Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
1999 Windspeaker October Headlines
October - 99
Fight to the finish
The soccer tournament held at Poundmaker reserve in Saskatchewan for the nation's Sept. 10 and 11 sports days saw some intense competition from the Sweetgrass First Nation team (light blue jerseys) and the team from Mosquito First Nation. Poundmaker was upset by Red Pheasant First Nation in Sunday's play, ending a winning streak of five years. Top honors went to Red Pheasant in a 2-1 overtime final against Poundmaker. Mosquito took third.
Photo Credit: Debora Lockyer Steel
B.C. logging issue on boil
Fishing charges overturned
New minister announces policy shift
Jay Treaty border crossing rights implemented
Gathering reunites a once powerful nation
Mohawk swimmer preparing for Olympics
Why play the white man's game? - Guest Column
No amendment required - Editorial
The above is only a partial list of all the stories featured in the October, 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.
By Tracey K Bonneau-Jack
with files from Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Writers
KELOWNA, B.C.As the battle lines are drawn over resource extraction from traditional Native lands, it appears the unity that First Nation people in the province of British Columbia have been searching for has become a reality.
In a region where Native politics have traditionally been split, frequently with great animosity, along the line of those who support the idea of treaty-making with the province and those who don't, all the factions have been united behind the actions of one Interior band.
Westbank First Nation's chief and council, in a move they say was aimed at "creating jobs and economic fairness," ordered their loggers into the woods on Sept. 7. Their job was to harvest 25 hectares of timber in what is known to them as Okanagan Nation traditional territory. Under the provincial system, the land was open for bid later in the year and is not yet covered by a provincial timber license. Those licenses are issued by the Ministry of Forests.
Instead, fed up with two years of waiting for the provincial government to embrace the spirit of the landmark Supreme Court of Canada Delgamuukw decision, the Okanagan Nation Alliance, a council made up of representation from all the Okanagan nations, has issued its own cutting permit to the band. The permit requires the band's loggers to adhere to all safety and forest codes and is similar to current provincial regulations.
Shortly after the Westbank loggers took to the woods and the mainstream backlash began, the Okanagan Nation chiefs joined the battle to show support for Westbank Chief Ron Derrickson. As provincial officials issued stop work orders, criticized the logging as illegal, and talk of RCMP intervention began, more and more First Nations and First Nations organizations joined in an unprecedented show of solidarity.
"The harvesting of our timber grew from frustration led on by the province ignoring Aboriginal title and rights under the Delgamuukw decision," Derrickson said.
Earlier this year, Westbank tried to find a way to participate in the lucrative billion-dollar forest industry within the province's rules. After attempting to obtain what the band felt would have been a reasonable amount of timber, Westbank was informed they were eligible for 2,000 cu. m. of "blow down," considered by Native leaders to be a "mere scrap" which would have created only a couple of weeks work for Native loggers.
The remainder of the 7.6 million cu. m. harvested in the Okanagan Valley would remain under provincial control and most likely awarded to non-Native commercial loggers. Local Native observers joke that woodpeckers and termites are getting more wood than Okanagan First Nations, but leaders don't see the humor in it.
"We, as Native people, have an undeniable right to participate in the economic interests of the province," Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, told Windspeaker. "Delgamuukw says we are the owners of this land and that must be fully understood, respected and implemented in all future planning of resource extraction."
Forest Minister David Zirnhelt, during an emergency meeting in Vancouver on Sept. 15, told a gathering of Native leaders that the forest industry will continue to be regulated under the current guidelines.
"First Nations groups must go through appropriate channels to negotiate timber extraction rights," the minister said.
"Those channels must be negotiated through the current treaty negotiation process. Two thousand cubic metres were offered to the Westbank First Nation under our direct award program and the Westbank First Nation has ignored our offer."
Approximately 80 chiefs and delegates arrived for the meeting, expecting the minister would have something to offer as a way of reaching a negotiated settlement. Shortly after the meeting began, the chiefs walked out, angry and frustrated. Before exiting the meeting, Phillip thanked the minister for "uniting the Aboriginal people in B.C. and across this nation" by not coming to the meeting with more to offer.
The Westbank logging operation has since gained the support of the Assembly of First Nations, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit and the Six Nations Alliance - all the province's major Native political groups - plus a number of individual bands.
