Lobbyists want world to know truth of Native Canadian life

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Canadian Natives are better off than many other Indigenous peoples in the World, a Canadian Native leader said.

Tony Mercredi, chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan band in northeastern Alberta, said he has talked to Indigenous representatives from South America and decided Canadian Natives are "comparably better off."

"Some of them didn't even have that so-called treaty," he said.

Native lobbyists from across Canada were in Vienna last month at the United Nations' World Conference on Human Rights to let the international community know the "real" story of Native life in Canada.

"Our own government comes here and tells the rest of the world that everything is OK in Canada," said Mercredi. "They've got their own people to say that. We're getting Native people to understand that we, as First Nations, have our own governments. We're tying to take our place at the table with the United Nations."

Chief among Mercredi's concerns was "educating" other countries in the United Nations about the treaty process.

"I hope to try to educate the rest of the world that the First Nations in Canada did sign treaties as nations within a nation. And these treaties are not being observed by the Canadian government."

"We're trying to communicate to the international community that things aren't that good in Canada," said Allan Torbett, international adviser to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

"Part of our task is to educate the UN on this."

Indigenous peoples throughout Canada have not been able to exercise their rights to land, economic development and self-government without the involvement of provincial or federal government, said Little Black River Chief Frank Abraham. Canada has always maintained a domestic policy of denying Native sovereignty.

"There's no reason to suspect the government's behavior here will be any different," he said.

Educating the world about Canadian governments' Native policies was not the only task on their agenda, Mercredi said.

"I think the other subject would be to try to talk with other Indigenous peoples from around the world to learn about their problems. A lot of them are looking at our situation in Canada and taking our advice."

Several other representatives from Canadian Native groups were also at the conference, including the Assembly of First Nations, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and the Native Council of Canada.