Top News - September - 2003
Treaty 3 launches own police force
Mississaugas enact a labour code
Challenges raised to widely held beliefs
This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the September 2003 issue of Birchbark. If you are not receiving your own copy of Birchbark, then you have missed out on a lot.Click here for Birchbark subscription information.
Treaty 3 launches own police force
Kerry Assiniwe, Birchbark Writer, Kenora
Ontario's newest law enforcement agency is now in operation.
The Treaty Three Police Service was officially launched Aug. 5 at the Kenora harbourfront in Northwestern Ontario.
The new service, which has actually been operating since April 1 this year, is responsible for 23 First Nation communities within Treaty 3 territory. That encompasses 55, 000 square miles, which is home to about 18, 000 people.
Until now, policing of these First Nations was the responsibility of the Ontario Provincial Police. "Changing of the badge" was envisioned to address a need of the First Nations people.
According to Treaty Three Police Chief Brian Rupert, the establishment of the police service is an historic event that will provide long-term positive effects for all Anishinaabe people in the territory. He adds it's a service that is long overdue.
"It's time, it's evolution. Anishinaabe police should be policing Anishinaabe people," he stated.
Plans for the establishment of the police service began back in 1999. Numerous community consultations were held as well as negotiations with the provincial and federal governments to establish the stand-alone regional police service.
According to Rupert, what makes the new police service unique, is its commitment to the people. "Our officers are respectful to the culture, traditions and needs of the people. For example, officers are encouraged to stop and have tea with an Elder," he said.
When it comers to showing respect, the first and foremost concentration is with the youth. Officers are also encouraged to take part in activities or initiatives where young people are involved, such as playing baseball or any other youth event.
Rupert highlighted the importance of police officers forming a trusting relationship with the youth of the communities.
He said, "They are our future, our future leaders. We have to be vigilant about that."
He added that the relationship between police and youth is not what it should be.
"We want them (youth) to run to our cars for help, not run away from them ... but right now, that is what's happening."
Rupert's vision for the Treaty Three Police Service is to be seen as more than just law enforcement. He hopes the service will be seen as more personal than that.
"We have to take care of each other," he said.
To do that, Rupert said the police service is planning to expand and enhance services in time.
As it stands right now, the Treaty Three Police Service consists of 55 officers, including the police chief himself and two deputy police chiefs.
Rupert says when the time comes for contract negotiations, a major issue on the table will be the addition of more police officers, with the goal to bring the total to about 70.
Mississaugas enact a labour code
Kathleen Orth, Birchbark Writer, Scugog Island
Chief Tracy Gauthier leads one of Canada's smallest First Nations. Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation has a territory of 321 hectares (one hectare equals 100 acres), which is home to around 22 members. About 100 others live off-reserve.
Located in Durham Region, Scugog Island is northeast of Toronto and close to Peterborough.
In July this year, the First Nation enacted its own labour relations code.
Gauthier said, "Because we had a charity casino, we wanted to control what other businesses were on the First Nation."
The First Nation is concerned about "access to anyone who wants to conduct business on the reserve," and their labour relations code therefore contains an "access to the territory" provision.
Brian Daly, with the firm McCarthy Tetrault in London, is Scugog First Nation's lawyer and an expert in Aboriginal law. "To participate in and benefit from the First Nation economy, you must abide by its laws," he said.
Mississaugas of Scugog First Nation "runs its own housing" the chief added, and their focus is "to bring members back to the First Nation."
While it may be small in numbers and land base, this First Nation has a significant economic presence. It owns Great Blue Heron Charity Casino, which opened in May 1999. About 950 people now work at the casino on the reserve. Gauthier said that, of this number, "15 belong to Scugog First Nation, and about 100 belong to other First Nations."
Daly said Great Blue Heron is a "very large enterprise. Once you are out of the (Highway) 401 corridor, the casino is one of the largest employers in Durham. It is very significant and has an impact on local economies."
To run its affairs, the First Nation had previously enacted a land code and a gaming code. The land code was enacted with the agreement of the federal government, and the gaming code with the agreement of the province.
Daly, who wrote the band's latest piece of legislation, said, "Nothing similar has been done by another First Nation."
It didn't happen quickly. Gauthier said their labour relations code "was developed four years ago and changes made before it was passed."