The meeting was requested by Derrickson, who invited AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine to mediate. Fontaine opened the meeting by urging the province to bargain in good faith. He criticized the province for releasing media reports that said Westbank "was engaged in criminal activities as an attempt to create fear in the minds of British Columbians."
Fontaine went on to say this issue "is not about criminal activity. It is about the assertion of Aboriginal rights in their traditional territory."
Fontaine said the Native loggers have "rock solid" support from the AFN, adding that a resolution had been passed by the Summit chiefs supporting the logging.
"This is not an isolated incident," he said. "It is reflective of the deep frustration held by many First Nation communities across this nation."
Interior bands have traditionally been less willing to negotiate with the province, saying they're prepared to stand on the legal validity of their claim to ownership of land which was never surrendered. Treaty-making in Canada generally stopped at the top of the Rocky Mountains, leaving title to most of the present-day province of British Columbia in a state of legal confusion. In the Delgamuukw decision, Canada's highest court applied the law of the land and decided that Aboriginal title to the land existed and must be dealt with. The Interior bands, their position vindicated by the court, have become more insistent and less patient with a provincial government they believe has allowed the status quo to continue despite the court ruling. Even the less adversarial Coastal bands, which participate in the British Columbia Treaty Commission process as members of the First Nations Summit and are seen as more conciliatory, have had enough.
"First Nations groups have watched as the very lands being negotiated are stripped of resources, which are key to First Nations' future economic stability and self-sufficiency," Grand Chief Ed John, Chief Joe Mathias and Robert Louie, leaders of the First Nations Summit, said in a letter to the editor published in the Vancouver Sun. "First Nation groups have asked whether there will be any resources left by the time we finalize out treaties or are we negotiating for nothing more than barren pieces of land?"
Although they still prefer the method of achieving reconciliation through treaty negotiation, in the short term the Summit has supported the actions of the Westbank First Nation.
As the logging issue came to a boil, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs held a three-day special assembly in Westbank. The political organization which represents First Nations opposed to the treaty process passed a resolution which could have a serious impact on the forest industry in the province. Borrowing an idea from environmentalists who have made trouble for the British Columbia logging industry in the past, the Union chiefs have resolved to take their grievances to the world stage by calling for an international boycott of British Columbia wood products. Phillip believes the international attention will help his cause in several ways.
"The more Canada and B.C. try to use their courts, police and army to deny our Aboriginal title, laws and jurisdiction, the more evidence we will have to show the international community that Canada's wealth is based upon the theft of our lands and resources which constitutes economic racism against our Aboriginal nations," he said.
With even media commentators like conservative Gordon Gibson struggling with how to describe the Westbank logging - Gibson, the Globe and Mail columnist, who is normally unsympathetic to Aboriginal viewpoints, wrote in a column published on Sept. 21 that he isn't sure whether to call the logging illegal or unauthorized - Aboriginal groups have no such trouble with their terminology. They are claiming the province is involved in illegal resource extraction on their traditional lands, an act of bad faith bargaining.
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Fishing charges overturnedBy Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
OTTAWAConvictions against Donald Marshall, Jr. for illegal fishing were erased when the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision on his appeal on Sept. 17.
Since that decision was handed down, East Coast Aboriginal fishermen have taken to the waters to take advantage of their newly-recognized treaty rights, causing a certain amount of consternation in the fishing industry in the region. Native leaders are now meeting with government officials and industry leaders to reassure them that Native fishermen will respect conservation measures.
Five of the seven justices who considered the case agreed that Marshall had a treaty right to do what he was charged with by Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials: catching and selling 210 kg (463 lb) of eels with a prohibited net outside of the fishing season.
Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie wrote the majority decision for the court.
"The only issue at trial was whether he possessed a treaty right to catch and sell fish under the treaties of 1760-61 that exempted him from compliance with the regulations," Binnie wrote.
In the end, the court decided Marshall did have that right.
While Native leaders in the Maritimes are delighted and National Chief Phil Fontaine applauded the decision, Bruce Wildsmith, the Barss Corner, N. S. lawyer who represented Marshall in front of Canada's court of last resort, cautions the decision is, for the most part, a decision that effects only East Coast Aboriginal people.
