Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
1998 Windspeaker November Headlines
Fontaine pushes for meeting with Pope
Fargo a bust; Oklahoma may host
Eco-colonialism or environmentalismOppositition tries to stop Nisga'a deal
Bell appointed to CBC board
Is anybody listening?- EditorialInvaders in space: 1492 again?- Guest Column
The above is only a partial list of all the stories featured in the November, 1998 issue of Windspeaker.
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Fontaine pushes for meeting with PopeBy Marie Burke
Windspeaker Staff Writer
WINNIPEGA recently reported private audience granted to a delegation from the Assembly of First Nations with Pope John Paul II has been postponed.
"The meeting with the Pope is not quite confirmed at this time," said Jean LaRose, spokesperson for the AFN. A meeting date had been set for Nov. 9. LaRose said the meeting date is still being worked out with Canada's foreign affairs office and Canada's ambassador to the Vatican. A request from Windspeaker for an interview with the ambassador was refused, though the ambassador's spokesperson said an emergency meeting with Fontaine occurred on Oct. 19. The ambassador's office refused to make public meeting details.
The audience with the Pope is expected to be an appeal from Fontaine for an official apology from the Roman Catholic Church for its role in the residential school system. The AFN reportedly wants a commitment from the Pope that the church will support compensation packages for residential school survivors.
Lawsuits from former students against the government of Canada and a number of churches are mounting. More than 1,000 have been initiated.
"An apology from the Pope won't impact me," said Marlin Watts, a former student at the Alberni Indian Residential School in British Columbia run by the United Church of Canada. "Compensation for the abuse is just the starting point."
Watts is currently in the midst of a precedent setting trial in Nanaimo, B.C. Court has heard of the horrendous abuses suffered by the former students who are suing the church and the federal government. The civil trial that started in February is going forward to B.C.'s Supreme Court to put the question of direct liability to rest. The United Church has failed to settle out of court with the former students and has appealed a previous court ruling that found it vicariously liable for the abuse at the school. Watts said he will not accept a blanket settlement or apology. He believes that it is an individual's right to seek redress in a manner that is right for the individual.
"It [an apology from the Pope] may have an effect on the bigger picture for churches to take more responsibility, but I don't see the Pope apologizing at this time," said Peter Grant, lawyer for the former students of the Alberni school.
That is because the Catholic Church is just starting to address the liability issue of the abuses suffered by First Nations at the residential schools they operated.|
Grant thinks the government would benefit from an apology from the Pope. It might put pressure on churches to assume more of the liability.
Grant said the Canadian government has not resisted in the way the United Church has in the Alberni case. He sees the United Church as unwilling to split the responsibility with the government on a 50-50 basis. He would like to see more mediated settlements, as in the case of the recent settlement between the Salvation Army and the federal government for former students of a northern Indian day school in British Columbia. He cites this as a positive example of shared liability.
Grant, who acted as mediator for the settlement, negotiated a program that would see former students and their families get counseling to deal with the effects of the abuse they suffered. Grant said the fact that the Salvation Army recognized it was liable and settled on a equal basis with the federal government, eased the process and shortened the time the case dragged on, so the former students could get on with their healing.
Fargo a bust; Oklahoma may hostBy Terry Lusty
Windspeaker Contributor
FARGO, North DakotaThe 1999 North American Indigenous Games will not be hosted at Fargo, North Dakota.
The planned Fargo version of the games was officially trashed by a decision of the NAIG council executive meeting in Fargo on Oct. 10.
"It is sad council had to make this choice but, for the sake of the games, council had to do something," said council secretary Roy Desjarlais, who represents the Northwest Territories.
"We as a council take some responsibility," he confessed, but he made no excuses for the host community, which he said was part and parcel of the problem.
Desjarlais and vice-president Bo Young from Florida admit that the games were not taken seriously enough by organizers in Fargo. They said that Tex Hall, the executive officer for the games, did not show up for meetings and did not apply early enough for grants or financial contributions even though he had a lot of lead time. Desjarlais confessed that council was not assertive enough, especially with deadlines. In hindsight, he said, perhaps the council should not have permitted the extensions they did. Fargo was allowed extension last spring, then again in mid-summer.
Fargo organizers were relying on funding from the United States federal government, which has set aside $25 million for millennium projects. But, when it came to short-listing the applicants for that funding, the government gave priority to those who had applied earliest. Because the games submission was on the bottom half of the pile, said Desjarlais, "that left Fargo out."
