Our own "Indian Acts"...

Hi Friends

This, as a rule, is a reflective time. This is also the time of year when the needy are on our collective conscientiousness the most. In this the end of the first decade, of the new millennium I'm sad to say things have not progressed for many in the many First Nations communities of this country.

Our people are still dying. Our health care, housing and poverty are still hugely out of kilter with the majority of other Canadian citizens. Our leadership is near stymied by the sheer size of the issues facing our Nations. Yet good men and women continue to soldier on in their best efforts to stem the tide against us.
I have blogged endlessly about the heinous treatment of our communities at the hands of the governments in this country. Today I find myself sickened to have to blog about the victimization of our own by our own.

click here

The bloated salaries and unrepentant attitudes of those elected into office on the reserves in question are, to me, the greatest of fools and out right enemies to us and our shared future.
Their unmitigated gall and out and out greed has given the bigots of all stripes the slings and arrows to attack us at every juncture. Our allies now have egg on their faces over this incident as well, and hence your actions have eroded any in-roads we may have made with the liberal left in this country. To be caught with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar is one thing but to be caught in these recessionary times is unforgivable. We are held to a higher standard, unfair as you may want to feel this is, it is true. They thusly have given us all a bad name over their unabashed greed.


The truth is there are 600 such reserves in this country, yet it only takes the actions of one group to discredit all the others. Many others do as they were elected to do and only take modest salaries or out right honorariums for their services. This isn't what the Canadian society will hear however. The gluttony of the Peguis chief and council will be showcased as if this were the norm and the only mismanagement of government funds, and sadly, to the detriment of all other First Nations communities. Their actions will undoubtedly give Chuck Strahl and Steven Harper the shield they were looking for to deflect attention away from their ghoulish treatment of northern reserves staggering under the weight of 13 youth suicides since Oct. of 2009. Good work Chief Hudson, you're a discredit to your race.

First Nation communities were known for their leadership. The settlers were so impressed with our governance model they adopted it as their own, "of the people, by the people,for the people"
A steering of the collective not a domination of and ruling over...thats the tyrants way.

click here

To all you Glen Hudson types. Thanks for the black eye and the years of damage you have done to our reputations. Know that you have had a part, in the suicide of all other young people from this date forward. Know also that you and your ilk are responsible for every young woman that goes missing without any one looking or caring, every First Nation citizen sent to jail on the flimsiest of evidence, and every child lost to the child welfare system...Even you must see that what we do in our government, and what we do with our funding, is fodder for the masses. The bigots and the governments are waiting with bated breath to exploit our every misstep, so as to affirm their dominance over us (for "our own good", of course) such is the idea behind the colonization of, and paternalistic policies and legislation like, oh say... the Indian Act...


Regards, Debra

Politicking in Indian Country

Hi Friends

The meeting of the Chiefs from across the country has yielded one positive result. There is no need to revisit all the lost chances for the Canadian government to right the wrongs done to the aboriginal people of this country. No need to point out broken treaties or genocidal legislation meted out by the Indian Act. All this is well known.

The Canadian governments' self serving, disingenuous referencing of the reserves in this country as "First Nations lands", has, and I predict, will rise up to bite them on their proverbial butts.

The Chiefs have decided to go out side the borders to partner with other nations to grow the reserve economies...at last! International deals. Nation to Nation. That to me sounds like leadership.

We the indigenous people have been duped long enough. Our lands have been pillaged our children murdered and raped our way of life decimated. In short we have been ground down under the heel of the white governments for far too long. Canada consistently ranks high up on the best countries in the world to live. Rankings based on Anglo-Canadians. Once aboriginal reserves are added to the equation the rankings drop significantly.

Human rights organizations, and the U.N constantly back the indigenous peoples,in their quest for protection and recognition of their human rights. To no avail. There simply is no will of the ordinary Canadian citizens to see the mistreatment of the aboriginal nations as something other than the First Nations' peoples own fault.
This is mainly due to lack of the true history of this country being taught, along with mis-information being fed to the public by the Canadian government, in the form of budgeting information, along with out right lies in the immigration booklets. New Canadians are told that the First Nations are not taxed. A half truth at best and a lie by omission, in reality. Any First nation person working off reserve does indeed pay taxes, and as most reserve populations live off reserve then it goes a majority of any reserve does pay taxes!

Our fore fathers fore told of the rise of the seventh generation, post contact.I am hopeful that it is our time.

Regards, Debra

The Next big Heartfelt Apology

Hi Friends

I have blogged before about the ghoulish practices of Mr. Harpers Conservatives as regards the pressing needs of the aboriginal children in Canada.
When do the actions or inaction of any government constitute genocide? I guess, to Stephen Harper and his ilk, the ends justify the means.

Click here

Though this is an independent body and supposedly free from interference from the government what so ever...how many really believe this?
How long have our leaders been bringing these issues to the Canadian government and the Canadian people?
Here is yet another site to check out.

click here

Where is the government's outrage over this deplorable situation? Where is their accountability? Like the residential schools before, who's skirts will they hide behind next time? Yeah it was those fine religious institutions who petitioned the governments to set up the residential schools, but it was the government policies that allowed them to thrive. Who are they in cahoots with this time?
I guess we will have to just wait and see when they apologize for the next round of dead aboriginal children.

Debra

First nation Third world Second thoughts

Hi Friends

Its not news that many First Nation communities are living in "developing world" conditions. Many First Nation citizens have to be vigilant, not only to the best efforts of the Canadian government to keep them down, but sadly to their own elected chiefs and councils. What are the reasons for downing your own?

Good question.

Sometimes it's around jealousies stretching back over generations, fear and greed around the welcoming back of your enfranchised members, and yet another is the paternalism surrounding the ever present Indian Act. An even more more insidious motive could be the wanton greed of people who have been held out of larger society for so long. The truly unfortunate lesson of extreme poverty is, "hang on to whatever you can get your hands on and damn the consequences of tomorrow."