"The Marshall decision is based on a series of treaties that were made here," Wildsmith told Windspeaker on Sept. 21. "So, it's pretty hard to say that people who are not beneficiaries of those treaties would have the same rights. I hate to be a wet blanket about that, but I think the reality is that these treaties are unique."
But all Indigenous peoples who signed the 1760-61 treaties have been recognized as having a constitutionally-protected right to fish commercially for, as it was stated in the treaty, "necessaries."
The court interpreted that to mean the treaty allows Aboriginal people to harvest the resource and engage in commercial activity that provides "a moderate livelihood."
"Those treaties are encompassing all of the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet and Passamaquody Indians which would encompass all of the Aboriginal people in all of three provinces and pieces of two others. So it's all of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, plus the Gaspé area of Quebec and the south coast of Newfoundland," Wildsmith said.
National Chief Fontaine sees a carry-over effect from this decision that will help all First Nations in the country.
"The Supreme Court decision vindicates Donald Marshall and all other First Nations citizens by recognizing what we have said all along: our treaty rights recognize our right to harvest, in this case fishing, and to sell the catch to provide for ourselves and our families. The court has also recognized our oral history which has always claimed the treaties had a wider context than the written word," Fontaine said.
Wildsmith believes the court has added to the body of Aboriginal case law, but he believes his client's people will see most of the benefits of this decision.
"The court did a better job than any other case to this point in time in summing up how you go about the process of interpreting treaties. And, in particular, one of the loose ends that had been left by earlier treaty cases is whether there needs to be some kind of ambiguity in the formal document itself before you can look at surrounding negotiations, discussions and context. They clarified quite directly that there was no problem in the absence of ambiguity to look more broadly to see, for example, if all of the promises had been written into the text," he said.
The court overturned the lower court decision, saying court erred in not allowing extrinsic evidence - evidence which clarifies a contract that is outside of, or not part of, the actual contract. When that contract is an Indian treaty, Wildsmith said, the court ruled the honor of the Crown requires that all evidence that can help in getting the proper interpretation must be considered.
In many ways, the decision is just a beginning for Maritime region First Nations.
"There are a lot of implications that are not quite clear that you need to work out. The way the Mi'kmaq here are reading this, and I think rightly, is that [the treaty right to fish commercially] can serve as a basis to provide a moderate income for the whole nation," Wildsmith said. "So while you can do it for your own family, the band could have it organized in a way or the grand council could have it organized in a way where the benefits went to everybody in the community. It's a communal right and it doesn't necessarily have to be restricted to use for just the individual fisherman."
With all the troubles Maritime region fishermen have experienced in recent years, this decision has many non-Native people worried.
"I think it's fair to say that the decision has caused quite a stir with the Fisheries and Oceans Department and with the provincial governments of Nova Scotia and PEI and New Brunswick," Marshall's lawyer said. "The attorney generals have taken the position that they will respect the treaty in terms of harvesting fish and wildlife for commercial purposes and so there are people out now who are doing that kind of activity. Those non-Aboriginal fishermen who have some interest in it now are raising that concern about conservation and I think the Native leadership and the government people are all saying 'Well, we all understand conservation and we understand the need to respect conservation and we're going to go about this in a way that works it out.' But I think there is liable to be some displacement of some fisheries effort in order to make room for new people in a finite resource."
Chiefs in Nova Scotia met Sept. 21 with the president of Clearwater, the largest lobster company in the world. The company and the chiefs have hired a non-Aboriginal facilitation firm to help them in their discussions.
A meeting with the regional director general for Fisheries and Oceans was scheduled to take place that week, after our publication deadline.
Wildsmith sees the possibility that the treaty right could be extended beyond fish and wildlife harvesting.
"One of the big issues is going to be whether it's only a couple of the commercial resource industries that are going to take the hit on this or whether the pain is going to be spread amongst all conceivable resource extractors," he said, when contacted at a hotel in Fredericton, N.B. "The big controversy at the moment is that we have a logging issue going on here, whether Natives can harvest and sell logs, and the same thing is going on in Nova Scotia. The question is, 'is the forest industry part of this or not?' If the forestry industry is, then they would share in the pain, as it were, but they would relieve the pain of the commercial fishermen because the Supreme Court has said you can harvest these things to get a moderate livelihood, so there's a finite amount of income that can be generated this way and the question is, 'is it only going to be one or two kinds of activities that are going to have to generate that much money or can you spread it amongst things like mining, gravel extraction, natural gas, which is big down here, and forestry?' If you can spread it amongst all those industries then it may not be such a big impact on commercial fishermen."
