Pro-active Indian government urged

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LETHBRIDGE - A new pro-active approach to Indian government is recommended by an Indian who has been studying the field.

Peter Manywounds of the Sarcee Reserve was the keynote speaker at the banquet hosted by the Native American Students Association, as part of Native Awareness Week at the University of Lethbridge.

Manywounds was formerly with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) working on Indian government.

According to Manywounds, for the past hundred-plus years the federal government has controlled all political matters on Indian reserves. Almost without exception, the imposed policies have been destructive, he said, and as a result, Indians have developed a reflectionary reflex: any change is seen as bad. But Manywounds suggested this has to change.

Indian government and constitutional development are the biggest items on the Indian agenda now, and both require creative and pro-active thinking. The old reactionary thinking now is inappropriate and will slow down the pace of political change.

Manywounds noted that in past, the forces that have drawn Indians together have been the outside pressures of a foreign society. Now, Indians must learn to pull together because of common goals and objectives.

And, he said, Indians have to take the initiative now. It is not enough to wait for government policies, and react to those. Rather, Indians have to put items on the agenda and move towards achieving those objectives.

Manywounds noted that at present, Indian reserve economies are disfunctional. Money does not circulate. It comes in the form of salary or welfare cheques, and leaves immediately for the pockets of off-reserve merchants and service industries. This prevents reserves from generating jobs or wealth, he said.

Manywounds said that Indian government requires a stable economic base. He said that is it important to have people involved in all levels of that economy. "We need Indian accountants, doctors, plumbers, tradespeople, and so on," he said. "Whatever people want to do can contribute to the reserve economy."