Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
1999 Windspeaker May Headlines
Saskatchewan Indian Federated College hosted its annual powwow in Regina on April 3 and 4. About 700 dancers from across central and western Canada turned out for the event, considered the first big powwow on the year's circuit.
Photo Credit:
Bert Crowfoot
One more step in treaty negotiations
Chiefs fast for better services
World-wide support for Peltier
Protesters crash throne speech
You can't have it both ways - Editorial
A tribute to grandmothers - Guest Column
Windspeaker's Aboriginal Guide to Scholarships - Full Coverage
The above is only a partial list of all the stories featured in the May, 1999 issue of Windspeaker.
If you are not receiving your own copy of Windspeaker, then you have missed out on a great deal of news, information and humour.
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One more step in treaty negotiations
By Roxanne Gregory
Windspeaker Contributor
SECHELT, B.C.April 16 was an historic day for the Sechelt Indian Band as hundreds of onlookers crowded the Sechelt's traditional longhouse to watch the signing of the first agreement-in-principal (AIP) reached through the BC Treaty Commission process.
The AIP is step five in the six-step B.C. treaty process; Premier Glen Clark called the agreement a sign of hope for other Aboriginal groups.
"My government is fully supportive of this agreement, which is fair and affordable and provides greater self reliance and economic development opportunities for the Sechelt Indian Band," he said. Clark added he hopes to sign the final treaty - the first urban treaty in modern times - within six months.
"B.C.'s Aboriginal people have struggled for justice for many years. . . . The treaty process has been slow and frustrating. Other tribes in the North are waiting to see what happens - the Bella Bella, the Bella Coola. This is more than an historic day for Sechelt, it's an historic day for all nations. . . . This sends a message to B.C. and the world that it can be done," he said.
Clark said 25 per cent of Aboriginal people in the province are still outside the BC Treaty Commission process.
"We're looking for ways to include those people," he said.
Federal Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, said the AIP signing was one step in an effort to reconcile past wrongs and define what Aboriginal rights are under the Constitution.
Chief Garry Feschuk said he wants to move on to the final stage of negotiations.
"We went back to litigation last year because we wanted to negotiate five principles that weren't on the table. We wanted an expanded land base and economic opportunities . . . . Not too long ago we sat in the longhouse with the premier and a senator and they convinced us to negotiate, not litigate . . . . The package on the table was expanded and we went back to negotiations . . . . Our people will have the final say. We're trying to bargain the best deal, and we've achieved more land and money . . . . Hopefully, we'll have an agreement we can sign by the end of 1999."
Feschuk praised his negotiating team for sticking to their principals throughout the five-year process.
The province's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gordon Wilson said with the AIP in place, the province would move as quickly as possible to sign a treaty.
"The leadership demonstrated by the Sechelt Nation is second to none," said Wilson.
Chiefs from many nations and BC Treaty commissioners, including Haida Gwaii's Miles Richardson, were on hand for the historic signing. Richardson called the negotiations a challenge.
"For 200 years the land question has been festering, and this is a milestone. Sechelt was the first community to take over their own affairs and this is the first treaty in a largely urban area in B.C. . . . Treaty making can work with respect and goodwill, and we must make it work."
But Richardson also chastised provincial politicians for claiming the Sechelt agreement would be a blueprint for others.
"Let's not pretend this is a treaty for every other nation. Every other nation has their own issues, their own needs."
Commissioner Deborah Hanuse from Alert Bay, echoed Richardson's caution.
" [The AIP] is very encouraging, but this is Sechelt's vision, their objectives. I don't see it as a blueprint for everyone."
Not all Sechelt people are happy with the AIP. Some believe the band isn't getting enough in the deal. Robert Joe stood outside the longhouse passing out leaflets opposing the deal.
"I think this is absurd . . . . I think they're trying to hoodwink us."
The Sechelt band must approve the final agreement by a vote of 50 per cent plus one.The Agreement
The band currently owns 1,031 hectares and will receive another 933 hectares - 288 hectares of rural land and about 645 hectares of urban land - under other provisions in the AIP. The Sechelt's total land claim can't exceed 3,055 hectares.
The band will receive $40 million in cash for the Sechelt Prosperity Fund and $2 million in a transition fund, plus $1.5 million for an economic development fund.
The band will own surface and subsurface resources and will manage timber resources on their own land. The band will have the right to harvest marine plants and fish, subject to conservation, for food, social, and ceremonial purposes and they will receive 11 existing commercial fishing licenses. Wildlife harvesting will be identified in annual plans that must receive provincial approval.