Regarding the residents of most reserves I've been to, there is one thing that stands out. Most people I've spoken with have had issues with the oppressive Indian Act and as such are now well versed on all the nuances in the act. The only hope for some, as they see it is to bend their lives into compliance within the Act. I have heard plenty of anger and feelings of frustration, but as yet, have not heard out right opposition to or civil disobedience in response to the Indian Act. This, in my opinion is the most insidious effect of colonialism. The ability to erode the confidence of a people and leave them feeling sterile and frozen in any effort to change their lot.


Having grown up in the turbulent sixties with the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and the civil rights movement on television nightly, I was unprepared for the First Nations communities' seeming acceptance of this racist document to direct their lives.


Being so new into politics, (we have only had the vote since the sixties) as we are, we definitely have a lot of catching up to do. We seem to be quick learners though as some of our politicians have learned how to feather their own nests and line their pockets and ignore the plight of their own people as competently and completely as any other governments.


We come from finer stock then this. It was the ideologies of sharing and kindness that helped us survive to this point in time. These tenets have served us well in the past and can again in the future. It is incumbent on us to find our way back to them, for our own well being.


We must fund our own political efforts. Can the AFN while funded by Canada, really be expected to lobby for the First Nations and their needs against the very gravy-train they are riding? Not very likely. Remember the old adage; you get what you pay for. I'm no lawyer but isn't that a conflict of interest?


Do we have unimpeachable modern leadership to look to in our collective struggle? I believe yes we do. I have met some and have followed the careers of others.
Great charismatic leaders are a rarity in any culture. I believe we have such a man in Ovide Mercredi. I am a fan.
regards debra

Taxing Times

Hi Friends
The Mc Guinty liberal government has decided to introduce the HST to Ontario.
A harmonized tax (or cash cow) has been used in other provinces of the country with certain exemptions offered. Not so in Ontario. Ontario has not created an exemption for it's First Nations citizens, nor has the Ontario government consulted with the First Nations, as it is lawfully required to do about this proposed tax. First Nations in the province regard this as a direct attack on our rights.

This is particularly disquieting as it was just last month that the newly minted Ontario aboriginal affairs minister (Brad Duguid...pronounced Do-good) was interviewed on Nation Talk and gave a very hopeful interview where he talked about consulting with and bringing new respect to the governments dealings with the First Nations of Ontario.

click here

Is this just another example of the infamous forked tongue of the white politicians?
These are taxing times for the Nations in so many ways. Our patience is being taxed, along with our constitutionally protected rights to nationhood. Will the government be taxing other nation states without their consent?

Here is the where you can email Mr. McGuinty and minister Duguid and let them know what you think of their HST proposal.

click here

click here

regards
Debra

Hmmm Lets study this a little further...

Hi Friends

I've been reading a lot lately about the extreme poverty on many reserves in this country. The reality is that third world conditions do not just apply to the reserves, but also for many aboriginals, it extends to the urban centers as well.
This, like every issue surrounding aboriginal communities has been thoroughly studied.

Canada has paid a hefty price economically, as well as reputation wise for the commission of, and then the shelving of these studies. The First Nations have also paid dearly for these ignored recommendations. Trust is gone, replaced by cynicism, reputations are tarnished, fed by racist hate speak around aboriginal issues, and hope has vanished for our young and elders alike.

The residential school survivors are dying off with no chance to tell their stories. The damage done to these communities is being passed off as a failing by the first nations. The government and much of society in general, refuse to acknowledge the genocide perpetrated by their colonialist policies while admonishing the First Nations to "get over it already". The youth in these communities are turning to suicide or to gang activity to deal with the sense of hopelessness they feel by the marginalized lives they lead. The social ills in these communities are only compounded by the sub standard housing and lack of employment, undelivered health care and poor education. The lack of will of those in government to address these issues head on and to do something concrete about them is glaringly obvious with every study shelved or dismissed as unworkable.


The more diabolical reason, that these studies get commissioned, then shelved, may be that the government only commissions these expensive studies to; (A) employ their friends and family
(B) "leak" more defamatory misinformation about the First Nation people
(C) never end their intent to deny the first nations a viable existence, or even more nefariously, finally and forever "rid themselves of the Indian problem" a quest started on in 1876 by Duncan Campbell Scott and the inaugural Indian Act legislation.

Here, I want to suggest yet another study. Lets find out once and for all, why all the studies, and truthfully, why no action?

click here

Debra

History 101

Hi Friends

I'm astonished by how very little Non-Aboriginals seem to know about Canadian history.
Flip your thinking about Indians around. It was only with the help and care of the First Nations, that allowed the first settlers to survive, and thrive here. It was also the first nations here that willingly shared their land and their knowledge of the same that gave the new comers a home.


So, far from you and your Government allowing us, anything, it is we, who are suffering your trespassing and interference in our lives. If we could remove greed and fright from your minds, maybe this shared existence, could be the utopia we all planned it to be. We would need only to honor the treaties entered into by the First Nations and the new comers in the spirit in which they were written, Nation to Nation with respect on both sides.


It has become incumbent upon first nations to prove, to the letter, what each and every treaty protects...yet the successive Canadian governments give themselves plenty of lee way on their interpretation of these same treaties. Canada and many Canadians have enjoyed untold wealth from the ill gotten gains of this country, and all at the expense, and to, the degradation of the Indigenous peoples. Our plan of a shared existence became, colonization through the work of the Indian Act, and the will of the Canadian Governments.


All treaties have been, and still are being broken. So don't say; "This was in the past. why should it apply today. I didn't do this to you and yours. I shouldn't be held responsible for what my ancestors did."
Yes, you should, and yes you do continue the sad work of your ancestors every time you let yourself off the proverbial hook, over your elected officials further marginalization and abuse of the Indigenous peoples.
These things can and should be solved but it would definitely take will and honesty and fair dealing to do so. You even have a blue print to follow: the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men to do nothing". (Edmund Burke)

debra

From a Member of the Human Race

Hi Friends

Did you see this?click here

Why is this not hate mongering? Can you imagine what the consequences would be if this were any other ethnic group being maligned in this way? What is the defense offered for this hugely offensive piece of drivel? It was meant as a humorous commentary? Where's the humor in it then?

