Trust. Integrity. Reputation.
1997 Windspeaker September Headlines
· Canadian fur exempted from ban
· Ovide on the outs
· AFN must mature - editorial
· Inquiry is called 20 years after deaths
· Native women's association has new president
· Fontaine chosen to fill top spot
· Operation Rainbos nets offenders probation
· Agreement reached on Kanesatake cemetery
· It's back to business as usual - guest column
· Sensitivity for those in hospital necessary
· Micmac finds respect in Japan
· Suffering from the birthday blues - humor by Drew Hayden Taylor
· Aboriginal rights law slowly evolving
· How one man proved an Aboriginal right
· Stolen tipi canvas opens up hearts
· Fight over fish continued for Nawash
· Ontario premier called to testify
· George family won't profit from lawsuit
· 'Wacky Native' mascot pushes jungle theme too far
· Report on baby's death comes up short
· Lacrosse Hall of fame announces inductees
· Hockey school gets a boost from dynamic role models
· Team Saskatchewan does it again
· Lacrosse teams provide world-class NAIG final
· Celebrate the Circle - 1997 North American Indigenous Games
· Yukon team just getting started
· Team Saskatchewan, what's your secret?
· Play examines quest for Indian identity
· Festival offers more than just music for the years
· University to study Aboriginal issues
· Northern students study at La Ronge
· On-the-job training provided to grads
· Returned land to be used for educational purposes
· Consortium ensures miracles continue in education
· Consortium brings education centres together
· Silent voices - Helping Hands - AIDS columnist Ken Ward
· Aboriginal women are at greater risk
· Band hopes to share tax revenue
· Fueling the fire over Cheviot
Native women's association has new president
By Linda Dumont
Windspeaker Staff Writer
WINNIPEG
As of July 16, the Native Women's Association of Canada has a new president. Marilyn Buffalo, a member of the Samson Cree Nation of Alberta, was elected to the position at the association's 23rd annual general assembly in Winnipeg.
As president, Buffalo is the official spokesperson for Native women in Canada. She will lobby all levels of government on issues affecting women and youth in international, federal, provincial and Aboriginal forums. The association will also prepare an action plan on issues raised in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report.
"My main task as president will be to connect with Aboriginal women from all sectors; Inuit, Métis, and First Nations," said Buffalo. "I want to encourage networking."
Buffalo expressed concerns about poverty and discrimination.
"Many of the issues we have to deal with are because we are poor and are discriminated against. There's a lot of work that needs to be done in this area by all governments," she said. "The [association] can't fix the problems by themselves, but we can bring these issues to light."
Another area that Buffalo will be looking into is the problem faced by some of the people re-instated under Bill C-31.
Another major focus will be on youth, because the Aboriginal population is primarily a young population.
"Seventy-five per cent are 25 years old and under in many of our communities," said Buffalo. "What I want to do is look at what services are already available, and at how we can bridge the gap between youth and Elders."
Buffalo is a strong advocate for human rights. She has a background in community development in communities throughout Alberta.
In 1975, she was the first Native person to be hired at the University of Alberta where she was the advisor on Native affairs. That was the beginning of what is now Native Student Services.
She was the founding chair of the general faculties council on Native studies that set the foundation for the school of Native studies at the university.
By Kenneth Williams
Windspeaker Staff Writer
OTTAWA
Canadian negotiators were able to earn another exemption from the European Union's import ban on fur from countries that use leg hold traps to harvest wild fur. The agreement allows for Canadian trappers to continue using the leg hold trap for another two trapping seasons, plus one year, while giving five years for Canada to develop more humane trapping methods. The United States and Russia were also able to negotiate an exemption to the ban, which is still is in place and could cause future problems for trappers.
This agreement is getting mixed reviews from a variety of Aboriginal and trappers' groups. First Nations representatives are upset that the Europeans negotiated this agreement with the federal government instead with them.
"Cautiously we're giving [the agreement] our approval, but we're not satisfied with the process," said Alan Adam, vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. He was part of a Saskatchewan delegation that visited several European capitals last October to get the European Union to reject the ban. Adam, together with Saskatchewan's Northern Affairs Minister Keith Goulet and several Indian and Métis veterans and trappers, met with European members of Parliament and officials and the European media to explain Canadian trapping practices.
"First Nations people have always insisted on being part of the process and not being on the outside," said Adam. "First Nations people are a government too and we do represent the issue of our people under our treaties."
