New citizenship act given thumbs up by Saskatchewan chiefs

Chief Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN)
has announced the organization will begin work on a citizenship act that the chiefs hope will finally "give First Nations people the authority they are entitled to," he said.
A July FSIN special assembly in Prince Albert saw a majority of the 40 members present vote in favor of developing the framework for the act, which is meant to maneuver around perceived issues surrounding the Indian Act.
"We have an inherent right to govern ourselves," said Chief
Joseph, who emphasized that funding is the only thing they are looking to
receive from the federal government, not approval.
"It is not their right to give us permission to anything, but they have gotten away with it for so long, they think it is their right to treat us like wards of the state and we are not," said Chief Joseph.
Chief Joseph and other supporters of the citizenship act believe Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) should not have the right to use the Indian Act to determine who should be recognized as a status
Indian.
Under the proposed act, FSIN would determine the criteria for
membership.
Despite several amendments to the Indian Act that was first passed in 1876, some still consider it as discriminating Chief Joseph stressed that this is not in response to the decision made by the B.C. Court of
Appeal in April, which gave the federal government a year to change portions of
the Indian Act that violates the charter rights of some Aboriginal women and
their children when they choose to marry and reproduce with non-Aboriginal men.
However, Aboriginal men and their children by non-Aboriginal women maintain their status.
According to Chief Joseph, the citizenship act is a logical solution to the government of Canada who are already in the position of having to reform the current Indian Act.
Chief Joseph said he has already had
discussions with the Minister of Northern Affairs, Chuck Strahl, and he is hopeful INAC will support FSIN's new act.
After repeated attempts from Sage
to contact the Minister's office for comment, calls were not returned.
Getting INAC to hand over power to the FSIN is not an easy feat, said Ken Coates who is the current dean of Arts at the University of Waterloo and was formerly the dean at the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan where he taught Aboriginal history from 2000 to 2004.
"Just because FSIN or somebody else declares themselves to be a citizen of the FSIN it doesn't automatically follow that the government will accept any financial
responsibility,' said Coates, who considers the FSIN's desire for their own act
as natural, while he questions the logistics of becoming independent from the
government, while continuing to receive financial resources from INAC.
"If somebody declares themselves to be an [Aboriginal] citizen and the government
doesn't recognize it, then no resources will necessarily follow," explained Coates, who mentioned funding for post-secondary education to status citizens is an example of government funding that may not be available to somebody considered First Nation through FSIN but not INAC.
Coates, who referred to Indian status as one of the most burning issues in Aboriginal affairs, is empathetic with both the Federal government and the FSIN.
The government of Canada wants a clear method of determining First Nation status but Saskatchewan bands apart of the FSIN want people with status to reflect their communities, their reaction is "perfectly logical," said Coates.
Chief Joseph said family lineage would be one of the prerequisites under the citizenship act, but every effort would be made not to discriminate. The citizenship act would be exclusive to Saskatchewan bands and individuals would not be forced to participate.
FSIN represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.