She has written a book? Wow, my question is has she ever even read a book?...May I suggest that at least one of them should be history book.
What is her alma mater...the university of Hollywood? Fun though the oater genre may be, they are strictly for entertainment, and thus not historically factual at all. Sorry to tell you, there is no Santa Claus either. I know, I know. I've seen movies about him too.


You hear young Black comics and rappers refer to their friends using the "N-word" and have even been asked,.." if you guys use this term, then why can't I?" The answer always is..."I don't know, but you had better not"...inference being you're not black, and as such therefore have no justifiable reason what ever to use this most derogatory of terms. Maybe Ms. Marsden should adopt this as a guide post in her writings, so as to not offend, and or insult the culture of others.

The thing I find even more disquieting than the printing of this racist article (and to all you deniers, it is racist) is the numerous blogs in defense of it. The red necked bottom feeders were out in force, with their bemoaning political correctness,and ranting their "poor put upon me" rhetoric. Amazing to me, how Ms. Marsden and her supporters feel victimized when their intolerance of others is pointed out. Sadly mind boggling!


I want to believe we are better than this. Lets stop the racial hate speak, adopt the term Human Race in relation to each other and...evolve...

debra

Thanks-for-nothing-day

Hi Friends
Lets talk about respect. Respect for the nation to nation dealings we have with each other. Respect for, and the upholding of the Constitution. Respect for the First Nations in their struggle to assume their rightful place in this country.

When governments run roughshod over the rights of citizens, and carry out a campaign of disinformation against the few, this is what can, and has, led to unrest, ethnic cleansing, civil wars and anarchy in extreme situations.


In the sixties, with a liberal government under P.E.Trudeau.
Canada was making it presence known on the world stage as a peace keeper, and a haven to the disenfranchised. We were proudly multi-cultural, yet the government of the day still sought to assimilate the first nations populations with a little piece of legislation known as the white paper.


This was answered by a young first nations man named Harold Cardinal who wrote a paper of his own dubbed the red paper. After this was put forward, the Liberals shelved the white paper proposition. Small victory. Then in 1982 the Constitution was brought home with section 35 guaranteeing aboriginal and treaty rights. Looked upon as a significant victory. Twenty-five years on still not being implemented...


First Nations communities across the country are suffering unspeakable woes. Who but the most callous among us can look into the face of a child and shrug off the pain and sorrow you see there? When ever I see the leaders of these communities begging for help, or read of the loss of lives to suicide in these communities or hear of the missing women or the disproportionate amount of incarcerated native men and women from these communities, I can only wonder 'where is your compassion for your fellow man?'


We as a country have just celebrated that most native of holidays...Thanksgiving. How many native communities had much to be thankful for do you think?

debra

The Prime minister's forked tongue

Hi Friends
"We (Canada) have no history of colonialism." Excerpt from Stephen Harpers speech to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh Sept.25, 2009.


Tell that to the colonized. Many First nations and their citizens still struggle under all the social ills that accompany colonization. Broken families, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse; all consequences of colonization. Let's look at some examples. The colonial Indian Act that displaces First Nation Governance, chronic underfunding of First Nations people, and lets not forget the denial of treaty rights...even though they are recognized in the Canadian Constitution..(section 35)

The spin doctors have assured us that this was just a snippet taken out of context.

Really? Didn't Stephen Harper just apologize about one year ago for the Residential schools?

"There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential school system to ever prevail again" excerpt from the residential school apology.

Mr. Harper seems unaware or doesn't care that he is giving the entire country a black eye around the world by refusing to sign the indigenous peoples rights bill.

Apologizes for, then denies colonization? Maybe Mr. Harper is unaware of the exact definition of colonization. Perhaps he could check out the AFN web site for this and so much more.
regards
Debra
sources are:http://www.afn.ca/article.asp?id=4609

Sisters in Spirit

Hi Friends
These are painful times for the First Nations communities. Some are mourning the loss of some of their women and some are worried they too might lose women, and all are wondering why these women and girls don't deserve the media attention given a lost pet.

Some of these young women were in high risk lifestyles, thats true, but does that negate their humanity?
People do what they deem necessary to survive. From feeding a drug habit to feeding their children these women were forced into the streets, and into danger by the antiquated legal definition of prostitution.

Our criminal code doesn't forbid selling your body for sex, but it does prohibit the soliciting of, or the living off the avails of prostitution. Puritan double speak. Why all the sanctimonious rhetoric? I'm constantly amazed at the righteousness of the uptight right wingers who envision the down fall of our nation should we honestly face the fact that we are sexual creatures. This could be a victimless crime, monitored, and (for the bean counters) taxed, and safe houses and medical checks provided for the workers. Probably a cash cow for the Government, but definitely a safer alternative for the working women, and the Johns who use their services.

Many advocacy groups have come out in support the First Nations in their cries for help from law enforcement and the Canadian Government. We need to face the facts now. The Government of Canada is not interested in our loss. I feel they welcome it...and all the sensitivity training in the world for law enforcers is all for naught, because until they themselves are personally impacted by their own loss, wages, women from their back grounds, and charges of dereliction of duty, and forced to see it our way, they too have no interest. That sounds like I'm painting with a broad brush, but it has been going on over a number of years now hasn't it?

The media outlets are full to brimming over with tales of the treatment of third world women and their plight...can I just say lets clean up our own back yard first?

Grandmother moon provides us direction, strength knowledge and wisdom. She teaches us of our special place in our families and beyond.
We need Grandmother moons presences in our lives now more than ever, especially for our young women who live in the shadows and darkness as they struggle to live in the light.
regards Debra

Punishment and Crime

Hi Friends
Lets talk about justice. To be more specific the two-tiered justice system.
Lets examine the well known cases of Leonard Peltier and Roman Polanski.
Roman Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland and is currently being held for extradition back to America to face charges on an out standing warrant from a 1977 arrest. His crime; sex with a minor, to which he pleaded guilty.