The labour relations code, at 45 pages, includes 12 parts. These are Introductory Provisions, General Provisions, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island Labour Relations, Dbaaknigewin and Custom Advisory Panel, Dispute Resolution Procedure, Dbaaknigewin Approval, Certification and De-certification of Unions, Collective Bargaining, Strikes and Lockouts, General (fair representation, union dues), Unfair Labour Practices, Offences and Punishment, and Administration.
Brian Daly remarked the code "is not set up like other labour codes. It only deals with organized labour."
The code does not deal with employment standards, human rights, or occupational health and safety, for example. Daly added, "It may deal with these later.
"How the First Nation sees the economy developing on the reserve," lay behind the move "to regulate the economy on the reserve," he said.
Yet controlling the economy on the First Nation is not an end in itself.
The labour relations code states: "it is only through the enactment of its own laws in the area of labour relations that the principles and values of the Anishinabek people will continue to provide inspiration for the community."
And it states that through the code the First Nation hopes to "protect traditional values ... Family relationships and the good of the individual and the community are deserving of concern and respect."
"A lot of different, unique features" according to Daly, can be found in the band's labour relations code. Among the features designed to protect and preserve Anishinabek ways are the custom advisory panel, and the Dbaaknigwein.
The custom advisory panel advises on "Anishinabek oral and written traditions, customs, practices and cultural values." It ensures the "wisdom, teachings and ways of the Anishinabek people continue to be of guidance to the community."
The Dbaaknigwein, a court or labour relations tribunal set up to handle conflicts and dispute resolution, will have three members, one of which must be a registered member of the Anishinabek First Nation. The code lays out the oath and terms of office, and general and specific powers for the Dbaaknigwein.
Strikes and lockouts are prohibited, with provisions for fines of up to $1,000 for offenders.
"The First Nation labour code is not adversarial," said Daly, who also noted "Since the Constitution Act of 1982, constitutional conferences have not succeeded in defining Aboriginal rights."
Respect and recognition figure prominently in the new labour relations code: respect for and recognition of the struggle for self-reliance and self-determination, inherent Aboriginal rights, and development of First Nations' government.
Self-government issues were a factor in the development of the code.
Unions seeking recognition on the First Nation must demonstrate a "past and current practice of recognizing and affirming the right of First Nations to exercise their rights of self-government and self-determination" (from Part 5, section 53).
In the larger scheme of things, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation belongs to the United Anishnaabeg Councils, a group of eight First Nations. A self-government agreement is one of the Councils' goals. Former governor general Romeo LeBlanc signed the agreement-in-principle on June 21,1998. The draft agreement followed in 2002. Members of the United Anishnaabeg Councils and the federal government must ratify the agreement for it to take effect.
"Self-government agreements have a range of terms," said Daly.
The Mississaugas' governance agreement contains provisions clearly laying out their values, such as the statement that "Aboriginal government may be recognized and implemented through treaties, land claims, settlements, legislation, or other mechanisms."
Through its enactment of a labour relations code, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation seeks to assert what it believes to be its inherent right to enact such legislation, according to tradition, the Constitution Act of 1982, and the Indian Act of 1985.
Labour relations "is an aspect of trade and commerce, which have always been part of the rights and practices of First Nations," the code states.
Its long experience with treaties also makes the Mississauga of Scugog Island First Nation unique among First Nations. The history of the United Anishnaabeg Councils, states, "The Mississauga and Chippewa have the longest continuous history of treaty-making with the Crown of any Aboriginal peoples in Canada, spanning the period 1761 to 1923. The Mississauga Nation has 19 treaties with the Crown."
The labour relations code is now in force on the First Nation. Since its enactment in July, litigation has resulted. Several groups are contesting the constitutionality of the code.
Challenges raised to widely held beliefsRoberta Avery, Birchbark Writer, Georgian Bluffs
The story of the Naaneebweque, a Native rights advocate whose burial site mystery has stalled numerous attempts to develop a prime piece of real estate, is the stuff of myths and legends, says a well-known archaeologist.
"The story has been embellished and romanticized by historians and even by archaeologists who didn't check the facts,'' said Bill Fitzgerald, a retired archaeology professor with Wilfrid Laurier University.
Naaneebweque was the daughter of an Ojibwa chief. She married William Sutton, an English missionary, in 1839, and adopted the name Catharine (spelled Catherine in some documents). In 1857, she was told that she was no longer eligible for the annuity distributed to band members as payment for surrendered lands, because she had married a white man.
The Suttons' land parcel, located about 15 kilometres north of Owen Sound, was made subject to a British government ruling disallowing land ownership by Indians.
