to me they are too man-made and it’s a twenty-legged race in order to accomplish anything. You can’t get away from the twenty-legged race though because when you’re filming that’s what it is, but it’s more comfortable for me to work through those barriers in the arts rather than politics.

Growing pains
There were different events and situations that brought me to this arena. When I was a child there was nothing to say, You gotta be an actor! There was no such thing. We never even had a television or radio and we didn’t get electricity until much later. We hauled our own water and chopped our own wood, so in a sense I grew up along time ago.

I come from a part of the world where the Church and the government had done their thing and had brainwashed a number of generations, telling the people that Indian ways were of the devil and not only were they unlawful, Indian beliefs were shameful, sinful and evil.

My grandmother raised me and it was very much alive that you had to be ashamed and should hide (Indianness, so even though I came from that culture and that community where people visited one another and shared experiences and told stories, the structure was gone and the ceremonies were gone – it was all Catholic.)

So it was rage that got me into acting and of course that is what also got me into politics. I understood that the lies the Church and the government were spreading were outrageous and were hurting a lot of people, so I decided that I was going to play a part in exposing them – tell the truth, find the truth. I had to go through that process and unburden myself of the lies that had found their way inside of me.

We had been fed that Indians were stupid and simple, savage and pagan – whatever that was – and all that bad press. I became involved with the Native Youth Organization and one of the things we did in finding the truth was to look at the statements made by our Native leaders at the time that the treaties were signed and then look at the difference in thinking.

In the late 1960s all this stuff started emerging about Indian ways and what those philosophies really are, and then what the army and the government had hidden, and what the Church had hidden: how they had twisted it all and presented it back to Native people so that when brainwashed and emasculated the people themselves became a part in the oppression.

Why? Because we stood in the way of their money and political gain. We belong to the land, but they had to rip it up and turn it into coin and there was no time for sharing or respect because they believed they had a superior position in Creation.

The damage that the Residential Schools did is very deep. The unnatural separation of children from their parents and brothers from sisters, the severing of those bonds and the regulations that left those kids in the clutches of those perverts from the Church who had no respect for Indians anyway, was an abomination.

The arrogance of those who did it, perpetuated it and established laws to sanction it is absolutely disgusting. After all the emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse and psychological abuse suffered by those Native kids they weren’t even given a proper education – they were trained to be domestic help or hired hands.

When they went back to their communities they were strangers. They had been punished at these schools if they ever spoke the languages of their mothers and fathers and they hadn’t been allowed to pray in their God-given natural way or allowed to sing those songs, so they could no longer communicate with their parents or people. They had been taught that their parents and relatives were unintelligent and that Indian people were inferior.

And now, in this day and age, people are talking about and crave the wisdom of Native people! How come all of a sudden Native people have got wisdom white people want? I didn’t go to a residential school but everywhere you turned that devastation was there because it wasn’t only happening in the school system it permeated through the government and Church to the mines and to the people in the towns.

Same challenges
Basically we’ve got the same challenges that we’ve always had, mainly to break through this big, thick barrier called the European mind-set. It’s the same challenge but I think that we’re getting closer and closer together as human beings now because the environment is going to shit and we all share the fall-out from polluted waters and air and acid rain, and we are coming to the realization that our children are inheriting the same earth.

The gifts that we have as First Nation’s people are in the blueprints of our culture and in those blueprints is the wisdom that is going to be needed for this civilization to survive.

We’re just starting to understand a lot of the things that have kept us in the darkness of oppression and as we as First Nation’s communities struggle to break free and to breathe, the same thing is happening in other communities.

So much of the journey that I have traveled has been about breaking through this oppressive machine that has made us lesser human beings in the minds of its operators and in their children’s minds and in their legislation and procedures.

Now our children and their children are sharing common experiences and there are incredible changes going on, not just among First Nation’s people but everyone, particularly amongst women.

Gender roles
Women’s rightful place is to be overseers of this movement in the community, society and civilization because women were given the incredible gift of creation and the honour that goes with it, the responsibility of carrying new life.

Men weren’t given that role, men are helpers, but where we are now in our evolvement as physical beings means that we have to get the guys off the pedestals they’ve made for themselves because they are damaging much of what we need for our children¹s futures in the pursuit of control, manipulation and power.

