Trust. Integrity. Reputation. Top News - May - 2002 Vote "No" Guy Louie, Hudson Webster and Sid Sam help drum in the Trek for Treaties group in Victoria. Read Story. Photo: David Wiwchar Vote "No" trekkers urge National chief questioned by executive Aboriginal community says goodbye to respected Elder Accountability for all - Editorial War on terrorism a U.S. ploy - Guest Column Check out Ontario Birchbark THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF WINDSPEAKER'S APRIL ISSUE ARE ONLINE IN THE ARCHIVES - ACCESS IS RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION INFO. Vote "No" trekkers urge David Wiwchar, Windspeaker Contributor, Victoria Surrounded by anti-referendum placards and signs, the Trek for Treaties group marched onto the steps of the provincial legislature to the beat of First Nations drummers. Started by members of a Nanaimo area church and community groups, the Trek for Treaties group walked from Nanaimo to Victoria in April to show solidarity with First Nations people in supporting the treaty process. They also provided information that spoke against the referendum on treaty principles. "The referendum is an insult to First Nations people and a way of obstructing treaties rather than building better relationship through negotiations," said trekker Jim Manly from the United Church, who walked with his wife Eva, and with Gloria Cope from the Anglican Church and Dyane Brown from the Council of Canadians. "I was so angry about the racist referendum, which could not have come at a worse time," said Brown. "And it's been great to have so many people support us and join with us along the way," she said. A number of speakers gathered at the legislature steps to publicly congratulate the trekkers, and urge British Columbians to help defeat the referendum by voting "No" to all eight questions. Top National chief questioned by executive Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Ottawa Several members of the Assembly of First Nations executive council travelled to Montreal in the second week of April to meet with the national chief. "We asked him what his plans were," Manitoba Vice Chief Kenneth Young told Windspeaker. The executive meeting in Montreal on April 8 dealt with the issue of Chief Matthew Coon Come's absence at meetings. Young said it was quite a few meetings, more than the two that have been reported to date. He said the executive members didn't ask Coon Come to step down, but they did ask if he planned on continuing. "We had a meeting on a whole slew of things regarding his performance. The executive really can't say, 'Matthew your goose is cooked.' That's up to the chiefs, the people that elected him. We're in a tough situation when we start demanding his resignation because we didn't elect him," Young said. "I was concerned. I was on a conference call and no national chief again. I asked where he was and I said 'I'm not staying on the line one more minute.' I suggested that we better have a meeting soon and it happened on [April 8]." The vice chief said the air was cleared at the Montreal gathering. "It was actually a good meeting but what comes out of it, I don't know. I've been concerned for quite some time now, but we'll see," he said. "We had a good session there. We came to an understanding. We asked him what his plans were. He said he was going to hang in there. That's fine. We didn't come to any serious blows over that. I actually had thought that he might say that he was leaving." While the national chief missed the last meeting of the executive and the Indian Affairs minister on Jan. 28, the next meeting with the minister on May 10 should be interesting. Minister Robert Nault sent out an open letter to the national chief on April 16. "On January 28, your executive and I met to openly discuss matters of mutual interest. It is unfortunate you were unable to attend. I would like to take this opportunity to follow-up on one of the concerns raised at this meeting," the minister wrote. "A specific request was made regarding whether I would consider agreeing to provide funding to facilitate the restructuring of the Assembly of First Nations organization. At that time, I noted that I was supportive of these efforts, and would consider the level of funding for this undertaking upon receipt of a detailed proposal. "Since that time, I understand that the AFN executive met to consider your current organizational challenges. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your executive to discuss any conclusions that were reached at this meeting and scope out possible next steps." Young explained that a number of vice chiefs want to change the way the AFN operates. But the Manitoba vice chief is worried that the minister may provide the money and then insist on controlling the process. "I actually spoke against that. I said restructuring is not going to solve our problem. The problem we have is that we don't have a plan. Changing the structure is not going to provide a forward motion for First Nations." Coon Come angered many chiefs when he spoke of changing the AFN charter so that grassroots people could vote for national chief. He said a constituency of a million Native voters would be more credible than a constituency of 633 chiefs. But Young said that's not what the executive has in mind. "That's not going to happen," he said. "Too many chiefs will argue against that." Asked what might be on the table in restructuring talks, Young floated a few ideas. "The only idea that I have at the moment is that we look at the charter and get it amended. The nations should be represented by treaty territories, and where there's no treaties, based on Aboriginal title. That's something that we can work out. Treaty 1 to 11, Robinson-Huron Treaty, Canada's covered with treaties," he said. Young said the idea to restructure was a response to the failure of the governance workplan where the executive had a deal worked out that they saw as