Naaneebweque, who was dubbed an "Indian princess" by the British press when she went to England in 1860 to protest Native maltreatment to Queen Victoria, is considered to be an important historical figure by First Nations people.
In 1999, developer Willis McLeese hired Fitzgerald to try to locate Naaneebweque's grave on a 580-hectare waterfront property in Georgian Bluffs north of Owen Sound. That is where McLeese plans to build a $50 million development including a golf course, a 200-room hotel and a 1,200-home community.
Documents indicate Naaneebweque was buried somewhere on the site, but numerous attempts to locate her grave, including Fitzgerald's search this spring with a magnetometer, have proved unsuccessful. A magnetometer reveals the location of disturbed soil by indicating changes in the earth's magnetic field.
Fitzgerald, who is now volunteering his time to try to solve the mystery of Naaneebweque's burial site, has located hundreds of documents about her. Some indicate that the stories about her role as a Native rights advocate have been exaggerated, he said.
"That's the power of the Catharine Sutton legend. I know it's a sensitive issue and I'm not trying to discredit her, I'm just trying to get the facts out there so that people can draw their own conclusions.
"She was perhaps a symbol of the struggle of her people, the squeaky wheel of the group,'' Fitzgerald said.
An example of the myths surrounding Naaneebweque is the widely accepted story that she went to see Queen Victoria because she and her husband William Sutton lost their land as a result of the British government ruling that disallowed land ownership by Indians, according to Fitzgerald. He said he has documents that show the Crown reversed its decision and she got her land back before she went to see Queen Victoria.
"Her handlers in England embellished the story to promote Native issues. They had their own biases and agendas. This is all about how the story has been spun,'' he said.
Fitzgerald's claim that Naaneebweque got her land back before she saw the Queen came as a shock to her great-great-great-granddaughter, Susan Schank.
"I do hope that they are not trying to erase her name from history,'' said Schank who has spent countless hours researching her ancestor's story.
"Every document I've looked at indicates that Catharine was Indian to the government when she wanted a deed for her property, and white when it came time for the annuities.
"This is very upsetting for me, but it's only deepened my resolve to dig even deeper and find out more. Perhaps she was never notified that the Crown had reversed its decision,'' said Schank.
Joyce Johnston, a councillor on the Chippewas of Nawash Ojibway reserve at Cape Croker north of Owen Sound, was also surprised when Fitzgerald introduced documents supporting his findings at a presentation last month to the local historical society. It was entitled Catharine Sutton: Crusader or Imposter?
"Even in my time, Aboriginal women were not allowed to hold a certificate of land, so if she (Naaneebweque) was allowed to own the land it would have been unique, because she had a double strike against her. She was Native and she was a woman,'' said Johnston.
Nawash chief, Ralph Akiwenzie, said that Naaneebweque is one of his people's "important figures.''
"I do hope they are not trying to downgrade this lady and that there's not plans afoot to downplay her role,'' he said.
Akiwenzie said that his research indicates that Naaneebweque's primary focus was the injustices she herself had suffered, but she also promoted Native rights in general on her trip to England and in speaking engagements across North America.
"So she had a sort of dual role,'' he said.
Sutton's Ojibway name Naaneebweque means Standing Upright Woman, said Akiwenzie.
Fitzgerald also discovered a document sent to the Indian Office by Catharine and William Sutton in the early 1850s requesting another piece of land instead of the Georgian Bluffs land given to them by the local Ojibway tribe.
"They hated that land, it was inhospitable and very remote and difficult to reach,'' said Fitzgerald.
He admits that he is no nearer resolving the mystery of where Naaneebweque is buried and said it's possible that Sutton's grave is not on the Georgian Villas property at all.
Fitzgerald found evidence the local Women's Institute erected a memorial to Naaneebweque on the property in 1938 after her gravestone built in the early 1930s was found by the side of the road. Early documents indicate the Sutton property stretched under what is now that road.
"When you embark on this kind of research, you don't expect to get a conclusion,'' said Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald also found some copies of 19th century newspapers that discredited Naaneebweque.
"So you see it wasn't me who called her an imposter,'' he said.
Meanwhile Nawash's objection to the project because it's located on waterfront land subject to a land claim is scheduled to go to a pre-hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board Oct. 8.
The band is also concerned about the danger the runoff from the proposed golf course on the site might pose to the future of the area's Native fishery, said Akiwenzie.
"We fought so very hard for our fishing rights so we have grave concerns,'' he said.