Dealing with that oppression is something that we, in First Nation’s communities, have had to do for generations – ever since that first boat hit the shores – but people are now starting to deal with issues of control and oppression on personal levels too.

If we were in Atlantis, the First Nation’s people would be the Believers in One, with the philosophy that all of this energy and power is for the betterment of the whole and not just for ourselves. We are all a part of Creation and the circle is the foundation of who we are.

Mixed roots
A lot of people who don’t know what their Indian heritage is say that they are Metis and quite a few who have no Indian heritage but would like to are starting to call themselves Metis.

I was born into my mother’s family and my grandmother who raised me was Cree, Chipewyan and Sioux. She didn’t belong to a reserve or have a treaty number because her father was considered a renegade by virtue of the fact that when the treaty was signed, he split.

That made him a Wanted Indian and the cops found him when he was living with the Sarcee, just outside of Calgary. He was Cree and Sioux and he married a Chipewyan woman, which is where my granny came from, and then my granny married a guy who was half French and Cree.

I was raised by her as my mother left when I was very young and my father left even sooner. My step-grandfather, the man I grew-up calling dad, was from Cornwall, England via Garry, Indiana, and his name was Winston Plews.

When I was 15 years old I left Anzac, which was just a few houses in the bush, to go to school in Edmonton. There were certain places where people would look at me and then take a second look at this brown girl and I used to get the feeling that they didn’t think it was appropriate for an Indian to be there; they were uncomfortable by my being there.

But to me, the fact that the guy I called Dad was English, meant to me that I could go anywhere I wanted to; and then I came to feel that we allow ourselves to be imprisoned by prejudice, whether we’re conscious of that energy or not.

I said to myself: Whether they like it or not, I’m here and I’m going to go where I feel compelled to go. Not everybody was like that. I’m thankful that I’ve also met strong kindness along this path.

The gift
I’d done a number of films before I knew I was an actor and that this was going to be my life. In those days I still had the brainwashing tape playing in my head, telling me I was stupid and ugly and no good and that I couldn’t contribute anything to society.

Then, one day I remembered that everybody has been given a gift from the Creator and I decided, I’m going to find out what my gift is. So I just did anything and everything that I could in my life, whatever inspired me, and that¹s how I eventually found it – acting.

It was in about 1982 that I finally realized, “Well, this is your career. This is something.”

It’s not easy and it’s never been easy at any time along the way. As an actor there are barriers that come from being brown and from being a woman but you’re born into that struggle and you have to push harder.

For an Indian actor to win an Oscar would be amazing, for an Indian actress to win it first would be miraculous.

Occasionally you feel that burden, that additional responsibility to your community, but without this vision of work that has to be done I wouldn’t be here – things have to change, the truth has to be told, the misrepresentations have to be eliminated – so we have a responsibility to act because it is what we can do that might make a difference. Today I don’t feel like it’s a responsibility, it’s just a place to be. It’s my life and it’s a gift to have that purpose.

I’ve met some incredibly strong-hearted people when the odds against us have been pretty thick; beautiful, generous, kind, dedicated people with vision and passion – to know they’re out there is an exciting part of all of this.

You throw whatever it is that you¹ve got in the pot and they put what they’ve got in the same pot and then this new idea comes out! Of how we can all work together, no matter what culture we come from. There can be conflicts when you’re working on a story or a scene but I’m really hopeful because I have seen a good progression.

Years ago there were so many people in a crew or on a set that were ignorant and just followed the misrepresentations they had been fed. Situations of racism and sexism were rampant but it’s exciting that in the recent past the crews and the groups that I’ve found myself working with haven’t been like that, they’ve been people who understand the circle and that place of putting energies together and working together.

Maybe that speaks of how many independent films I’ve done! It’s a broad generalization but money has a funny way of affecting people and making them separate from the humanity part of themselves.

Money isn’t everything
There are many factors that come into deciding what roles to take. It has to have something in the script and this is how I support my children so I have to get paid!

Money is a factor but sometimes the right script has no money but you still have to do it, even though it might cost you more than what you make from the film; you have to do it because of its passion or the writer’s vision, the creative energy.