Since there is no appeal of a Supreme Court decision, the economic landscape for First Nations in the Maritimes has been altered forever.
"I would put it this way: I don't think there's another Aboriginal nation across the country that's in as good a position as the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet in terms of having a right to exploit resources for this serious income," Wildsmith said.
He added that only the Stol:o people in British Columbia, who have established a treaty right to a share of the herring roe and kelp harvest, have similar treaty rights in this area. He particularly pointed out that the Natural Resources Transfer Act of 1930 extinguished all legal hope for prairie region Aboriginal people but then added that the Marshall decision could be raised by prairie leaders in any political discussion aimed at revisiting the issue in Western Canada.
"The only other people that potentially are able to do the same thing are those who have Aboriginal title and, so far, putting aside the ones that have agreements now that have been settled, we're a long way from having Aboriginal title accepted in the areas where there haven't been complete land cessions, such as British Columbia. Delgamuukw didn't resolve that for the Gitxsan people," he added.
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New minister announces policy shift
By Stephen LaRose
Windspeaker Contributor
FORT QU'APPELLE, Sask.
Aboriginal leaders say a federal cabinet minister's speech during Treaty 4 commemorations in Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask. may mean a new relationship between Canada's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. In a speech delivered during the opening ceremonies for the National Treaty Gathering on the morning of Sept. 15, Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, said he wants the federal government to move towards treaty implementation as a way of defining its relationship with First Nations. Aboriginal leaders, especially in Saskatchewan, have long campaigned for recognition of treaty rights. They maintain that treaties such as Treaty 4 recognized the as separate nations and treaties promised Native peoples such things as education, health care and hunting, fishing and mineral rights. They have long believed that the Department of Indian Affairs and its bureaucratic predecessors were created to, and have acted in ways which would, defeat the treaty process.
Nault, who was appointed minister in a cabinet shuffle last month, said the time has come for treaty implementation. Chiefs and other leaders see this as a drastic change from positions taken by previous ministers.
"It's now time for action and what I would like to do is to implement the treaties, implement the government's intent," said Nault, who is also MP for Kenora-Rainy River in Ontario. "I would like to implement those treaties in order to bring benefits to communities, benefits to people."
The remarks were made during an off-the-cuff speech to about 300 Elders, veterans, chiefs and other conference participants.
"We can come together to put together those kinds of policies that will make things work," he said. "I don't think there is much more room for analyzing; much more room for studies; much more room for people to sit in rooms and try and figure out what Aboriginal people are all about."
Nault's speech drew polite applause from the audience. He left Fort Qu'Appelle early that afternoon after a private meeting with some of the area chiefs. He was unavailable for comment after the meeting.
In a speech the next day, National Chief Phil Fontaine said Nault " has convinced a number of us that he's committed and he's prepared to bring about the change we've been advocating about for some time.
"If he is committed to giving full effect to our treaties, then we're in a position to make some significant headway," Fontaine added. "We need to ensure government will honor its legal obligations to First Nations people."
Another Aboriginal leader who saw positive signs from the minister's speech was Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde.
"We feel that he (Nault) has an open mind and we're optimistic about his comments, said Bellegarde, a member of the Little Black Bear First Nation.
"He talked about treaty implementation with a two-pronged approach. [Treaty implementation] is important to us. There are legitimate grievances, outstanding issues, and that's very important," he added. "He also talked about the other approach - the economic development and self sufficiency, and that's very important as well." Treaty 4 was signed between federal government representatives and Native leaders in Fort Qu'Appelle on Sept. 15, 1874. The treaty provided land, respect for cultural traditions and economic life for Aboriginal people who took the treaty.
Native leaders today say the chiefs were acting as representatives of sovereign nations when they signed the document. Instead, Native peoples came under increasingly restrictive control of Indian agents through the federal Indian Act. At one time the act made it illegal for people to leave the reserve without the agent's permission or to practice their religious customs. Almost all political, economic and social decisions were subject to the Indian agent's approval.
