Historic conference attracts chiefs from across the country

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More than 300 chiefs from across Canada gathered in Edmonton this week for an historic conference to address Native rights from the Indian perspective.

Chiefs' Summit '90, the first meeting of its kind, was held at the Edmonton Inn July 2-5 to help iron out problems facing the country's aboriginal people.

Summit delegated piled into workshops and meeting rooms to air their hostilities and to help provide solutions to the growing resentment they have for the Canadian government.

They discuss topics affecting Native communities ranging from the environment to Bill C-31.

Enoch Chief Jerome Morin said the gathering of Indian leaders was long overdue because of the faltering communication between regions. He said first nations need to work together to fight for their inherent rights and to see that the federal government meets its obligations.

Speaking at an opening-day workshop on treaty rights, Morin lashed out at Ottawa for continuing to insist the infamous Indian Act and the Indian Act alone outlines Native rights.

Morin said the government can use the act to change its obligations to first nations nay time it wants.

"Even at an early age I was led to believe the Indian Act determined who I was (and what I got). A lot of us have been led to believe that," he said.

"The government must know by now Native people don't trust them"

What first nations need now, he said, "is a plan of action."

The plan of action Morin was referring to is a combined effort to force the government to live up to its agreements and to recognize Natives as Canada's first peoples.

Morin's sentiments were echoed by Mohawk Chief Earl Hill from the Iroquois Confederacy at Tyendinaga, Ont.

He called for an impartial Royal Claims Commission from another country to evaluate the treaties and settle the long-standing dispute. Hill said Indians have lost all faith in the Canadian government to make decisions on Native rights.

"We can't go along with (government) proposals any more," he said.

"They're the judge and jury (when it comes to deciding our fate). We have to look for a new format."

Morin, who announced the summit early last month, originally invited more than 500 Indian chiefs and several Canadian political officials.

Manitoba aboriginal MLA Elijah Harper and NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin showed up to support the chiefs, while other Canadian politicians and officials snubbed conference organizers by refusing to attend.

Harper, the tenacious New Democrat from Red Sucker Lake, Manitoba, who helped cause the demise of the Meech Lake accord, said the lack of federal government participation may be in retaliation for his actions.

Harper, angry that Native rights weren't being addressed, in six in-house legislative votes refused to allow the controversial agreement to be approved.