workable only to see it defeated by the chiefs in assembly. His idea would have fewer chiefs involved in the national decision-making process and would, perhaps, mean no surprises on the convention floor. Other details could be smoothed out if there's a budget for restructuring, Young added. "I think reorganizing some of the aspects of the charter, for instance, if the national chief is not available, somebody else could chair the meetings. It's there right now that the national chief has to chair the meetings," he said. "And get rid of some of the confederacy meetings. It costs a lot of money. We could hold special assemblies as required." He said there should be an annual general meeting in July and a general meeting in December. Attempts to ask the minister's office if he is willing to fund a plan that would lower the number of participants in the AFN decision-making process were unsuccessful due to time differences between Edmonton and Ottawa. Several calls to the AFN Ottawa headquarters this month were not returned. Top

Aboriginal community says goodbye to respected Elder Cheryl Petten, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Sturgeon Lake Alberta When Dan McLean passed away on April 9 at the age of 89, his passing left a void in the lives of many people. Described by some of those who knew him as a trailblazer and a progressive thinker who was dedicated to making things better for his people, McLean was also remembered as being a man that was filled with humor, who never failed to make those around him feel good. Dan McLean McLean was an honorary lifetime member of the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA) board of directors, publisher of Windspeaker, but that was just one accomplishment in the long list of accomplishments and contributions he made to the Aboriginal community over the years. Chester Cunningham, founder of Native Counselling Services of Alberta, and another member of the AMMSA board, said he first met McLean in the mid-1960s. "He was on the band council with Sturgeon Lake. And I always felt that Dan was the most progressive leader up there," Cunningham said. "It seemed when you went to meetings, it was Dan who was putting forth the ideas. And he really cared about his people, and realized that his people were going to have to move ahead to survive." And when oil companies came to the reserve wanting to drill, McLean was very much involved in negotiations, Cunningham said. "Dan was at the forefront of all of the discussions. And he could see ahead. He was the visionary, really, I guess, seeing what could happen." When Cunningham created Native Counselling Services in 1970, McLean was one of the first people he put on the organization's board. "And he always came with new ideas. He was a bit more than a board member; he also went out and did a lot of public relations. But he was a real Elder," Cunningham said. "He was always, right up to the end, he was always concerned about the plight of his people." McLean was one of the founding members of the Native Federation of Alberta in the late 1960s. "It was sort of the organization that kind of spearheaded all the programs for Aboriginal people in Alberta," Cunningham explained. "We were always trying to get one organization to provide services for all organizations. When the federal government refused to fund the Native federation, we kind of split off. And also they were involved in recruiting both Harold (Cardinal) and Stan Daniels to run for their respective organizations, because we felt that the organizations needed to move forward to a political group rather than just more of a social thing. And as a result, Native Counselling got going, Native Outreach, Canative Housing . . . the communication network. And they all more or less got their jump-start as a result of the Native Federation of Alberta. But Dan was always involved, and was really level headed with all of his decisions, and you could tell any of the decisions he made were well thought out. And he listened to people," he said. Jim Badger, former grand chief of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council got to know McLean through the council. "When it was first formed, I think he was one of the key runners in the 1974 start-up of the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council. And he was very instrumental," Badger said. "You have to realize in those days, there was no sort of formal organization, no formal formats on how to do things, how to run meetings. So he came to it at a really hard time." McLean was with the council when Badger first joined the organization, and was still there when Badger had climbed the ranks to grand chief. Badger described McLean as a trailblazer, both in his work with the council, and in his work in the early days of Native Counselling Services of Alberta. "Because in those days, remember, relations were not really that good with the police and with the Indian people. I see him as a trailblazer, working with Chester in terms of developing a system like that. And to this day, we have grown. Now you see First Nations controlling their own enforcement arm of the RCMP, their own system, and their own processes. And it is going to go further starting from that point," Badger said. "For the short time that I knew Dan, he was the type of person that liked to tell jokes. He had a lot of humor. Gentle. Kind of the old-fashioned type of person that you just got to know the first time you met him," said AMMSA board member Rosemarie Willier. Dan McLean is survived by his wife Eliza, son Arnold and daughter-in-law Ernestine, son Paul, daughters Christine, Martha, Rosie, Beverly, Ann, Ruby and Shirley, daughter Carol and son-in-law Lawrence, daughter Doris and son-in-law Robert, daughter Sharon and son-in-law Clarence, daughter Annette and son-in-law Billy Joe, as well as 62 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and three great, great grandchildren. Top