Young said Fargo didn't meet the criteria set forth by the deadline.
"They only raised $45,000 and had a commitment for another $10,000 from one of the area tribes in North Dakota," he said. The $55,000 is certainly a far cry from the $3.4 million that is needed. This shortfall contributed largely as a factor in the decision of the NAIG council to take the games away from Fargo, he said.
Where does that leave the games now? It's possible they'll be moved to Norman, Oklahoma, which has been waiting in the wings as the alternate in case something like this happened. However, it is doubtful, even if the organizers in Norman can come up with the money, facilities, and accommodations, that they will be able to host the games before the year 2000, said Young.
The games were offered to Oklahoma during the same meeting that the decision to pull the plug on Fargo was made. Bill Barnett, who sits on council as the representative for Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Louisiana, was asked if Norman was interested in taking on the task. He said he'd take that offer back to his community and see if there's a willingness to do it.
Barnett said he'll need "all sorts of help" if the games are to go ahead in Oklahoma. He attended both the '95 and '97 games and he is excited about the opportunity, even if it means a lot of pressure given the short time he has to work with.
The city of Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma, has good sports facilities and can also rely on facilities in Oklahoma City which is a mere 15-minute drive away.
"I believe we can do it; we need to capitalize on resource persons," said Barnett, adding he has a number of very good contacts with people linked to the corporate sector. "We're already on the search for this kind of funding."
Barnett said he intends to bring someone on board to write proposals and seek grant money.
"We'll contract very professional fundraising organizations . . . approach people we know who worked with the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia in '96," he said.
When questioned about time frames, Desjarlais said the council will have a better idea at the end of October, after they hold their next meeting.
If it's decided that Oklahoma can't pull it off, the teams will all have to wait until the 2002 games in Manitoba, said Young, who added there's a lot of work to be done on Oklahoma's part and the picture will not likely be any clearer for at least three to five months.
The effects of the switch to Oklahoma will mean Canadian teams will have to increase their budgets to provide for such a long trip. For many Canadians, it will mean increased travel by at least 1,600 km.
The miscues will create a number of problems for regional organizers. If the games are canceled, all work done to this point is wasted. If the games are delayed, what about the qualifiers the provinces conducted for 1999? Will they have to incur the added effort and expense of holding them again because there will now be a longer time period before the games in Oklahoma?
Eco-colonialism or environmentalism
By Paul Barnsley
Windpseaker Staff Writer
NEAH BAY, Wash.Descendants of the original inhabitants of the furthest western regions of the North American continent are locked in a high-profile cat and mouse game with the international environmental community this month as several environmental groups patrol the Juan de Fuca Strait in an attempt to stop the resurrection of an Indigenous cultural activity.
It's all about whaling. The reservation community of Neah Bay, population approximately 15,000, on the American side of the strait in the state of Washington has been the site of a media watch since the late days of September. The Makah Tribal Council has done its legal homework with the state and federal governments and is within its rights to harvest as many as five grey whales this year.
October 1 was the day when the whaling could legally begin. Environmentalists and the international media descended on this town, a 90-minute ferry ride across the strait from Victoria in late September. The environmental groups arrived with the intention of stopping the whale hunt. The media, of course, were present to cover the hunt or the environmentalists efforts to stop it. After almost a month of waiting, there is a strained feeling in the air around Neah Bay.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been aggressive in its efforts to scare whales away from the region. Windspeaker photographer Heinz Ruckemann has been in the area for more than two weeks, hoping to capture images of the event for our readers. He reports a Sea Shepherd ship has been discharging loud explosive devices in an attempt to scare the whales away from the region. Ruckemann also reports that the community is divided over the issue. He said one Elder who opposes whaling has been the target of jeers in the street from young people.
Critics say the Makah leaders are allowing themselves to be used by whaling companies in Norway and Japan to undermine a 1986 ban on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission. Once the ban on whaling is broken, the commercial whaling companies will make their own applications to resume operations by claiming they are also Indigenous peoples with whaling traditions, the environmentalists claim.
Will Anderson, on board a submarine painted to look like a killer whale to scare the greys away from the Makah hunters, works as an advocate for the United States-based animal welfare group, Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). He told Windspeaker there have been a few minor incidents during the month-long standoff in the waters off Neah Bay, but he said the U.S. Coast Guard is keeping a close watch on things.