Aisnlie Willock, director of Animal Alliance of Canada, disagrees with killing animals for fur, but also feels that Aboriginal groups are being used by Canada's government and the fur industry.
"What I initially thought was that trapping came under Native law. The federal government has no business deciding issues for Native people," said Willock. "I think Native people would have been far more reasonable than the federal government and the Europeans."
Paul Hollingsworth, an Ojibway from Serpent River, Ont., and a Native Affairs consultant with the Animal Alliance of Canada feels that Aboriginal people were needed to bolster the case of Canada, but not allowed to participate in the negotiations.
"This is an agreement between three nations and the [European Union] and they keep hiding behind Native people, but not one Native government or organization was allowed in the negotiations and were shut out. When they asked to be involved they were told to go away," said Hollingsworth. "This goes against the Europeans own regulations - they have a policy in place that if anything effects an Indigenous population, then they have to consult the population that will be affected."
Goulet, however, said he welcomed the decision.
"The European market, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of Canadian wild fur sales, is vitally important to Saskatchewan and Canadian trappers," Goulet said from a prepared statement. "This agreement means that the European Union will not ban Canadian furs and we will be able to continue to do business with this important market."
But Keith Conn, director of health for the Assembly of First Nations, feels that this is also a human rights issue.
"People are trying to protect and maintain a way of life," he said. Canada "saw this as strictly an economic issue - a trade issue."
Adam agrees with Conn.
"What is more important here? The value of the dollar or the capability of an individual to carry out his livelihood?" asked Adam.
But Willock sees a danger in this argument.
"I think that if Native people want the international market place, they're going to have to respond to the international marketplace," she said.
Hollingsworth thinks that economically, trapping for the European fashion market is precarious.
"If the winds of fashion change and you don't have the environment for the type of animal [needed] then you're going to lose anyway," he said. "We're talking about European fashion, not a resource that you're using on a continuous basis off your land."
Adam wants the new Minister of Indian Affairs, Jane Stewart, to make this a priority.
We plan "to approach Minister Stewart to deal with this issue wholeheartedly and up front, so wild fur harvesters can carry on their livelihood," he said. "A new plan is needed for that right now."
A plan will hopefully be hammered out when the minister meets with Aboriginal and trappers' groups in Quebec City this month.
"The department is looking at facilitating the requirements of the [EU] agreement and looking at the impact of this agreement which will be looked at at the Quebec City meeting," said Lynne Boyer, spokesperson for the minister.
After that meeting, there will be a meeting of natural resource ministers in October to see how this agreement will affect the provinces and Canada.
"There has to be some assessment as to what this means to First Nations [wild fur] harvesters. It does mean the ban of the leg hold trap over a period of time, depending on the availability of new traps, which have yet to be developed," said Conn. "There's also a mandate of the chiefs in the [Assemby of First Nations] to challenge the original banning of wild fur as a fundamental treaty right that is constitutionally protected. Treaty rights do not proscribe the method of trapping; this agreement proscribes the method of trapping."
But Conn said that some trappers, and groups such as the James Bay Cree, have already abandoned the leg hold trap in favor of more humane traps. Trapping as a lifestyle for First Nations people must be maintained. According to Conn, even though the wild fur trade contributes $600 million to the gross domestic product, it has a much deeper meaning to First Nations people.
"You're on the land. It's a healthy, spiritual lifestyle that they're maintaining," he said. The trappers are "supplementing their income. It's not the prime source of their income. The economic cost would be much more if they weren't on the land: it would erode the treaty right to trap. It would be an issue of people not using the land. Governments would see this as an opportunity to move in at a quicker, exponential pace."
"I understand that concern, but that's a problem in the way land rights are being negotiated at this point," responded Hollingsworth. "Land claims are inherent, they're not based on the economic usage of the land. I think its a tactic by the federal government to take more land away from Native people."
Mercredi's last press conference as chief
By Paul Barnsley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
VANCOUVER
A subdued Ovide Mercredi sat in his hospitality room with a small group of supporters and came to terms with the reality that he had lost in his bid for a third term as Assembly of First Nation national chief.
Only minutes before, Mercredi had made his way across a crowded floor to dramatically withdraw from the race for national chief and throw his support to Wendy Grant-John in, what turned out to be, an unsuccessful attempt to keep Phil Fontaine out of the national chief's office.