Some believe he has suffered enough. He has after all had to live in the lap of luxury, eating the finest cuisine plying his craft to the accolades and adulation of his peers. Did I mention he was forced to live on the French Riviera. He did plead guilty to this crime, but felt that his 42 day mental assessment for pedophilia should have been enough time served, and fled custody.

Leonard Peltier was sentenced in 1977 for the murder of two F.B.I. agents killed in a shoot out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He pleaded innocent.
The FBI's own ballistics tests have proven that the bullets in question did not come from Peltier's weapon. These killings happened in a war like atmosphere in which the FBI agents were terrorizing the residents of the Pine Ridge Reserve in retaliation for the 1973 stand-off. Debates over the guilt, and or the fairness of Mr. Peltier's trial continue to this day. He is currently incarcerated at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

Leonard Peltier has suffered beatings and illness while in prison, and even though he has been a model prisoner the FBI come to each of his parole hearings to offer victim impact statements against his release. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated publicly they intend to see to it that Leonard Peltier is never paroled. Why is that? Aren't they interested in truth and justice? Isn't that what they say their job is?

Leonard's supporters and some organizations consider him to be a political prisoner. A few of his supporters are as follows: Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, U.N. High Commission on Human Rights, his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, The Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and of course AIM.

The malicious persecution of one man stands in glaring contrast to the benevolent attitudes expressed towards the other man. These may on the surface seem like two very different cases, but the comparison can still be drawn. One rich one poor, one admittedly guilty one railroaded. One allowed freedom till he spoke out on American political policy, one persecuted for standing up against American political policy. Lets see if the power brokers in Hollywood can once again get Lady Justice to peek beneath her blind fold for the monied elite.


Where as Roman Polanski has raped lady justice, Leonard Peltier has been raped by her.
That my friends is what we call two-tiered justice.

regards Debra

Children in Need of CARE

Hi Friends
As you may or may not know, first nations children out number non-aboriginal children in the care of the child welfare system at a rate of 10.23% to 0.67% of non aboriginal.
The over representation is directly linked to poverty, neglect and abuse. All of these woes could and should be addressed by any means possible. A caring and responsible government need only to take their responsibility seriously and match funding on the reserves to that of the provincial funding of programs for non aboriginals.

The provinces fund the child welfare programs off reserve and the federal government is responsible for these same programs on reserve. If the federal government doesn't fund the programs, or under funds them, the provinces don't typically top up the funding levels. This results in a two tiered child welfare system. Children on reserves get less funding for child welfare than other children.

Do you think this might have any correlation to the emerging gang problems in First Nation communities? This is a rhetorical question. Please we don't need yet another study, but action now.

The Harper Conservatives are currently on the pay later plan. Maybe a job creation program. Build more jails, hire more jailers, the real government stimulus package. As is their typical modus operandi these ghouls are, it would seem, to be targeting the poorest most underprivileged population in the country to (dare I say eradicate) through under funding.
Suffer the little children, right Mr. Harper?

"Suffer the little children to come unto me." Jesus: Luke 18:6
regards Debra

court challenge program

Hi friends
The first nations communities have relied heavily on the court challenges program to sort out many issues surrounding the unfair treatment of women and children in our communities. That was till the Harper Conservatives canceled this very important program.
The court challenges program is at the heart of democracy.
Although the court challenges program has been in effect since 1978; it primarily addressed minority languages (section 93-133) of the constitution act 1867 and to fund such challenges. Then in 1982 this mandate was expanded to take in (sections 16-23) around language laws to provide education in minority languages where warranted and to have minority languages in court proceedings.
Then again in 1985 it was expanded to include equality for all section 15 of the Charter of rights and freedoms..

There have been many lawsuits initiated on the provision of the Charter. These involve individuals on one side and usually government departments or agencies on the other. The imbalance between these opposing parties in financial, technical and human resources, constitutes serious impediment to those who might wish to claim benefit of section 15, thus reducing the effectiveness of resorting to the courts as a means of obtaining redress.
P ALIMENTARY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL RIGHTS.
Which Mr. Harper used himself back in the year 2000 to challenge the Liberal Government's cap on third party spending.

Mr. Harper became P.M. in 2006 and has since canceled the Court Challenges program. A case of some being more equal than others perhaps? It doesn't fit the Conservative Government's ideology. I guess democracy isn't in this Governments ideology, nor does it seem to be in the official opposition parties either.
As a citizen of a supposed democracy where do I turn when I disagree with my government?... or is that even still allowed?

If history has taught us nothing else, let us try to remember the wise words of Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)...First they came for the communists and I did not speak out-because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialist and I did not speak out -because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionist and I did not speak out- because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out- because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Let your voices be heard on this very important issue. Write your represenatives in parliment and have YOUR say.
regards Debra

Then and Now

Hi Friends
With the recent uproar over the body bags being delivered to reserves, as expected there were the usual outcries from the uninformed.

Here's a history lesson from the 1960's ( the age of Aquarius, peace, love and understanding, the brotherhood of man).
Have you ever heard of Minamata disease? The people of Grassy Narrows and White Dog reserves did. They lived it; and the effects are still felt in their communities to this day.
In the fifties their water supply showed signs of mercury pollution. The contamination forced these reserves to close their fisheries. Still the government reaction was slow, even in the face of devastating health problems in the two communities. The First Nations involved eventually invited Japanese scientist from Minamata Japan where a similar thing had happened into their communities to assess what was going on.The scientists confirmed "Minamata Disease," a motor and nervous disorder caused by mercury poisoning. The culprit turned out to be the unrestricted dumping of methyl mercury into the English-Wabigoon River system by a pulp and paper mill. Amid the scandal a new agreement was signed for a new mill in 1976 with safe guards put into place.
The communities now must restrict their in take of fish,and though the contaminations levels have slowly gone down, a recent case of Minamata Diease in a three year old girl has illustrated this is still not a safe community to live and raise children in.
But that was then...right...