While much of that restrictive legislation within the Indian Act has been amended over the years, and chiefs and council have much more control over political, economic and other on-reserve matters, most Aboriginal leaders favor the eventual elimination of the Indian Act, replacing it with relationships outlined in treaties. Whatever Nault says about treaty implementation, his proposals will have to go to the federal cabinet before becoming federal government policy, said File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council Representative President Ron Crowe.
"I think the minister is sincere when he says he would like to see treaty implementation take place," said Crowe. "I think he needs the support and help of the chiefs and leadership to develop that method. "We've heard similar messages in years past. Most ministers have accepted that there are treaty obligations and provisions. But we've yet to see an actual clear demonstration of that implementation."
If the federal government is moving away from the Indian Act and moving towards treaty implementation, the effort will require the goodwill needed for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to live in harmony, said Chief Irwin Starblanket of the Star Blanket First Nation.
"I think there's a trend, nationally, at a political level to renew, have a better relationship with First Nations across Canada. Especially in Saskatchewan there's an effort to address the inadequacies, the wrong doing, that had been done in the past with a view to improving that relationship, through the treaty relationship. Over the past 10 years or so there has been a serious attempt to address the problems of the past. There's a lot of good people out there that want to live in harmony - it's government that is in a kind of backward position right now, not willing to fulfill treaty obligations."
In addition to serving as Star Blanket chief, Starblanket also sits on the Treaty 4 Governance Committee.
Treaty Commissioner David Arnot also repeated the call for treaty implementation.
"The treaties are the fundamental political arrangement between the First Nations and the government of Canada," he said in a speech at the National Treaty Gathering on Sept. 15. "In order to understand the spirit and intent of what was discussed, what was negotiated, we have to understand what the treaty relationship is all about. Treaties are a bridge to the future. Understanding and implementing the treaty relationship is the key to resolving the flawed relationship between the First Nations and other Canadians."
The National Treaty Gathering, hosted by the AFN, was held in Fort Qu'Appelle in conjunction with other activities during the Treaty 4 gathering. In Fort Qu'Appelle on Sept. 18 for the Treaty 4 parade, Regina Qu'Appelle MP Lorne Nystrom also expressed cautious optimism about the speech.
"The time has come to act in terms of making sure we have a system of self government supported by Aboriginal people and the country at large. I'm pleased to see that at least he's moving in that direction," the veteran NDP member said.
Prime Minister Chretien will leave politics soon, predicts Nystrom, and he may want to leave treaty recognition as one of his legacies. "The government will have a throne speech Oct. 12 and if they're serious about this we'll see something in the throne speech. If it's not in the throne speech, this [Nault's speech] is all words."
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Jay Treaty border crossing rights implementedBy Joan Black
Windspeaker Staff Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont.The first negotiated, tax-free, monthly border crossing between Canada and the United States at the Sault Ste. Marie international bridge took place Aug. 30 without incident and with hardly any notice, according to Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians spokesman, Chris McCormick.
The association bills the planned crossings as "an exercise of our inherent right to pass through our own First Nation territory free from foreign tax or duty," according to documents provided by McCormick.
The exercise is for First Nation people only, who must identify themselves with their status cards in order to bring tax-free goods into Canada.
Chief Lyle Sayers from Garden River First Nation, and Chief Vernon Syrette from Batchewana First Nation in Ontario, as well as the association (representing eight communities), got the ball rolling by meeting with two customs and immigration representatives July 20. This was the result of seven bands in the North Shore Tribal Council between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, Ont., as well as Ontario Regional Chief, Tom Brissette, urging them to "do more" on the border crossing issue, Syrette said. He pointed out that other jurisdictions such as Akwesasne, Sarnia and Walpole Island have their own agreements in place with the federal government.
They discussed with Canada their rights under the Jay Treaty, signed Nov. 19, 1744 between Great Britain and the United States, and they arranged specific border crossing times in which First Nations could cross the border without harrassment and not pay tax or duty on goods.
"We also coupled that discussion with the rights under Section 35 in the Constitution Act, 1982," Syrette continued, "indicating that the Aboriginal right is there as well; that the borders weren't there for our people in the past.
"It's been a long outstanding issue for the communities of Batchewana and Garden River, because they're right close to the border," Syrette said.