One by one, supporters lined up with campaign posters in hand for an autograph and a few words with the soon-to-be-former national leader. They thanked him for his six years of service as the head of the Assembly of First Nations. Many conveyed thanks from Elders and family members in their communities. They reminded Mercredi of the ways he had helped them and their people. Frequently, the short, quiet conversations ended with emotional embraces. One supporter presented Mercredi with an eagle feather.
The kind words of his supporters brought clouds to the Grand Rapids First Nation Cree man's eyes which turned to smiles as their friendship reminded him of better days in his political career.
"You made people proud to be an Indian," one supporter told him.
That comment broke through the fatigue and disappointment that darkened Mercredi's mood.
"That's a good encapsulation," he said, smiling broadly and playfully gesturing to the Windspeaker reporter to write those words down and put them in the paper.
The defeated chief, his spirits lifted by the support, told stories. He remembered things that had happened along the road which finally led him to this disappointing late-July night in Vancouver.
"I remember one time I was speaking to a group of kids in Temisgaming. I wanted to get them involved but they were shy. But I was using a microphone and I could see they were fascinated by it. So I asked them to give advice to me about what I should do as national chief - this was in the early days of my first term - and I told them they had to use the microphone to talk to me," he recalled. "That worked. They started to participate. And I remember one kid told me 'Listen to your mother' and that's advice that's served me well."
Both of Mercredi's parents were at the chiefs assembly. He consulted with them before deciding to withdraw.
After consoling his closest supporters with a few more anecdotes, Mercredi returned to the main hall to cast his vote in the fourth and final ballot. Afterward, pursued by a crowd of journalists, he returned to his campaign headquarters to give his last press conference as national chief.
With the votes not yet counted, Mercredi conducted the interview under the assumption that Wendy Grant-John would defeat Phil Fontaine in the fight to replace him. This outcome eventually proved to be false. By praising Grant-John's approach, he delivered what many interpreted as a critique of Fontaine. Those present during the press conference understood more than others the depth of Mercredi's gesture to promote unity when he later embraced Phil Fontaine and called him "my friend" in front of the assembly.
"Wendy Grant is the closest to my philosophy, to my platform and to my style of leadership. She's not going to make deals with government that will threaten treaty rights or Aboriginal rights," he said. "Wendy Grant is also a person that believes in grassroots participation. She'll put the people first. She'll also be one that will carry a lot of the examples that I tried to provide as the chief and that is to go to the communities. She will go to the communities. She's not an elitist.
"What's happening with our people right now is an awareness and an awakening of their place in this country," he added. "And a realization that change is needed. Not incremental reform but fundamental change in terms of how we are treated in this country."
Mercredi was asked if he had any advice for the new national chief.
"Well, because she's new, and because she's not me, she'll obviously have a head start in terms of building a good relationship with the Liberal government. And she has the support of the chiefs. It's important to have the support of the chiefs because that way the government can't go to your enemies or your detractors as Ron Irwin did in my case," he replied.
Mercredi delivered several other political punches to Fontaine during the course of the press conference. When a reporter pointed out to him that all his answers reflected an assumption that Grant-John would win and then asked what would happen if Fontaine was the victor, Mercredi refused to consider that possibility.
"It's not going to happen that way," he said.
Asked about his legacy, Mercredi didn't talk about specifics.
"I think that my greatest achievement is the rapport that I established with my own people. I may not always have won the support of the chiefs, but you can see that the people are very appreciative of the work that I have done," he said.
Asked about regrets, Mercredi chose not to judge his own performance.
"Yes, that's true. I have some regrets. The inability of our country to accomodate my people. That would be my greatest regret," he said. "But I'm not the last person to fight for fundamental changes. Wendy Grant will also fight for those things. Chief Fontaine would have been satisfied with incremental change. He's more like the Prime Minister's step-by-step approach. What we need in this country is a major revolution, not incremental change. Unless there's some serious effort to address the Indian poverty, there's going to be some serious consequences for this country."
Mercredi took advantage of his last appearance in front of a large group of reporters from national media organizations to send a reminder to Canadian politicians and the Canadian public.
"This country has to face the reality that it cannot promote itself as a champion of human rights internationally and fail to respect and implement the fundamental rights of our people. This country also has to wake up to the fact that it cannot celebrate its wealth and its quality of life and take great pride in receiving these platitudes from the United Nations when my people are living in poor housing conditions in poor health across the country. What this country has to realize is that if they want reconciliation, if they want peace, the main issue that they're dealing with is not Quebec, it's First Nations. That's not the case. The politicians in this country still think Canada is white only."