Existing Indian Act taxation exemptions will end. Sechelt members will begin paying transaction taxes eight years after signing the final treaty and income tax after 12 years. The band had originally wanted a 50-year exemption. Some cultural artifacts will be returned.
Talks with the Sechelt and the federal government began in 1994 and have included more than 100 meetings with third party interests. Currently, almost 60 nations are involved in the treaty commission process.
"We were lost, but now we're found. We have our language and now we'll have our land again," said Sechelt Elder and former band councillor Theresa Jeffries.
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Chiefs fast for better servicesBy Marie Burke
Windspeaker Staff Writer
PIKANGIKUM FIRST NATION, Ont.In a quest for better First Nations health services in northern Ontario, First Nations chiefs took part in an 11-day fast that began on April 9 at the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital.
Chief Paddy Peters and Chief Donny Morris of Kitchenuhmaykoosib entered the hospital and began their fast in the chapel. The chiefs took water only during their fast.
Chief Vernon Morris of Muskrat Dam and Chief Raymond Beardy of Bearskin First Nation replaced Peters and Morris at the hospital after they were called home to pay respect to family members who had died.
"This is not one or two First Nations that face these issues, it's an entire area of First Nations people who need something done about it. We feel the strain of the deteriorating health services in our community and we want to continue what Chief Peters and Chief Morris began," said Chief Vernon Morris in a statement on April 16.
The fast ended on April 19. The four First Nations chiefs from northern Ontario fasted a total of 249 hours. They ended their fast several hours after a meeting with Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, but Fontaine would not take credit for the chiefs' decision.
"I suggested to them to eat something, but it was their decision. I told them it's a victory for them, that Ottawa has heard the message from the fasting chiefs," said Fontaine while at the Treaty 8 gala in Edmonton on April 20.
In his meeting with Chief Vernon Morris and Chief Beardy, Fontaine made the commitment that the AFN would take action to resolve the lack of health services in the Sioux Lookout zone.
He pointed to the pre-scheduled visit by the federal Minister of Health, Allan Rock, on April 23, as a sign that Ottawa is ready to listen and deal with the health issues plaguing First Nations people in the Sioux Lookout zone.
"I've had a number of conversations with the minister on four main issues; that is the management at the hospital, the involvement of First Nations people in that, the personnel of Medical Services Branch and the lack of doctors and nurses," he said.
Fontaine suggested the lack of health services in the Sioux Lookout zone for First Nations contributes to the already dismal situation in northern Ontario, which boils down to the issue of the poverty that many Aboriginal people face.
The chiefs chose to fast at the hospital because it represents health in the northern areas, they said.
"Our station used to have nine nurses, but right now we have three for the 2,000 people in our community," said Alex Peters, a band councilor at Pikangikum First Nation.
The hospital intake area covers the region from the northern boundary of Ontario's Canadian Shield to the Hudson Bay lowland. There are more than 21 First Nations communities in the Sioux Lookout zone.
The emergency room at the hospital closed in July because of a lack of doctors and nurses. Since then the hospital has virtually closed down most of its services because of the shortage, and that is affecting First Nations community health stations the hardest, stated Georgina Lentz, spokesperson for the Independent First Nations Alliance in Pikangikum.
"With only three nurses in the station available for only emergency services and because the delivery of health care services are totally lacking, there is about 150 people that have been on a waiting list for more than a year. That is why we decided to do something. Our chief wanted to keep it peaceful. It is a fast to get answers," said Peters, who fasted five days in support.
At least 20 people from the surrounding First Nations communities joined the chiefs. Some of the supporters positioned themselves outside the hospital and others pledged support from their home communities, said Lentz.
The chiefs specifically requested an immediate face-to-face meeting with the federal minister of health, the Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, and Ontario Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer.
"Politicians are slow. That is part of how they work. I don't know when we will get some answers to this situation," said Peters.
He said there needs to be a commitment to the First Nations chiefs that the three ministers will address the health care crisis for First Nations people in Ontario.
Health services to northern First Nations communities have been in crisis since June 1998, and the Medical Services Branch has failed to resolve the crisis, stated Lentz. Medical Services Branch is the federal body responsible for First Nations health care.
Allan Rock, the federal Minister of Health, met on April 23 with a working group that was formed last fall at the Sioux Lookout hospital. According to reports, the goal of the working group is to resolve the outstanding issues affecting health service delivery at the hospital.