Chief Syrette did not himself participate in the Aug. 30 crossing, but said he heard the event went well. Chief Lyle Sayers said nearby Garden River First Nation did not participate in the Aug. 30 crossing because his people were in the middle of an election campaign.
Until now, border crossing exercises were sporadic events. Syrette said the problems have come more from Canadian officials than American ones, although recent talks with border officials have been congenial.
Sayers says Canada's position is that it never signed the Jay Treaty. "They're allowing us to exercise our right. Of course, we don't look at it that way. We're going to exercise our right regardless if they approve of it or not."
He agrees with Syrette that the recent talks with C. J. Collingridge, director of the client services division, travellers directorate, Revenue Canada and Mary Pontoni, chief of operations for the Sault Ste. Marie international bridge, seemed positive in tone, but no federal decision-makers were at the table.
"I believe they were just trying to appease us because of the Mitchell case," Sayers said, referring to the case, soon to be before the Supreme Court, where Akwesasne's Mike Mitchell crossed the border with community goods and refused to pay duty. "They basically stated they were working on some type of a policy that would include all First Nations across Canada.
"In our particular area, we are in the situation where, for hundreds of years, we have traded with our counterparts across the river here," Sayers said. He added that the First Nations don't want to go to court, but might have to eventually to get their rights fully implemented.
"In the meantime," Sayers said, "we're going to exercise our rights at least once a month."
Syrette said, "Our goal is to get a lane designated and get that recognized on a daily basis. The exercise," he added, "is open to any Aboriginal people that are in the area at the time and are interested in participating and exercising their right."
Other border crossing exercises are planned for Sept. 30, Oct. 29, Nov. 29, Dec. 15 and Dec. 22 this year. Return time is between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. There will be a specific lane for participants.
The only items banned from the tax- and duty-free crossing are firearms, tobacco, alcohol, motor vehicles, plants, animals and illegal substances.
The same conditions apply right through the year 2000, when the dates for tax- and duty-free crossings at Sault Ste. Marie are set for Jan. 31, Feb. 28, Mar. 3, April 28, May 29, June 21 and 30, July 31, Aug. 3, Sept. 29, Oct. 29, Nov. 3, Dec. 15 and 22.
"I think we've achieved something, although it's not what every one of our people expect, but . . . we do have a calendar now established," Syrette concluded.
The Jay Treaty was struck to provide for the evacuation of British-held posts near the border dividing the British colony that is now Canada from the United States.
Gathering reunites a once powerful nation
By Roberta Avery
Windspeaker Contributor
MIDLAND, Ont.When hundreds of descendants of the Huron Wendat confederacy gathered in Midland, Ont., it was for a homecoming that was three-and-a-half centuries in the making.
They reunited in their ancestral homeland on the southern shores of Georgian Bay on Aug. 28 after an absence of 350 years.
They came from far and wide, but from the moment they put their paddles in the river, confederacy members knew that, finally, they were travelling in the wake of their ancestors.
"My ancestors are here, I feel that," said Jim Bland, second chief of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma. His people were one of four groups of descendants of the Huron-Wendat people who were reunited.
They returned to the land known as Huronia from as far away as Alaska, Virginia, California, Michigan and Quebec. It was the first reunion of the Huron Wendat confederacy since their people were dispersed across the continent in 1649 by conflict, disease and famine.
The chiefs and clan mothers of the Wyandot from Kansas, the Huron Wendat of Wendake, Que., and the Wendats from Michigan, joined the Wyandottes of Oklahoma for a ceremonial canoe trip down the Wye River.
The canoes arrived at a landing place on the Wye River, below the hill-top Martyr's Shrine and a short walk from the reconstructed 17th century Sainte-Marie mission.
The shrine and the mission were built in memory of that fateful year, 1649, when the Jesuits died at the hands of the attacking Iroquois - and Wendat society disintegrated.
The exact number is not known, but it is estimated there are more than 10,000 descendants of the original confederacy living in the United States and Canada.
There are descendants among more than 50 different Indian nations, such as the Mohawk; the Seneca; the Shawnee; the Delaware; the Ottawa and the Navajo.