Now on to Sarnia Ontario, Canada's chemical valley. Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve near Sarnia Ontario has a disproportionate numbers of female births, in fact the highest in the world. This reserve is ground zero for the heaviest load of air pollution in Canada. Sixty percent of the 5.7 kilograms of toxic air releases recorded in 2005 were released within a five kilometer radius of the reserve. In 2005, 131 million kilograms of pollutants were released from 46 plants in Sarinia's Chemical Valley. These pollutants are known to cause cancer and or developmental and reproductive disorders among humans.
Sarnia's Mayor has criticized Health Canada and the government for trying to exclude the First Nation and the local occupational health clinic from on going talks about developing a comprehensive health survey for Chemical Valley.
But that was then...right...

. So here goes...with the history of bad behavior perpetrated by the Canadian governments against our people why would you think this was anything but a kick in the groin to the communities in question?
These reserves were hit hardest in the spring outbreak of the H1N1 virus, yet this Government failed to act in a caring and responsible manner then, by refusing to send hand sanitizer. Their reasoning? The sanitizer contained alcohol and it might be abused. Most reserves are dry by order of the Indian Act and to send alcohol into the community could result in fines and /or jail time for the person or persons caught doing such.
So body bags I guess were the next obvious choice.
But that was ... to be continued...
Right ???

What INAC actually spends...

Hi Friends

This post will deal with the issues of the Governments racist and callous attitudes towards the First Nations of this country and the half truths the rest of the populace is fed.

I have in the past blogged about institutionalized racism, but if this needs revisiting then here goes. It is difficult to deal with public opinion targeted at our people with that public opinion largely being fed by the Canadian Government. In public opinion all citizens are Canadian and as such should all be treated the same. This is not the way to look at the situation of indigenous peoples. As a member of the United Nations Canada has the obligation and legally binding duty to promote the rights of self determination as set out in section 35 of the Constitution act.

The Indian Act is genocidal. It infringes on fundamental human rights including the right for one to choose whom they will partner and parent with. Does any other racial group in this country face extermination from, or relinquishment of their rights in this way?

The Canadian Government has always meant to,"get rid of the Indian problem."..and have tried in many ways.
The Indian Act, divide and conquer tactics and misinformation along with legislation against us. All have hurt our struggle to be equal nations, as the founding nations with treaties had sought to lay out in the settling of this continent.

Stop with your whining about your tax dollars going to the native communities. This is a government lie you've been told. Every barrel of oil, every cedar shake, every diamond dug up, each fish caught...these are our resources and the land and seas from which they are taken are still not settled in the spirit of sharing as set out by the treaties. Unless you knuckle daggers out there are sending your kids to exclusive private schools, paving your own streets using your own health care and water treatment facilities, have your own private police forces etc...you get the picture, then for sure you are getting your full bang for your buck, tax dollar wise.

Now to connect the dots for you. While the Government each year states they have a budget for the First Nations of say 10 billion dollars, know that just a little over half ever reachs the First Nations. The rest is eaten up in the departments overhead, including salaries, per diems, travel and pensions. Then of course the department can list a program which is available to all Canadians but will state "including Aboriginals" as beneficiaries of the said program. While these programs may not directly impact First Nation communities,the inclusion as "beneficiaries of," gives the Government the ability to say they have spent "X" amount of dollars on the First Nations in any given year. Your Government lies, we native people know it, and now so do you.
regards Debra

The Education of Debra

Hi Friends
Today I will do a more personal story.
As I've mentioned in past blogs I did not grow up on a reserve. I do hasten to say though that I did most certainly grow up native. I was taught by my enfranchised and shunned( by her own community as well as the dominate society) mother not to believe everything the school system was teaching me. My mother told me the story of Louis Riel, as she understood it. A freedom fighter for the causes of Metis and native people in the west. Totally opposite of what the school was telling me.

The school told me natives were savages. Citizens of a primitive or uncivilized societies. Yet they ( the new comers) modeled their constitution and ways of governance, from the native governments here.
The native people were practicing conservation before the white settlers arrived. There was aquaculture, managing the fish stocks, agriculture rearing crops of corn, beans and squash. Animals were hunted in a managed way so as to preserve the way of life enjoyed by the various nations living here.

Then the school of Hollywood got in on the act and tried to teach me that I should be ashame of who I was.
It worked for lots of our citizens, as I was to find out later in life. But once again my uppity mother had the nerve to disagree with the movie industry, too.

"We," she told me, "come from a long line of courageous leaders. Leaders who were to look seven generations into the future to make sound judgments for the Nations. The only error they made was to believe that the leaders of Nations they were dealing with had the same honour or mandate for their citizens."

My mother had been spared the residential school experience, by virtue of the fact of having been her maiden aunts favorite niece and by being sickly. When her Aunt couldn't bear children of her own she took my mother to live with her in upstate New York, away from the residential school problems (for the native communities) here in Canada. The United States had abandoned the residential schools years earlier than Canada had.

The people in our small town made it clear that we were not wanted or welcomed. My father had been from one of the founding and then middle-class families there and his family thought it an abomination he should bring such shame to their good name by marrying "that Indian girl." Sleep with her kind if you must, just don't marry them. My father was disinherited and his family never called our mother anything but his girlie and of course we were referred to as his little half breeds.

The only relatives we actually had were my Auntie and her two daughters. She, too, had out married and as such was banned from her community as well.

In the course of my life time I have met many like me. Products of out marriages who don't necessarily sound like or even look the part. I have also met many "apples" over my life. All of whom are content to stay on the side lines and get by.

I was talking to my son about these issues one day when he told me what a very wise elder had told him. Deep inside of every apple lays a little brown seed, that may someday get planted. Water that seed.

regards Debra

Issues in Indian Country

Hi Friends
As you are all well aware, there are a myriad of issues facing the First Nations in Canada, not the least being legislated genocide.
If the Canadian Government has its way, in a few short generations, there will be no more native people left. Oh we will still be here, we just won't be recognized.
Lets for one minute imagine that.

