Quebec Natives cautious about separatist dealings

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As promised, relations between the new Parti Quebecois government in Quebec and First Nations peoples have proven to be front-page material fairly quickly.

First it was David Cliche, the separatist government's point man on Native issues, who turned heads with his offer of a "new deal" to the First Nations. The deal, which got a lot of publicity in the Quebec media, could include royalties to development projects on Native lands. The new deal is a critical element in the PQ's efforts to build its campaign for a "yes" vote to independence in a referendum that should take place in 1995.

"Now is the time to sit down with every one of the Native nations and come to an agreement on what self-government is," Cliche told Windspeaker. "What posers and authorities will be the ones of the native local governments and what will be the land basis on which those governments will have jurisdiction."

The Crees reacted with caution, and some might say skepticism. Cree Deputy Grand Chief Kenny Blacksmith descibed the Cliche offer as "a positive approach," and promised that Crees "generally respect and want to work with any party in power."

But there was also a warning that the royalties offer won't convince the 12,000 Cree people in Quebec to embrace sovereignty. "You can't entice people to join the sovereigntist cause by holding out carrots they are entitled to," said Bill Namagoose, executive director of the Grand council of the Crees, in a Montreal Gazette story.

On Oct. 11 and 12, just one week after Cliche started selling his new deal, Quebec Chiefs met near Quebec City to discuss how to deal with the PQ government and the prospect of sovereignty. Ghislain Picard, regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, told reporters that First Nations consider their own territorial integrity to be paramount, as important to them as Quebec's territorial integrity is to the PQ.

"When the new Quebec government speaks of sharing royalties on natural resources, the whole issue of ownership of this land hasn't even been discussed and it's

still an issue for us," Chief Picard said in the Gazette article. Aboriginal title is where discussions between the PQ and First Nations must start, Picard added.

When Windspeaker contacted Kahnawake Mohawk traditionalist Kahn-Tineta Horn for her comments on these events, she had just finished writing a brief to the United Nations on the political situation confronting First Nations in Quebec. She was also preparing for meetings to build a Mohawk Nation Council spanning all seven Mohawk territories in Ontario, New York State, Oklahoma and, of course, Quebec.

Horn had this message for the PQ: "They'll have to deal with us, the Mohawk Nation. They say they're separating. Where are they going? Where are they going to put their government? On our lands? They haven't talked to us about it. They have to talk to us."

In her UN brief, she included the statement: "If Quebec can separate, so can the Indians."

Horn said in an interview that Mohawks will remain neutral in the upcoming punch-up between Ottawa and Quebec City. "They've been fighting forever. We want to sit back and watch them. And let's have a good time watching them."

As for the 7,000 Inuit of Nanavik in northern Quebec, they are sitting this one out, at least for now. They did not take part in the recent First Nations Chiefs' meeting.

"The Inuit are not panicking," said Paul Bussieres, co-ordinator of Quebec affairs for the Inuit Makivik Corporation.

Unlike the First Nations, which are (largely) tied to federal funding, the Inuit rely heavily on Quebec to fund their services. Nevertheless, using careful language, Bussieres said almost the same thing as the Crees said at their Cree Nation Gathering in September - when Quebec holds it sovereignty referendum, the Inuit will choose their own future as well, inside Quebec or outside of it.

"We certainly say that at that point, we will have to consult the populationabout which way we will go. We will see when we get there how we will cross that river," said Bussieres.