"Many years ago when our people left this beautiful land on the shores of Georgian Bay, our hearts were heavy, our people were very, very sad," said Janith English, chief of the Wyandot of Kansas. "Now we can give thanks to the Creator that this healing has taken place."
About 200 descendants wearing traditional dress paddled canoes along the river that was once their people's route to their hunting grounds.
On shore to welcome them was Chief Lorraine McRae of the Chippewas of Mnjikaning at the Rama Reserve near Orillia, Ont. Her people accepted from the fleeing Huron-Wendats the stewardship of the fish weir at Atherley Narrows near Orillia, she said.
"Our peoples met thousands of years ago and I feel so honored to be sharing in this homecoming," said McRae, as the Wendats symbolically reunited their nation by burning ashes from the ceremonial fires from their villages in Quebec, Michigan, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Spiritual leader Raymond Gros- Louis from the Wendat-Huron Nation of the Wendake reserve at Lorretville north of Quebec City, then led a prayer circle to celebrate the reunification of the confederacy.
Grand Chief Wellie Picard of the Wendat Huron Nation in Wendake told the crowd that the original Wendat confederacy was made up of four nations and had a population of 40,000 people spread out into about 20 villages.
In 1649, "a fateful year in our collective memory, this place witnessed the dispersal of our nations and the fall of one of the most powerful confederations of this continent," said Picard.
Cruelly stricken by epidemics, famines and conflict, they moved away from this country of origin, he said.
"I am happy to walk on our ancestors' soil, to be able, with my loved ones, to weave friendship ties with the proud descendants of those who were, in times past, the undisputed masters of these premises," he said.Mohawk swimmer preparing for Olympics
By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
KAHNAWAKE, Que.Waneek Horn-Miller will, in all likelihood, fulfill a childhood dream next year.
Horn-Miller is expected to be on the Canadian women's water polo team, which has qualified to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
The Canadians earned their Olympic berth by winning the gold medal at the recent Pan American Games in Winnipeg.
Women's water polo will make its Olympic debut in Sydney. And Horn-Miller, a 23-year-old Mohawk from Kahnawake, is rather keen to be part of the Canadian entry.
"Ever since I was young I've always wanted to be in the Olympics," she said. "When I was growing up, though, (women's) water polo was not in the Olympics. I just played it because I really loved it. And then when it became an Olympic sport, it was like kharma."
Official word that women's water polo would be included at the Sydney Olympics came in November 1997.
The women's water polo tournament in Sydney will feature six nations. The Netherlands and host Australia are the only two other countries which have been assured spots.
Horn-Miller was a rather accomplished swimmer before taking up water polo 10 years ago. She quit swimming at age 13 and joined her high school water polo club in Ottawa at the urging of her older sister, Ojistoh, who was already playing the sport.
"I just really loved it," she said. "It was different from swimming and a lot more social. It wasn't all work and no play, which is what swimming had become for me."
Horn-Miller has been part of Canada's senior team for the past five years. And prior to that she was a member of the national junior side for two seasons. She's is one of 19 players on the national squad, which has been centralized in Montreal since June of 1998. Canada, however, can only take 11 players to the Olympics. Its Olympic squad is expected to be announced next May.
Horn-Miller, who was a co-captain for the Canadian entry at the Pan American Games and provides plenty of offensive punch from her driver (outside shooter) position, should be among those considered shoo-ins for the Olympic club.
She's now participating in a Montreal women's water polo league during the months of September and October. Members of the Canadian senior and junior national clubs have been divided up among the league entrants.
When this circuit concludes, Horn-Miller will still be rather busy with the sport. In late November, the national side will play host to the Canada Cup, an international tournament in Montreal.
The Canadians are then entered in another international tournament in Long Beach, Calif. in December.
And in the new millennium, the Canadians have already planned trips to Greece, Holland and Hungary where they'll compete at events against numerous foreign foes.
Though these events will be time-consuming and costly, Horn-Miller said they are a necessity, especially when building a team for Olympic competition.
"You've got to get as many international games as possible in," she said. "And that's where we have to go to play. It's not like we're in Europe and we can just get into a car and drive to the next country [to face an international opponent]."
Horn-Miller doesn't mind making plenty of sacrifices in order to be a top-notch player.
"Water polo basically rules my life," she said, adding her hectic athletic schedule means she can only seek the occassional part-time job.
