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
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
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 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
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