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Researcher John Siebert has greatly angered Native people in the last few weeks by stating that harm caused to First Peoples' culture and society by the residential school experience has been overstated, and the idea of compensation for that harm is flawed.

His comments appeared in two stories in the National Post and have been used as a springboard for one conservative columnist to launch a bitterly worded attack on First Nations for the redress they're seeking for the harm inflicted in the schools.

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Many good minds with impressive credentials see the adversarial nature of the Canadian justice system as an amplifier for the cultural tensions that exist between Native and non-Native people in this country.

On issues such as treaty rights, land claims, tax immunity, residential school compensation and others, two very distinct points of view are often set up to collide at full speed as lawyers and bureaucrats on both sides struggle to convince a court that their interpretation of history and the law is correct.

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A Department of Fisheries and Oceans posting on MERX, a website that lists available government contracts, lists a position for a treaty fishing rights researcher and expert witness. The job will pay between $500,001 and $1 million.

A Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development posting offers between $250,001 and $500,000 for a research position in its litigation management branch.

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A Department of Fisheries and Oceans posting on MERX, a website that lists available government contracts, lists a position for a treaty fishing rights researcher and expert witness. The job will pay between $500,001 and $1 million.

A Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development posting offers between $250,001 and $500,000 for a research position in its litigation management branch.

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Dear Editor:

The Windspeaker article "Who's hurting, who's helping, who's cashing in?" reminded me of an Indiana Jones scene. You remember when Indy had to choose which chalice was the one Christ used in the Last Supper and the old soldier told him "choose wisely." Well, the Holy Grail was chosen wisely by Indy, but most of us don't always choose wisely, especially when it comes to word choices.

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Dear Editor:

The Windspeaker article "Who's hurting, who's helping, who's cashing in?" reminded me of an Indiana Jones scene. You remember when Indy had to choose which chalice was the one Christ used in the Last Supper and the old soldier told him "choose wisely." Well, the Holy Grail was chosen wisely by Indy, but most of us don't always choose wisely, especially when it comes to word choices.

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Response to your article regarding the 2001 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (April 2001 edition).

I don't know who the writer is or her background, but I'd like to do some research for her. That set was amazing in every aspect from its design to its radiance. If she would have made one quick call to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation she would have found out that the set was almost unbuildable, therefore, making it even more significantly astounding and proving the immense work that went into producing it.

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Dear Editor:

Funds received from the government of Canada are to manage Native communities in the best way we can. And, this is usually so. But we're always short-changed. The monies received are not sufficient to buy services or material from the outside world of Native communities, to follow its plan.

Some retailers and service people charge far more than the value of their service because they know we are Natives, or "Indians", in their point of view.

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Dear Editor:

Funds received from the government of Canada are to manage Native communities in the best way we can. And, this is usually so. But we're always short-changed. The monies received are not sufficient to buy services or material from the outside world of Native communities, to follow its plan.

Some retailers and service people charge far more than the value of their service because they know we are Natives, or "Indians", in their point of view.

Page 4

"First Nation communities must be well governed so that they can achieve economic development." So goes the new Indian Affairs mantra. At every opportunity, the Indian Affairs minister tells us that we should put land and rights and culture on the backburner, and look at our situation in pragmatic terms, with a solution as simple as implementing "good government" in our communities. He believes that our problems can be solved by making band councils (excuse me, "First Nation governments") efficient, accountable and stable, and wants us to ignore history.