I think of every movie I’ve done as being part of a process. Each one of them has been a victory for me in the struggle of trying to get things closer to the truth.

There’s been something that had to be addressed on every single production I’ve gone on – whether it was characterization, wardrobe, or a prop – and even where you wind up in the shot all the time, the Indian woman is always back there, even if she’s supplying the lead, like she’s the mother of the lead.

This industry is so male-gestated and so sometimes I have an incredible struggle: where do women fit in this whole scheme? So there’s the process of trying to make it habitable for that circular way of operating and being.

As an actor your power is limited because by the time you get to work most of the decisions have been made: the development has been done, the characterizations, the dialogue – even the shots have been decided before you get on board.

On the set of Black Robe
Black Robe was a film I turned down twice and then finally I recognized that it wasn’t up to me. The force that guides let me know, ‘Just shut-up and go to work’. That’s what the grandmothers were saying.

I literally felt like I was being pushed out of the door to work on it and I didn’t want to do it because I was tired of being in situations where you talk over the script with the people who are in charge and try to work on changes, and there was so much in that script.

I didn’t want to deal with it but when I got there all of these other actors who wanted to get at these issues that were not right in the script were all sat around the table!

That’s a scary thing to a lot of actors because they don’t want to create conflict with the directors and producers because it can jeopardize your livelihood but friction is one of the essences of creation.

The film was really from Church records and Bruce Beresford, the director, did the job that he was asked to do by making it from the colonial perspective. We did as much as we could to try and bring in some truth and we made the changes that were available to us but there was only so far that we could go because it actually was about the colonial perspective.

I think it accomplished its purpose in that it made people react; maybe some non-Native people who saw it wondered, How could they do that? What were they thinking?

There were some things that happened during the filming of Black Robe that told me that there are certain things that we as human beings have to do and that there’s a force that goes beyond that.

That’s where the power and strength is, being guided by that rather than people, politics and words – those are all a part of it but they have to be guided by that essential spirit.

There was a scene where a baby was still-born and in the script my daughter was braiding this white guy’s hair while I was taking down tipis and everybody else is just walking back and forth like, “So what, she’s putting her dead baby out’, as this woman was putting her baby out to the trees.

It made us look like we had no heart or feelings attached to that incident. I’d used up all my bargaining chips in terms of getting changes and I was depressed about it going into work that morning, thinking it was wrong – firstly my daughter wouldn’t have been braiding some guy’s hair while I was working, and on and on.

Then, when I got to the set, there had been a problem in continuity so my daughter couldn’t have been braiding the guy’s hair so they had her taking down the tipis which left another woman and I available to come out of the tipi with this woman and her baby because in an earlier scene we’d refused to be sleeping while she was giving birth, so we could be with her.

At that we were asked to say something to her as she came out carrying her still-born baby, a ‘There, there, Never mind’ kind of thing. So we found something to say but it was too quiet as the point of the scene was for the Jesuit to see us, so it had to be louder – so I thought about a song.

They would never have allowed us to bring a song in there so I decided not to tell them and that I would just do it and by the time they called ‘Action’ again, the song had come.

I started singing and all these guys who were supposed to be just walking back and forth, oblivious, stopped and paid respect to this woman -and it just happened – I could never have negotiated that but it happened in that moment and it was a big moment for me.

Positive images
I think both Black Robe and Dances With Wolves had something to contribute to the overall feeling of what’s in people’s hearts and minds.

I think the power of Dances With Wolves is that it brought some positive images forward that we were really, really needing and that was extremely important. For some it touched a place of spirit and belief and it made people feel good.

Black Robe was darker but the darkness didn’t make it more truthful as some people tend to think. That’s one of the problems we have in this industry, that we can¹t get at the truth. Smoke Signals did that, but overall it’s so hard to handle with a sense of humour when all this horrible human calamity is going on – especially when it’s being written from a place of guilt because it’s not written from within the community where it can be more personal.

The magic of art is that people can look at the same thing and get something completely different out of it. As long as it inspires thought and it inspires discussion and some kind of dialogue!

As an artist you work from that place of soul and energy and when we work we try to touch those places in other people. If we do, we somehow become a part of them, just like people whose work I admire has touched my heart and soul. That’s our job as artists.