First Nations on the Canadian side of the border are keeping a close watch on events to the south. Nuu-chah-nulth people on the West Coast of Vancouver Island are related to the Makah people and are also traditional whalers. Leaders in Nuu-chah-nulth country are also making plans to revive the whale hunt which they say is an important part of their culture.
Francis Frank, co-chair of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, wants the environmental groups to mind their own business.
"We think the protests that are being engineered are just another form of eco-colonialism, and because of our kinship with them, any challenge to the rights of the Makah people is a challenge to the rights of the Nuu-chah-nulth people," he said. "There is a contradiction in what the environmental groups are doing. The environmental community in the past has unconditionally supported our right to negotiate our treaty. Now they are contradicting themselves by saying neither the Nuu-chah-nulth nor the Makah should be able to practice our rights. In doing this they are arguing for the continued oppression of our people."
Opposition tries to stop Nisga'a deal
By Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
VANCOUVERThe Liberal Party of British Columbia has gone to court to stop the Nisga'a accord, saying it re-invents the Canadian Constitution and therefore requires a constitutional amendment and a referendum involving all the people in the province.
Three Liberal members of the British Columbia legislature - party leader Gordon Campbell, Aboriginal Affairs critic, Mike deJong and Attorney General critic, Geoffrey Plant - filed suit against the Attorneys General of British Columbia and Canada on Oct. 18. The papers were filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The Liberal plaintiffs have asked the court to declare there is no sense in ratifying the Nisga'a agreement as it now exists because the agreement violates Section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The act states: "The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada, and any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force and effect."
In other words, the official Opposition in British Columbia is arguing that Canada and the province have negotiated a deal with the Nisga'a people which is contrary to Canadian law. All three parties initialled the agreement in New Aiyansh, B.C. in Nisga'a territory on Aug. 4, signifying that a long and, at times, bitter period of negotiation had been successfully completed. The Nisga'a people are scheduled to vote on the acceptability of the agreement on Nov. 6 and 7.
A second request in the statement of claim asks the court for a declaration that many, if not all, of the sections which restore self government to the Nisga'a people are "inconsistent with the exclusive and exhaustive distribution of legislative authority between the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures."
Aboriginal leaders who favor ratification of the accord say those sections were painfully negotiated and represent attempts to recognize that the Nisga'a people have a valid claim to Aboriginal title over their traditional lands and, since the land was never surrendered and was not acquired by the province in a legal manner, have the right to continue to govern themselves and their land as they had for thousands of years before European colonization.
The Liberal members also want the British Columbia Supreme to rule that provisions of the agreement which limit the rights to vote for Nisga'a leaders and to belong to the Nisga'a Nation to people of Nisga'a ancestry is contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This is the second of two ongoing legal attempts to scuttle the Nisga'a agreement. A previous court challenge was filed jointly by the Fisheries Survival Coalition, a Prince Rupert, B.C. based resource lobby group, and a federal Reform Party member.
Premier Glen Clark said both challenges will be vigorously fought. He suggested the court action is more about politics than it is about legalities. He dared the Opposition leader to come right out and declare that he is opposed to making treaties with First Nations.
"This treaty is not about amending the Constitution - it's about the Nisga'a exchanging legal rights for treaty rights. It attains the certainty and finality that all British Columbians desire. If the Liberal Opposition wants to take the position that making treaties is not necessary, its leaders should be honest and say so," he said.
One of the country's foremost constitutional scholars supports Clark's position. Professor Peter Hogg of York University's Osgoode Hall Law School said the agreement does not require a constitutional amendment or a referendum.
"The Constitution of Canada is a defined term in Section 52(3) of the Constitution Act, 1982. The definition lists the Constitution Act, 1867, the Constitution Act 1982 and other constitutional instruments. None of these documents will be amended by entering into the Nisga'a treaty," Hogg wrote. "As a matter of policy, in my opinion, it would be undesirable to hold a referendum every time a treaty is entered into with Aboriginal people. It would be difficult to communicate all the issues in a balanced way in a province-wide referendum campaign."
If a treaty was defeated in a referendum, Hogg said, the Aboriginal people would then have to go to court to vindicate their rights to land, resources and self government.
"The Supreme Court of Canada said in the Delgamuukw case that it was willing to do that, but it was better for governments to reach negotiated agreements with Aboriginal people. I agree with the court," Hogg said.