One of the members of the group is John Paul, director of the self government secretariat of Health Canada. Paul thinks the deteriorating health delivery services at Sioux Lookout are symptomatic of a larger problem that affects Canada as a whole.
"The shortages of nurses is an overall symptom of the nursing shortage in Canada. I think that Health Canada is committed to providing emergency health care services," said Paul, when asked if a health care crisis existed for First Nations in Ontario.
"We are working on a recruitment and retention strategy for nurses. It is a problem in the North," said Paul.
World-wide support for PeltierBy Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
LEAVENWORTH, KansasFederal officials in Canada and the United States continue to resist a varied and growing wave of support for a review of the Leonard Peltier case.
On April 16, Amnesty International called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of Peltier, saying he is a "political prisoner whose avenues for legal redress have long been exhausted."
On Feb. 11, the European Parliament renewed its 1994 demand that Peltier be granted presidential executive clemency and that an investigation be launched into the "judicial improprieties involved in Mr. Peltier's conviction."
On April 30, the wife of the former president of France, Danielle Mitterand, will visit Peltier in prison to conduct a fact-finding mission on behalf of her human rights organization, France Libertés Fondation. She will also meet with members of the U.S. Senate and First Lady Hillary Clinton.
Efforts are being made by Peltier supporters to get a resolution passed this summer when the Assembly of First Nations and the Congress of American Indians chiefs meet together for the first time in 60 years this July.
Peltier has been incarcerated for the past 23 years. He currently resides in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. He was convicted of killing two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during an exchange of gunfire between American Indian Movement members and the FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
He remains in prison and has repeatedly been denied parole even though it has long been acknowledged by officials in both countries that he was wrongfully extradited to the United States from Canada. Statements by federal prosecutors in the United States also suggest he was also wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
One of the people who has fought hardest for a review of the Peltier case is the man who was the Canadian solicitor general at the time of the extradition. Warren Allmand, who later was appointed as the Indian Affairs minister in September 1976, continues what he calls a crusade to see justice done. Now president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development in Montreal, Allmand has dogged each successive Canadian Justice minister for action on the Peltier case, years after the extradition information became public that suggested the FBI fabricated the evidence it used to convince Canadian authorities to turn Peltier over to U.S. authorities.
Allmand told Windspeaker he was allowed to look through the confidential Justice department files regarding the case in 1995 after many years of lobbying for some sort of action by the federal government.
It wasn't until Allan Rock was appointed Justice minister during Jean Chretien's first term as prime minister that Allmand found anyone who would listen to his concerns.
"I never got anywhere. The answer was always, by both Conservative and Liberal governments that, even if the affidavit was fraudulent, there was sufficient other evidence to extradite Peltier. Bang! That's it. I would ask 'Well, what is that other evidence?' and never got an answer. Some parliamentary secretary always stood up and read something prepared by the bureaucrats from the department of Justice and it was very difficult to get at anybody," he said.
Rock listened to Allmand's concerns and took action.
"He ordered an internal review of the case through some people in his department who were not involved in the original extradition. And then he said to me, if I wished, he'd give me access to all the files in the department in respect to Peltier and I could review the files and give him my recommendation," Allmand said.
During a week-long parliamentary recess in the summer of 1995, Allmand pored through those files.
"Then I wrote a letter to Rock. Now, since I was given access to those files as a member of the Privy Council, I was sworn to my oath as a Privy Councillor so I can't release the letter. But, on the other hand, I can say that the bottom line of my letter was, after going through all the files, it just confirmed what I'd been saying for years, that there was no other evidence to support the extradition. It just confirms more strongly in my mind that there was no other evidence," he said. "So, in my letter, I went through the various evidence and my final word was, 'Look, the FBI concocted this fraudulent affidavit to get the extradition and once that affidavit was shown to be fraudulent, there would have been no basis for the extradition. It's too late to get him back. The Americans are never going to give him back but at least you should send a protest to the American attorney general saying that this is not proper relations between two friendly countries. You know, we should be respecting each other's judicial systems. We're both democracies. We've got a long history of friendly relations and ask, 'Why are your guys putting phony affidavits in front of our courts?' Protest that and ask that it never be done again."
However, Rock didn't ever get around to dealing with Allmand's findings. He was shuffled over to the ministry of Health and, Allmand said, the process began all over again with his replacement.
"I'm still chasing after it. [Current Justice Minister] Anne McLellan's office still has it under consideration. I periodically phone to find out what's happening," he said.
