Friendship centres giving voices to grass roots

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A Native organization in Alberta is trying to ensure that the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples hears as many opinions as possible.

The Alberta Native Friendship Centre Association hosted 16 community forums throughout the province in April and May to bring "grass-roots" Native concerns to the commissioners, said Native consultant and forum co-organizer Ray Chambers.

"These informal meetings give us a lot more information," he said. "We see the issues with individuals. We look at reaching the grass-root issues."

"The Royal commission didn't have the answers," said forum participant Clara Woodbridge. "They went to the community to find the answers."

Dialogues from the forums are recorded on audio tape and will be sent to the commission's offices in Ottawa, Chambers aid. The tapes will later be transcribed and presented to the commissions to augment the information already gathered at the formal hearings, he said.

The day-long discussions, which are co-sponsored by the Interprovincial Association on Native Employment, have raised several issues facing Natives in Canada, employment in particular.

"There's a wall there," Chambers said. "It's not coming down to training and education. It's come down to why companies are not hiring Natives for their own reasons."

Chambers said he knew of one company in Grande Centre that advertised a need for more than 60 employees for a new store. Of the 161 Natives that applied, none were hired.

Division among the Native community in Canada is another serious problem, said the Alberta Friendship Association provincial co-ordinator Tony Callihoo. Mistrust between Metis, treaty, non-treaty, status and non-status Natives must be dealt with before the First Nations can negotiate with the rest of Canada.

"The healing must go for the next umpteen years," he said. "Old feelings between tribes is still there. It's going to be a slow process but we need to get at our own ill feelings, a jealous feeling. We're also looking for solutions."

Resolving conflicts between Native groups across Canada is essential before Aboriginals can approach the government with their demands for self-government, said Woodbridge. The 76-year-old Native from Slave Lake said she has been classified a treaty, Metis and status Indian at different times in her life, so she no longer sees the need for Natives to fight amongst themselves over blood rights.

"The bands won't talk to the Bill C-31s (status). And the bands were born Native. And so were the Metis. I sometimes don't know what I am. But if you're mad at someone, talk to them."

Several other groups have applied to the commission to hold independent forums, Callihoo said, including the Native Council of Canada and 50 other Native organizations across the country. The friendship association received $25,000.

Although the ultimate purpose of the forums was to "flesh out" the commission's information base, there's no guarantee the commission will affect change, said Callihoo.

"But according to their word, they're not going to shelve it," he said. "They say they're going to put it to the powers that be."

The commission was established in April 1992 to consult with Native groups on the state of Aboriginal life in Canada. Chairmen Rene Dussault and George Erasmus have visited dozens of communities and heard testimony from more than 1,400 people.