Nisga'a Tribal Council President, Joe Gosnell, said the Liberals are playing a dangerous game with this court challenge. He suggests the party is threatening the entire treaty process, not just the Nisga'a deal.
Homeless in your own homelandBy Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
CANADAA feeling of bitter irony grows in many Indigenous people when people opposed to the ratification of the Nisga'a agreement use the politically- and emotionally-charged word "homeland" to illustrate their objections to the first modern-day treaty to be negotiated in the province of British Columbia.
Those opponents say the precedent set by the Nisga'a's limited self government agreement will create the Canadian equivalent of homelands - the black ghettos of South Africa's apartheid era.
While not for a minute endorsing that point of view, some Native people, both on and off reserve, wonder how bad it can be to have a homeland in a land where - right now - they can't find homes.
It's a problem that has been growing all across the country in recent years after the federal government, and many provincial governments, gave in to the deficit-cutting mania created by the business and financial sectors. They've moved to cut costs by eliminating, off-loading, or reducing, social programs and made it harder to obtain unemployment insurance and welfare.
Toronto city councillor Jack Layton endorsed a call by a city grassroots group - the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee - for the federal government to declare the situation faced by homeless people to be a national emergency on the same scale as the ice-storm which struck Eastern Canada last January.
That demand has already been unanimously endorsed by Toronto city council's Neighborhood and Community Services committee and was expected to be passed by the whole council on Oct. 28 (after Windspeaker's deadline).
Peter Zimmerman, a member of Layton's staff, is monitoring Toronto's housing woes. He told Windspeaker that the homeless problem in the city has gotten dramatically worse in the three years since the pro-business Progressive Conservative Mike Harris government was elected.
"The mayor's task force on homelessness issued a report saying that during the last three years there has been a decrease in welfare payments and a decrease in the number of people eligible for assistance. Combine that with the fact that the rents are going up in Toronto and there's been little new affordable housing built and it leads to more and more people being pushed out into the streets," he said.
Last year, Ottawa freed up just over $300 million (approximately the same amount set aside to establish the Aboriginal Healing Foundation at approximately the same time) to provide relief to people who found themselves without power when the ice felled power lines all over western Quebec and parts of Ontario. With winter approaching, that kind of money would be a great help to the tens of thousands of homeless people in Canada's cities.
Cathy Crowe is the spokesperson for the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee. She has worked as a street nurse through the Queen West Community Health Centre for the past 10 years, providing medical care to homeless people. She said her organization has attracted the support of 250 organizations and 500 individuals without any major initiatives to publicize its activities.
"Last year, I was watching the coverage of the ice storm on TV and I thought about going there to help," she said. "Then I thought, 'That's ridiculous. That's what I'm doing here.'"
Having made the connection between one well-publicized natural disaster where there was considerable pressure from the public for the government to do something for the victims, and the homelessness crisis, which she considers to be a man-made or government policy-made disaster, Crowe started up the committee and has been delighted with the momentum it's gained.
"Two years ago, I was involved in the Freezing Deaths Inquest here and now, two years later, nothing has been done," she said. "Right now, two to four people per week are dying in the streets of Toronto and half of those people are Aboriginal. It's very, very obvious that First Nations people are dying in proportions that aren't right and our committee wants to show the government that people aren't tolerating this any longer."
The committee has called on Ottawa to establish a national housing policy and stable long-term funding for social housing.
"We've researched and discovered that all levels of government spend about one per cent of their budgets on affordable housing. We've recommended that all governments raise that total to two per cent which we believe will be enough," she said. "The federal government can do what we're asking under the Emergency Planning Act which says that federal funds can help at the local level in the event of war, to maintain public order or to protect the public welfare. This is a man-made problem and we have the means to solve it if the political will is there."
Margaret Ward, a member of the Sawridge band in northern Alberta, has been living with her three young children in a $1,000 a month motel room in south Edmonton for more than two months. She's awaiting the outcome of a court claim against the wealthy band which is refusing to accept her as a member despite the fact that she claims to be the niece of the former longtime Sawridge chief, the late Senator Walter Twinn.
Ward said she can't get housing at home and, since moving to Edmonton, is finding it impossible to get a rental unit in the city.
"Every place I've looked at . . . when I talk to them on the phone, everything's OK. But, when I go there in person, the place has 'just been rented,'" she said. "One woman even actually said to me that I sounded white on the phone."
There's no doubt in her mind that the reason for that is racism. It's a problem Aboriginal people encounter that makes the existing housing problems that much worse.