Allmand, a long-time federal MP who represented Montreal's English-speaking Notre Dame de Grace riding, has obviously taken the Canadian role in the Peltier story very personally. It happened on his watch as solicitor general and he wants something done so he can put it behind him.
"Soon after I was appointed minister of Indian Affairs, I had this delegation of Indians. They said that Peltier had been arrested - I didn't even know who he was - and he's going before this extradition hearing in Vancouver and could I intervene and assure fair play for him. I checked with my officials and they said the last thing I could do as a politician was to intervene. It's considered bad, bad, bad form to try and influence a court in any way. I replied to these people that I was sure that justice would take its course. Several years later, I found out what happened and, of course, I was a bit enraged because I had told these people that justice would take its course," he said. "When I heard what happened I just sort of set myself on a crusade."
Allmand isn't sure what the motivation might be for the lack of federal response on this issue but he has a couple of theories.
"I think what happened was, during the extradition in Vancouver, under the Canadian law or tradition at the time, the Canadian department of Justice had to appoint one of their lawyers to represent U.S. interests, which seems strange. So you had a Canadian government official representing the United States government before a Canadian court on this extradition," he said.
Allmand said there have been accusations the Canadian official knew at the time that the affidavit was phony, but he's seen no proof of that.
"The point is, I think, once they got involved in it at that level, I guess they felt embarrassed and once you make a mistake most people like to cover their tracks. They won't admit they made a mistake. So, ministers of Justice who kept on asking officials what was the answer to this . . . it kept flowing from the bottom up to the top that, yes the affidavit was fraudulent but there was other evidence. That was their view. But that wasn't the view of a lot of people from outside."
The former solicitor general didn't say 'no' when he was asked if racism might be a factor in the government's inaction.
"Maybe it's because Peltier's an Indian. I can't tell what the reason is. It could be. There's been other cases of prejudice in the past. I don't know whether it's that or simply when people make a mistake they don't want to admit they made a mistake," he said.
The FBI "misbehaved badly" throughout the affair, he added.
"They did a number of strategic things to get a conviction - including things that weren't acceptable - and they got their conviction," he said.
The clouds that hover over the entire matter are reason enough for a review of the situation, Allmand believes, and the lack of action is a good sign that powerful people have something to hide.
"I've always said I don't know whether he did it or whether he didn't. What I do know is both the extradition and the trial had fraudulent evidence. The least he deserves is a new trial. If they've got all kinds of great evidence against him, let them produce it at trial," he said.
Federal authorities in the United States have been accused of helping tribal chief Dick Wilson (now deceased) conduct a reign of terror on the Pine Ridge reservation during the years leading up to the shoot-out at the Jumping Bull compound where the two FBI agents and a Native man - 21-year-old Joe Killsright Stuntz - were killed. It had only been two years since the 71-day siege at nearby Wounded Knee when local residents reported that a build-up of federal police officers began days before the shooting. The atmosphere in the region was super-charged. Pine Ridge had a murder rate that, per capita, exceeded that of Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City at the time. On the day of the shooting, Wilson signed over one-eighth of the tribal land to uranium mining interests. A paralegal who works for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee says the shoot-out is seen in Pine Ridge as a planned distraction from the land transfer.
"Most of the people involved believe it was not a co-incidence," said Gina Chiala. "It was a planned distraction but two FBI agents were killed. That was an accident but it's considered unacceptable. Someone has to pay and innocence is not a factor."
Allmand agrees that the mood in the region was tense because of federal interference in Pine Ridge affairs.
"That's it. Part of the big battle was between, let's say the more development faction that wanted to sell and lease out the resources. They were in conflict with the faction that Peltier was associated with that believed they should bargain hard and protect the resources. They felt they were being sold out. There was a real struggle on that reserve. There's a lot of public evidence that the FBI surreptitiously provided guns and arms to this other faction. And there were these GOONs that went around with drive-by shootings. There was a large number of people killed on that reserve, murdered over a five-year period. It's just astounding," he said.
Chiala believes the United States government is worried about what will happen if or when Peltier is released.
"When Leonard gets out it will revive a spirit in the people. They don't want to see that," she said.
Press requests for interviews with Peltier are being refused by prison officials, something his supporters see as another indication that he is a political prisoner. Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance, a book by Peltier, will be released in June. His editor, Harvey Arden, visited Peltier on April 17 during a prison powwow for Native inmates. He says Peltier is in great pain as a result of a poorly treated medical condition, and prison authorities will not allow him to leave the facility to get proper treatment.
