Bill C-31 supporter fighting back

Page 3

Fred Fraser, grandson of hereditary Chief James Starlight, was refused band membership by the Tsuu Tina Nation after he regained his status under Bill C-31.

Fraser now spends his days in an Edmonton courtroom listening to plaintiffs in the Bill C-31 case present their arguments. The Sawridge Band, the Ermineskin Band and the Tsuu Tina Nation, all Alberta bands, are challenging a 1985 amendment to the Indian Act that restored status to some non-status Indians. The plaintiffs argue that only bands can decide who will be members.

To protest the Tsuu Tina refusal to allow him back on the reserve, Fraser, 49, set up a roadblock and campsite in the Bragg Creek area, his ancestors' traditional hunting grounds. He has tried to negotiate with Ottawa, seeking funds to establish a new band and to buy land for those who have been reinstated but have not been allowed back on their reserves.

He refuses to file a land claim because he believes the land already belongs to him.

On Sept. 17, the RCMP and provincial justice and transportation department officials removed the blockade and camp sites.

Fraser has now been granted intervenor status in the Bill C-31 case. The trial started on Sept. 20 and will continue in Edmonton until Nov. 5. It will reconvene in Ottawa on Nov. 15.