First Nations walk to demand accountibility

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A group of Treaty 7 band members hand delivered a letter to Indian Affairs on June 1 after the group walked from Fort MacLeod to Edmonton. The goal was to create awareness of the problems plaguing the band members on their reserve. They wanted to draw attention to the lack of accountability that the band's chief and council have to its members.

"We are like a dog who chases it's tail, going around and around in circles. When we approach Indian Affairs we are told to go to chief and council. When we approach chief and council we are told to go and see someone else. Nothing ever gets resolved. The same situation is still there," said Celeste Strikes With A Gun, one of the concerned band members.

Dominic Crow Shoe and two members of the Peigan reserve began their protest walk on May 17. The group reached its destination at Canada Place at 1 p.m. where they sat down to a meeting with officials from the Indian Affairs department.

The group was joined by members from Treaties 6, 7 and 8. Each person told of the hardship and lack of communication they faced from elected chief and council on their reserves. They were hoping to meet with Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, Premier Ralph Klein, and regional director of Indian Affairs Barry Robb, but none of them attended.

Acting director of First Nations Relations of Treaty 7, Marcel Boutet, met with the concerned First Nation members. The group felt that members on the reserve were living in third world conditions. They claim that the department of Indian Affairs has one of the highest budgets in Canada, but the funds are accessed only by band chief and council and not by band members.

The funds are spent according to how the chief and council see fit and very few of the dollars ever reach the members of the band where it is needed, said the protesters. The group also claimed that band meetings were held at exotic locales at the expense of the band, that welfare and unemployment on reserves exceeds 70 per cent.

"The chief and council only create small jobs on the reserve. If I'm lucky in one year, I'll get a job from the band office for maybe a few weeks. I will make a few hundred dollars. The job project is finished so I go back for another job but they tell me that they already gave me one. So the cycle continues," said one member.

When discussions ended the walkers were just as frustrated as when they began.

"I do not think we had anything resolved," said Crow Shoe. "We are going to keep on trying to get our message across. We are frustrated. The walk has not ended. We are planning to walk to Ottawa if we do not get the results we need."

Boutet told the group that Indian Affairs was doing the best it could.

"I do not have the authority to do anything. I'm only acting for Barry Robb. I'm willing to listen. I agree that it must be very frustrating to everyone about the issues on your reserve. All I can say is that you elected the chief and council, now you are having a problem and we are doing the best we can," he said.

"We will deliver this letter to the proper people," he said.

The group is appealing to the non-Native community to assist them with a method of bringing about accountability, justice and a sense of order to the respective First Nations communities. They said they want someone to help them. They do not want welfare or to be dependent on others. They want dignity and a sense of purpose in life.

"Whenever corruption is addressed in a non-Aboriginal community it is considered a criminal offense but when it is done on a reserve, Indian Affairs says that it is an internal matter, " said a concerned protester.