"My life is an extended agony," Peltier wrote. "I feel like I've lived a hundred lifetimes in prison, already. But I'm prepared to live thousands more on behalf of my people. If my imprisonment does nothing more than educate an unknowing and uncaring public about the terrible conditions Indian people continue to endure, then my suffering has had - and continues to have - a purpose. My people's struggle to survive inspires my own struggle to survive. Each of us must be a survivor."
Peltier writes that he still has some hope of tasting freedom once again.
"In late 1993, and again in 1998, the U.S. Parole Commission rejected my appeal for parole, telling me to apply again in the year 2008. The simple act of changing my "consecutive" life sentences to "concurrent" life sentences - a change of one word - would give me my freedom and return to me at least a part of my life, if only my old age. I pray the parole commission will make that one-word change."
Protesters crash throne speech
By Len Kruzenga
Windspeaker Contributor
WINNIPEGCarrying banners reading "Help us with jobs not Welfare" and "We need better housing now," 500 protesters converged on the Manitoba legislative building, while inside, Premier Gary Filmon hosted opening ceremonies for the latest session of the legislature.
Chief Louis Stevenson of the Peguis First Nation, who according to several demonstrators acted as the principal architect of the protest, chastised Filmon and the conservative government during an address to the crowd.
"This government has done nothing for us. We continue to live in poverty and continue to suffer the poorest housing and unemployment rates while the politicians say we live in the richest and best country in the world."
Stevenson pointed out that despite Canada's democratic pronouncements, entry to the legislature was blocked by barricades and security officers.
"They call this a democracy, yet we are not allowed to enter the institution of democracy. We cannot be stopped from exercising our rights or obtaining what our treaties promise us."
With that, the crowd stormed the front entrance of the building only to be blocked by security personnel and a platoon of riot policemen inside the lobby.
When several protesters managed to scale barricades and force their way into the lobby, police responded with a blanket of pepper-spray and quickly arrested nearly a dozen protesters.
Grand Chief Bill Traverse of Southern Chiefs Organization had his jacket ripped off his back in the ensuing melee.
"It's a god damn disgrace to be treated like this on our own land and by our own government," he said.
As the confrontation threatened to escalate, several Aboriginal leaders, including Manitoba Keewaninowi Okimakinak Grand Chief Francis Flett, reasoned with protesters to let cooler heads prevail.
"We don't want anyone injured here. We've made our point and have sent a message to the government."
But other leaders, usually reluctant to adopt a confrontational approach with the government, appeared far less conciliatory.
"Today will be the start of something different," said Fisher River First Nation Chief David Crate. "They took our land and shoved us off to the side. It won't happen anymore."
Grand Chief Rod Bushie of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Stevenson also warned the government that unless it showed immediate signs of dealing substantively with Aboriginal issues, the Pan-Am Games would be disrupted by First Nations' protesters.
For his part, Filmon expressed surprise over the protest, noting that after a similar protest held two weeks earlier he had asked many of the same Native leaders, including Stevenson, to draft a summary of their concerns and demands so the government could discuss the issues. He noted none of the leaders had responded to that request.
Filmon also noted that his government has signed numerous agreements with First Nations over the last decade, including Treaty Land Entitlement agreements and Northern Flood agreements.
"Yeah, I'll get paid later when we go down to the [Interlake Regional Tribal Council] offices," said one Peguis resident who requested his identity not be revealed. "There's nothing wrong with that. At least it's giving us some employment for a day."
However when Stevenson was asked to confirm the reports, he dismissed the questions calling them irrelevant and not worth responding to.
"I'm not even going to respond to that. It has nothing to do with the reasons for this protest," he said.
However, later in the day, Chief Bushie all but confirmed the reports when he said, "Those people have to eat. It's the same thing as giving them a per diem that's all."
Bushie also swept aside Filmon's argument that the protest was anything but a spontaneous groundswell of opposition because many protesters were paid.
"We need the government to take action now and stop hiding behind the excuse that we're the federal government's responsibility," said Bushie. "The province has a lot of control over our lands and other issues so they have a responsibility to First Nations people."
But at least one protester said revelations that others were paid makes the whole demonstration smack of political opportunism.
"How can Stevenson and the others yell at Filmon and the government to use funding dollars more responsibly when he (Stevenson) is misusing funds from his own community," said Francine Nepinak.
"I came here because I thought the issues of unemployment, poverty and housing are real issues for the people, but the chiefs are making us all look stupid and dishonest. It makes me sick."