Asked if he believed that Canada would be ready in the foreseeable future to accept his vision of how things should be, Mercredi said no.
"Not without direct action," he explained. "I don't really expect that the white politicians are going to see daylight tomorrow because we have a new national chief. I'm a realist. All I say is that there'll be an opportunity for the national chief to try to make gains for us. But we have to help that national chief with direct action.
"We have been waiting too long for justice," he added. "We can't wait anymore. We have to now move towards mass political action and I don't mean just blockades. I'm talking about involving our youth, all the women and all the men in some direct action that will embarass the Canadian government internationally. That's the movement I want to be part of."
Given that hint about Mercredi's future plans, the reporters quizzed him about his post-AFN role. He said he will remain in Ottawa at least until his daughter graduates from high school in three years. He also said he will not practice law. But that was all he would say that night.
In parting, Mercredi urged Prime Minister Chretien to meet with the chiefs. Chretien repeatedly refused to meet with Mercredi, despite at least three very public invitations and much complaining about the lack of access that the national chief was given to the prime minister. Ironically, in the last days of his tenure, Mercredi said, he received a letter from the prime minister stating that Chretien was willing to work with First Nations regarding the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
The former AFN chief urged the prime minister to follow through on that offer.
"He should meet with the chiefs. All the chiefs," Mercredi
said. "We don't want [Indian Affairs] to do a damned thing on this
issue. This is a political process that should be conducted on a nation-to-nation
basis."
By Rob McKinley
Windspeaker Staff Writer
SEPT-ILES, Que.
The bodies of two Native fishermen who died in a Quebec river 20 years ago could be exhumed to assist with a commissioned inquiry into their deaths.
Eric Lepine, the commission lawyer said digging up the graves of Moise Regis and Achille Vollant isn't out of the question during what is expected to be a four-month fatality inquiry.
"They could be exhumed. They might be," said Lepine.
This is the first public inquiry into the June 9, 1977 deaths of the two Montagnais Innu men who drowned in the waters of the Moisie River, north of Sept-Iles near the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Three inquests into the deaths have been held by the Quebec provincial police and the Quebec city police. Those inquests came in 1978, 1979 and 1996. The findings and contents of those inquests were never released to the public.
Since the deaths many people on the Maliotenam reserve near Sept-Iles have argued that game wardens fought with the two men before throwing them into the water.
"We think it happened like that," said Riel Vollant, the clerk of the Maliotenam band.
Vollant said he and a number of other people were on the river at the time of the deaths.
"There are many people. . . that were there when it happened and the commission is looking for their [recollection] of it," he said.
The commission began in early August and isn't expected to wrap up until the end of November.
Lepine said there is a long list of witnesses and experts expected to provide evidence.
"There could be 50 or 100 witnesses," Lepine said.
People taking the stand include oceanographers, game wardens, witnesses, Maliotenam band council members, friends and family of the dead men and representatives of the Quebec police force.
The problem with an inquiry dating back 20 years is that memories get fuzzy and evidence is difficult to find, Lepine said.
"The material evidence is no longer available. Some of it is, but many items are not. . . and it's difficult for the witnesses to remember what happened 20 years ago."
Bringing back memories of 20 years ago could also be very emotional, said Lepine. Many people are bringing things back to the surface that they felt a long time ago.
"The emotions are still going to be high," he said. "They are still present."
Marc Brouillette, lawyer for the band council, said the main thing the people of Montagnais want is the whole story. They have received no official information about the deaths since they happened. This public inquiry is the first chance they have had to find out what happened.
"The outcome that the reserve wants to obtain is the full disclosure of all the proof that the previous inquests obtained over the years," he said. "Mainly, they want to obtain the truth. They want to know exactly what went on in the river in 1977."
The fatality inquiry is not to find blame in the deaths of the fishermen, but to find out how the deaths occurred.
Retired Quebec Judge Yvon Roberge will preside over the hearing and produce a final report. That report will be sent to the province's attorney general's office.
The attorney general could investigate indications of criminal intent if they are brought up at the inquiry.
Although scheduled to run until Nov. 24, it is expected that the hearing will run over that time line since there are so many people providing evidence.
"If it lasts les than four months, I'll be the first one surprised," said Brouillette.
Comments: e-mail: edwind@ammsa.com