The urgency of the situation was underlined when a Department of Indian Affairs study was made public in early October. By considering the data computed for the United Nations' human development index - a ranking in which Canada has led the world for the last six years - and treating on and off reserve Aboriginal populations as separate entities, a startling fact emerged. Canada as a whole may be number one, but off reserve conditions ranked 34th (just ahead of Trinidad and Tobago) and on reserve conditions ranked 63rd (just ahead of Brazil).
Mel Buffalo is the president of the National Aboriginal Housing Association. He says the federal government, instead of recognizing that there is a growing housing problem and taking steps to deal with it, is off-loading responsibility for housing to the provinces.
"Only Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have not accepted off-loading of housing," he said. "The federal government calls it devolution. We call it abandonment."
Buffalo said the problem is already at crisis proportions and is worsening rapidly.
"There are 1,000 families waiting for housing just in the city of Edmonton," he said. "And that stat is misleading because many of the families that have some sort of housing are living with three or four families in a one or two bedroom apartment because there just isn't enough quality affordable housing. Every time the minister of Indian Affairs speaks, she says housing or economic development is the number one problem. So what are they doing about it?"
Native people leave their home communities because the waiting lists for housing are long. But when they move to the city, they find it just as bad. With economic conditions so bad on First Nation territories, 70 per cent of the Aboriginal population now lives off reserve. The federal government has maintained its focus on reserve, Buffalo said, effectively abandoning 70 per cent of its fiduciary obligation to Native peoples to provincial and municipal governments.
"The government inaction is creating real ghettos," he said. "It's really creating a situation like New York or L.A. and the government's closing its eyes and shutting its ears."
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples' report urged action on housing. Buffalo said Ottawa has ignored the report.
"We've told the minister that a two per cent increase in her department's annual budget that's put towards housing over the next 20 years will address the problem," he said.
Marilyn Buffalo, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, said the housing problem is especially hard on women and children.
"Women are leaving the reserves because of the lack of housing and educational services and that's not right," she said. "One of our sacred rights as First Nations people is the right to reside on our own territories. No one should be denied that right."
She blames the federal government for not providing adequate funding to allow the construction of enough decent housing on reserves. Since that's Ottawa's fault, she reasons Ottawa should be held responsible for off reserve housing woes as well.
All five national Aboriginal organizations have targeted the housing problem as a priority and are making plans to lobby Ottawa for action. In Finance Minister Paul Martin's latest speech on government spending in early October, there was no mention of the problem, leaving Native leaders little reason to hope anything will be accomplished without drastic action.
Bell appointed to CBC boardBy Marie Burke
Windspeaker Staff Writer
EDMONTONThe harder John Kim Bell works, the luckier he gets. However, hard work may have more to do with his recent appointment to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation board of directors than luck.
On Sept. 23, he was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien to serve a three-year term on the CBC board. His appointment as the first Aboriginal person to serve on the board is a breakthrough.
Bell, from the Kahnawake Mohawk First Nation, is the founder and the president of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.
"Ninty per cent of the time you're not just going to win. You have to strive hard," said Bell. He remembers when he began working on establishing the Aboriginal Achievement Foundation more than 10 years ago, using a card table as a desk and old typewriter with no correction tape.
Since then Bell has successfully built the foundation into a multi-million dollar scholarship program which has benefited Aboriginal youth across Canada.
Another success for Bell is the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show that honors Aboriginal people for their accomplishments. The awards show, going into its' sixth year, has given Bell the experience of working with the CBC while maintaining a connection to Aboriginal grassroots.
Bell said he will bring all of his knowledge into his role with the CBC board to bring more equity for Aboriginal people into play.
Bell may be best known for his work with the foundation and the awards show, but he is becoming known for raising the public profile of Aboriginal people in general.
Laurie Jones, communications officer at CBC, said Madame Saucier, the chair of the CBC board is very pleased with the appointment of Bell. The board looks at the overall strategies of CBC and usually meets every six weeks in locations across Canada. Bell will take his seat on the board after he is sworn in by the privy council's office.
In another honor this September, Bell was named the recipient of the Royal Banks' 1998 Canadian Achievement Award for his work with Aboriginal youth. The award consists of a gold medal and $250,000.
Half of the award money goes to a charity of Bell's choice. Bell will be using the remaining $125,000 from the award to establish a trust fund at the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in memory of this mother, Beth Hamilton Bell.
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