In the year 1876 with the birth of the Indian Act, Duncan Campbell Scott, then deputy minister of Indian Affairs said: " I want to get rid of the Indian problem, our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic."
Assimilation is and has always been the ultimate goal of the Canadian Government. So much for the double wampum treaty of "Sharing the land and not interfering in the lives of the each others citizens."

We all know what happened next. Racist polices, genocidal acts, and Government sanctioned internment.
In 1946 Canada amended the Indian Act to allow Aboriginal people the right to retain a lawyer. Prior to this it was unlawful for a lawyer to represent First Nation people.
It wasn't until the Constitution Act of 1982 that Aboriginal people were recognized. Section 25 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the so called non-derogation clause which recognizes Aboriginal rights and freedoms in the Royal Proclamation exist in land claims.
Aboriginal people are also recognized in Section 35 of the Constitution Act itself, which affirms the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights. The Indian Act is comprehensive in that it covers all aspects of Indian lives, including Section 6 which defines who qualifies to be an Indian.

The Indian Act under Sections 2-14 has never replaced Aboriginal Peoples rights to determine citizenship. Section 6 ( which identifies who is entitled to be registered as an Indian) is yet more Government interference, and clearly an attempt to "solve the Indian problem."

First Nations people have been challenged to sort out their citizenship, and present the Government with a membership/citizenship code to be filed in the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada offices in Ottawa.

So can the Aboriginal people of Canada exercise their right to self determination as put forth by Section 35 of the Constitution Act? Existing Aboriginal rights, which have never been extinguished, include the right to self government, and also include the right to determine citizenship.

Until the true significance of the Nation to Nation treaties are under stood by all, this promises to be herculean task facing the nations. We are a Nation within a Nation. Understanding the rights to self determination is difficult to say the least. Any First Nation who attempts to exercise their right will have to fight the government to create their own citizenship codes and have them recognized.
Each First Nation person in Canada is by law a citizen of Canada so the argument then is that, as a result each, individual is entitled to the rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the law of the Constitution of Canada.

Deciding citizenship codes promises to lead to fighting internally and externally. Governments will fight to keep the numbers down, and the First Nations may fall into this same trap. The only way is for the Nations to separate benefits from citizenship. It is of the utmost importance to be careful of what is requested from the courts and what is accepted.The validity of the treaties rests on the self determination and inherent authority of the first nation people. These treaties are what have seeded the land upon which all of Canada rests.

Assimilation, genocide...a rose by any other name...
regards Debra

First nations economy

Hi Friends

Today lets see if we can devise an economic plan, shall we?
Many First Nation communities are located miles from nowhere and this brings a plethora of problems. Most have no economy nor economic plans.
We therefore must be more creative than most.Though I'm no expert there are people who are. Economists, scientist, and horticulturists to consult. To do something about our circumstance seems to me at least preferable then awaiting the Governments limited and insulting aid.


I don't know how profitable they are but how about some wind farms on those wind swept shores, or how about some hydroponic green houses (no soil needed) for those 6-8 servings a day of fruits and vegetables the food guide suggests for our optimum health.


Our leadership must devise better ways for our people. Better than welfare, better than subsistence existence.
We as the first people of this land must have more insight into the natural gifts given to us by the Creator for our use and benefit. Eco tourism, health walks conducted by the elders, tastes of native cuisine prepared by our own people...


I've recently read the book Dances with Dependency, and the author got it right when he asked, "would our ancestors recognize us today?" How far we have been beaten down. Yes we have suffered, but the only way back from the brink is to take charge of our own recovery. Nobody else cares. Every one else is too focused on their own suffering to give a damn about us.
It's in our hands to raise our selves up. We can do this.


Shun the Indian Act and become the profits of our own good fortunes. Stop playing the white mans game. Stop the court challenges to win back limited (by the Indian Acts racist wording) freedoms. We can only be free by being our own authors. Then and only then do we stand a chance of moving the hearts and minds of others to our plight. It is more rewarding to back the under dog. It is better to have tried and failed then to vastly succeed at doing nothing at all. Let us - let our ancestors recognize us once more as the strong resourceful descendants of those who have gone before.
regards Debra

education edukation edukashun

Hi Friends

Today lets talk about education. The residential school issues have tainted the native communities trust in the education system.
Our children are leaving school under educated and unemployable. The first nations schools are in deplorable condition with no books, no computers, uncommitted teachers, and lets not forget to mention the moldering buildings.

The break down of the education system is not just a first nations issue. The Canadian education system has been under going changes for the last 30 years, and not for the better.
We need to wake up, and soon.

What is the job of the schools? Are they merely warehouses for children, day-care facilities indoctrinations centers? Is this truly what we want them to be? Shouldn't the schools be there to teach the children "how to think" not what to think?

Literacy of all sorts has suffered. The fact that there is a debate over the teaching of evolution vs creationism in this, the 21st. century tells me we have lost our way.
High school is not enough these days for the market. Most employers ask for post secondary diplomas.

In a revamped system, the students would have all their basics down by high school, and from that point on the focus could be on good citizenship, with civics and money management and other practical skills taught.

I do think there are some new topics that should be added to the curriculum, and some old ones put back.
We remove civics class from schools then expect the graduates of such a system to make an informed choice when it comes time to vote for the new government. I'm sure the governments don't mind, it's so much easier to lead the complacent then the informed.
Ask your self, could Stephen Harper have gotten away with lying to the Canadian public, calling a coalition government undemocratic, especially as we have already had one under Robert Borden.( he called his , Unionist) a coalition of Conservative and Liberal.

How many times have I heard, " math isn't my best subject,or I'm not good at math"( as to imply that its okay to be bad at math) yet it is arguably the most applied skill in life. Bill paying, cooking, etc.

Lets focus our efforts on getting our young people ready for real world issues.
Economic ( and not the "game theory" product of John Nash's fevered paranoid mind)...but real money management courses, and of course reading and writing with spelling and grammar.
Strangely gone missing in our current system.

Every politician, parent and agency of every kind all talk about how," our children are our future..."

Is this really true? Then I ask what kind of future are we setting them up for?
We do not let children fail any more because it might damage their psyches. Where is our concern for those same psyches when we send illiterates out into the world?
Lets have our children leading the next revolution, developing environmental technology, or discovering the medical break thoughs of tomorrow and stop being a brain drain around the world.
Do it for the children, our most valuable resource.

Who is a citizen?

Hi Friends
Today lets talk about First Nation citizens.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has charged the Nations with defining just that.
The constitution Act defines 3 type of Aboriginal people, Indian, Metis, and Inuit but the latter two are not defined as Indian as per the Indian Act. Not all First Nation people have status nor do all First Nation people have membership in bands.
Under section 10 of the Indian Act bands can assume control of their own membership.

Part of this process is the formulation of their own rules or codes. As a result some status Indians will NOT be members of a band, While on the other hand some members of bands will NOT meet the requirements of registration under the Indian Act. Just as it is today.

Recognition of registered Indian Status by the Federal and Provincial Governments, have meant eligibility to a wide range of services and programs(by province, or territory) for those who meet the strict requirements of band membership as well as Indian status.

Historically, eligibility to status and membership have been controversial and complex. Over the years,there have been many rules deciding who is eligible for registration as an Indian under Indian Act rules.

What I've found out thus far about the various nations codes does nothing to eliminate these issues.
For example some nations have gone with two parent rule (both parents must be status 62s) some have adopted 50% blood quantum, and speak the language, much like Quebec's language laws,(put in place to preserve the language)-more on this topic at a later date,
and yet others have gone one parent, but then have attached such a variety of conditions as to make it even more prohibitive.

Come on you can't have it both ways people. You can't have bigger numbers to fight for the adherence to the treaties, but less people to share with.

Enter the Union of Ontario Indians. The Anishinabek Nation has named a commissioner to create a citizenship law for its 42 member First Nation.
The law proposed to do several things, chief among them, replace the concept of status with citizenship akin to those used by the worlds sovereign nations. Currently if your the grandchild of an out married women (native non-native marriage) you have no status.Where do these citizens belong? In a country of hyphenated citizens, where are they from?
The Anishinbek Nations solution is a law that will determine citizenship based on the linage of at least one grandparent.

Ambitious yes. Doable yes. To make it so, we need the full commitment of all the First Nations. A willingness to embrace your off reserve members and a determination to include the grand children of the enfranchised women. It is beyond the time when First Nations started looking at citizenship exactly as other Nations such as Canada does.

As in the Greek legend of Pandora's box, let us not let envy, greed, jealousy,and racism stand between us, and always remember that at the bottom of Pandora's box lay hope.

Institutionalized Racism

Hi Friends
I think I'll talk about institutionalized racism. Examples abound.
School boards around the country have removed Tom Sawyer from the school shelves because of the "N" word appearing in print...yet nothing is said about the term Injin Joe, and in the fly leaf of this classic novel is a short afterward by George P. Elliott that states " Injin Joes depravity is satisfactorily explained by his race, he reappears in town where he is wanted for murder, by a sort of divinely retributive accident he dies with suitable horribleness:"

You have got to wonder why then isn't this derogatory term ever cited when all those politically correct people are pulling these unsavory novels from school shelves??
Even when the media of today focus on racist behavior it seems not to see the racism directed towards native.

Not long ago on one of those current affair shows the media was up in arm over the young singer Miley Cyrus and her friends making "Asian eyes" by pulling their eyes long with their fingers. In that very same clip there was a friend of hers in the same shot doing "war whop motions and using their fingers to approximate feathers" ( no one in the media reporting this bad behavior noticed... only the Asian eyes.)

Each year at Halloween the costume shops are full of native costumes with war paint and tomahawks etc. and this is just good fun. Let some one say they want to dress like any other culture though, and then you become the racist. This is institutionalized racism.

Racism that is so prevalent as to not raise an eyebrow. So common as to not draw attention...even in a media story about racism...

We as a community have lost too many women to this evil, too many young men to this evil,and disheartened too many youth to this evil.
The jails and graveyards are filling up at an alarming rate.

I think its odd to say the least that even "new Canadians" ( immigrants) are mis-informed about the tax free status of 1st. nation people yet. The Government issued citizenship tests make sure to point out the tax exempt status of the First nations, but not why we have it. Nor do is it made clear that this is not all First Nation peoples rights. All this land is still un ceded, its a treaty right. I view the tax free status as kind of like a rental income.

The double wampum treaty states that we were to share the land, each traveling on our own journey not
interfering with the other. We all know how thats going.

I've mentioned before that I do not live on reserve but still do reside in my traditional territory...yet I still pay income tax, sales tax and the gst,(soon to be harmonized, because the provincial gov. wasn't fiscally responsible) as do all off reserve native people,and not one word about it from our leadership. The AFN or the chiefs and councils (who by the way receive pay out from the provincial and federal governments, based on their populations),the majority of nearly all reserve populations are off reserve. Yet we remain under serviced and on some reserves unwelcome.

Can you practice racism against your own? We did with the enfranchised women, we do with their children and we continue to do so with their grandchildren.

Even the membership codes are discriminatory as I pointed out. The word membership implies it...meeting certain criteria, paying dues etc. Semantics suggests that citizenship ( a member of a nation) is a much more inclusive term, and that is institutionalized racism.
regards Debra

Power to the people

Hi Friends
Today I think I will talk about the sense of powerlessness some 1st. nations people feel. Recently at a membership meetings I was told that to institute a membership code the reserve must get a 75% vote passed or INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) won't except it. Indian Act rules. When I asked when was the last time the reserve tried to make a code, I was told there had been two previous attempts but there was never enough votes to pass it. My next question was: 75% of on reserve or 75% of all (on and off reserve) members? I was told then they can't use the term off reserve?? so it therefore must be the entire membership that votes. So now am I the only one who sees that the entire process is stacked against the nation taking power over whomever they want to call a citizen? Thats right the Gov. of Canada has decided for the 1st. Nations who their citizens are. The only way the Nations can choose to recognize their own is through a citizenship code...The Gov. says the Nations can make their own codes,then set unattainable majority rules in place to thwart the best efforts of the various Nations. This from a political party that was elected into office with the lowest voter turn-out ever recorded? I think it was something like 35% of Canadians voted in the last election!! Hippocracy is what the 1st. nations have to live with...or do they? It's been reported that we are the fastest growing population in the country. Here's an idea Iet's unite. At least your off reserve and on reserve members. Did any one ever get rich with the monies from Ottawa? I know a few Chiefs and some councilors who may have profited while in office but rich??? Now quit being afraid of your own and get together to lift our nations up. Now there are quite a few out there who can only be described as self haters either passing, or mistreating your selves. I have knowledge of some right in my own family. To these people I can only say, don't give so much power to strangers. If some one wants to disrespect you on the grounds of your heritage, skin colour, or language, there is very little to be done about that. As long as you know all there is to know about your culture this can go a long way in shielding you from these haters. Know that these lands were NOT traded away for a handful of beads. Know that our chiefs dealt nation to nation with the new comers, and that it has been the white governments that have proven over and over again that they can't be trusted to keep their word. We were also a clean people and that it was diseases that impacted the Nations hardest. We also were using medicines to treat our sick while the whites were still practicing bleeding the ill in effort to heal them. Our contributions have been many and we can still contribute as long as you can get over the self doubt and embrace the challenges of the future.Take pride in all that we as Nations have accomplished, medicine, art, sport, music etc. My advice to all do not stand on the side lines, jump in. We can all make a contribution to the betterment of our nation. Maybe even reach back and help another up. To all the disreputable chiefs and councils out there, that is not our way. The native governments of old had leaders(not rulers) and a genuine concern for ALL their people. This so impressed the invaders that the American constitution was modeled on OUR systems of good governance.
regards Debra

righting the wrong

Hi friends
I've been trying to engage off reserve people in politically sensitive issues. I truly want to get beyond the stereo-types...I've been mistreated more then you...
As I mentioned in a previous blog we are now living in the Indian vs Indian times. Such controversy surrounds the re-en-statement of native rights to the enfranchised mothers ( or the Act to Amend the Indian Act) that the children of the mothers got only watered down status, and their grandchildren no status at all. That is how it remains today as I write this. The Gov. of Canada has said it does not plan to oppose Ms. McIvor any further
and would look into the quickest way to address the discrimination against the enfranchised womens children. To me a straight forward method of doing this would be to simply go back to the original amendment and grant the women entitlement to pass status to their spouses and viola, done. Too easy I guess. The most disconcerting thing I deal with is the Indian Act, and the willingness of the native communities to soldier on under it's oppression. This is mainly due ( in my opinion) to the transfer payments from Ottawa and the Provinces being tied to it. The phrase "divide and conquer" springs to mind. I think Hollywood said it best in the movie gangs of New York...(for those who haven't seen this movie) there is a scene in it where the ruling class men are discussing the up rising of the Irish and the Italians, and ultimately what to do about it...When one jolly old guy laughs heartily and says..."thats easy, you pay one group to kill off the other"...
Casinos, diamonds, and hydro electric plants on select reserves very effectively does just this...guess who's paid to eradicate whom...and the Gov. keeps arms length from the destruction.
regards Debra

debra-rezervations

hi friends.
I'm new to blogging, but am assured that if I feel that I have something to say this is the best way to get things off my chest.
First things first...hopefully my title will tell you that I'm a First Nation woman. I also do not live on a reserve.
I grew up in the times of Cowboys vs Indians and now find my self living in the time of Indians vs Indians. My mother was enfranchised (baned from her home reserve) when she married my father in 1939 and moved with him to a white town 150 miles away. She was a shy woman who was openly discriminated against by her in-laws and towns people alike. I can remember school children war-whooping at us as we did the grocery shopping. I also remember her being admonished to have her 1/2 breeds keep their dirty hands off the merchandise, unless she was buying it...nobody wants something you lot have been touching.My mother (or any Indian, for that matter) ran the very real risk of being arrested if they went into any establishment that had a liquor license, unless accompanied by a white person. It was against the law to sell liquor to Indians, according to the Indian Act. I also remember going to see my Granny and various relatives on the rez only to be told we needed a pass- book and needed to give an exact time when we would be leaving. The one time the car broke down before we were retrieved from Gran's house we were escorted to the end of the rez to wait off reserve land to be picked-up. This was by the order of the Indian Agent, a government employee who lived on reserve to enforce these laws. Why did the Chiefs allow their enfranchised women to be treated so badly? Why did't they fight for these women? Well again the Indian Act said that no native person would be allowed to hire a lawyer and that would be the way things stayed till the 1960's. That was my last visit there till long after my mothers passing and the law was changed and she was given her status back,as well as her children. But not her grandchildren. My Uncles who married out (the term for native/non-native marriages) had given status to their wives and any minor children they brought to the marriage. This was the govt. policy of paternal rule.
So when the act, to ammend the Indian act (a racist document that many 1st. nation people live under even to this day) was passed in 1985 after many years of court battles fought on grounds of sex discrimination I too got a status card, but one hitch not my children. None of the enfranchised womens grandchildren would be recognized. Enter Sharon McIvor. Sharon took a court challenge on the grounds of sex discrimination, citing the paternal rule, (men who married out till around the 1970s, still passed their their status to their wives) and thus she (as did many others across the country still had white in-laws, and their children with status, but not her children) She won in the lower courts and was on her way to the highest court in the land when all of the sudden the Harper Government cancelled the court challenges program. Now the court challenge program is at the very heart of democrocy. If the citizenery isn't allowed to bring legal challenge against their Governments, then that assumes that the Government is infalliable, and then we live not in a democory but a dictarorship. The Aboriginal Women's Association then got behind the court challenge and began fund raising to continue the fight for an end to the discrimanation of aboriginal women. Then in late June of this year the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Chuck Strul made the announcement that they will be consulting with the AFN (Assembly of First Nations) and the Aboriginal Women's Association through out the summer to address this issue, and set the month of April 2010 as the time they should start to give status to the second generation.
regards debra