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I feel like there is a great deal of divide and conquer strategies at play here :-(
For sure there are problems with some of the leadership and the youth should be active in changing things in their community. But they should tread carefully if they think working with someone like Harper is going to make their lives better. Traditional leadership has struggled to maintain their cultural identity in the wake of all the damage that was done with policies of assimilation that included residential schools. That has been an overwhelming task because the damage was deep.
I just hope FN youth don't fall into some trap that Harper is setting up.
Attempts by the head of Canada’s largest aboriginal group to strike a new relationship between first nations and the federal government face a rocky future as chiefs in the West angrily denounce a process that they say was crafted without their consultation or approval.
Chiefs attending a meeting this week of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) unanimously endorsed a motion rejecting the Canada-First Nations Joint Action Plan.
“They never consulted with any of the nations,” Chief Wallace Fox of the Onion Lake Cree Nation, the author of the motion, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “There was no consultation or endorsement from us as chiefs of this region for this process.”
The action plan, which the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations unveiled last summer, was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo last month in Ottawa at what has been called a historic meeting between chiefs and federal officials. Largely aspirational, it aims to improve first-nations prosperity through better education, economic development, respect for culture and transparency.
But Mr. Fox said the plan would negatively affect the work that he and his people have been doing to develop their own laws and governance systems based on their treaty rights.
quote:
Saskatchewan is not the only place where Mr. Atleo is facing opposition.
Chiefs in Manitoba held a meeting last week at which they passed a resolution asking Grand Chief Derek Nepinak to take several steps in regard to the meeting in January between the Prime Minister and first nations.
“Most of the steps that I am mandated to take are internal and cannot be discussed openly in the media,” Mr. Nepinak explained. “I can share with you, however, that the Manitoba chiefs do not endorse the process identified at the gathering.”...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/saskatchewan-natives-reject...
BC Introduces Law Allowing Development on First Nations Reserves
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/bc-introduces-law-allowing-dev...
"The British Columbia government introduced legislation Thursday that it says will soothe the fears of investors and clear the way for aboriginal entrepreneurship on reserve land. The legislation will mean provincial laws and regulations will apply to commercial, industrial and residential developments on aboriginal reserves. Scott Fraser, the opposition New Democrats aboriginal relations critic, said the proposed law could stimulate economic activity on reserves.."
Ed John Takes Up International Responsibility
http://www.ammsa.com/node/29937
"Even though Grand Chief Edward John has the support of prominent First Nations organizations as he bid for the job of representing Canada's Indigenous peoples on the international stage, he was ultimately selected to the post for his expertise. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues announced on April 28 that John, along with 15 other delegates from around the world has been chosen to serve three year terms.."
Harper government to introduce law allowing private property on reserves
excerpt:
The move is strongly opposed by many chiefs, including Shawn Atleo, who was re-elected in July as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Band councils fear that, beyond offending traditional communal approaches to land ownership, transferable property rights could lead to non-natives taking control of land on reserves.
For the same reason, many chiefs also oppose Bill S-2, which would protect the matrimonial property rights of women living on reserves if their marriages end.
The Conservatives are determined to push the bill through, however, though timing remains an issue.
ETA: I think Harper is setting the stage for a violent confrontation between First Nations and the Government of Canada.
My MP speaks against the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (Facebook link)
excerpt:
Circumstances forced communities to develop their own rules and procedures all by themselves because they were isolated from the rest of the world. Aboriginal nations in Canada were left to their own devices for a very long time. That is why some communities adopted innovative and alternative initiatives to meet the needs of their people, measures tailored to the adversarial nature and subtleties of life on reserves.
That is why the rules for businesses and organizations on reserves differ significantly from the rules applied elsewhere in Canada. These businesses and organizations have their own particular dynamics. That is good for us because it is an example of economic diversity as it should be in Canada.
However, the Conservatives find this frustrating, as did their predecessors, because ultimately, few government agents can make inroads on reserves. There is a lot of resistance to clumsy, heavy-handed government interference. That is why reserves are observed from afar. There is evidence that, over the past year, government agents infiltrated communities to glean bits of information. That paints a pretty clear picture of the prevailing climate and the impenetrable nature of life on reserves.
I believe I have a properly substantiated opinion about what the government is trying to do with this bill: it wants to give groups in Canada with vested interests a close-up view of the economic dynamics of these communities. That is appalling and reprehensible because it suggests that, for all types of organizations across Canada, the government is bound by this financial information and must be accountable in terms of its crown corporations and others.
(part of a much longer argument - Genest-Jourdain was hamstrung by time limitations)
Aboriginal Leaders Force Their Way into the Papers
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/12/05/aboriginal-leaders-force-their-way-in...
"It's not every day that Aborginal leaders attempt to force their way in to the House of Commons chamber. But so it was yesterday, when a group of chiefs who'd gathered at nearby Assembly of First Nations meeting - across the river in Gatineau, Quebec - marched onto Parliament Hill. THey hoped to talk to someone with influence about their mounting frustration. At issue, the chiefs said, was the federal government's lack of respect for meaninful consultation, particularly regarding resource development.."
National Chief of the AFN speaks about Section 35 - 30 years later.
i liked what the one Chief said 'bout being blocked entry and how it will go both ways then.
First Nations and Canada: Jurisdiction and Education Presentation by Sharon Venne
http://intercontinentalcry.org/first-nations-and-canada-jurisdiction-and...
"In this 48 minute presentation, the respected Nehiyaw (Cree) lawyer Sharon Venne explains the Harper government's effort to unilaterally remodel Canada's political landscape at the expense of all First Nations..."
'our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian that has not been absorbed into the body politic of Canada and there is no more Indian problem. That is the whole purpose of our legislation.' Duncan Campbell Scott, Indian Affairs 1920
First Nations vow to rise up against feds’ lack of consultation on budget bill
'Longest Running' First Nations Blockade Continues
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2012/12/03/tby-grassy-na...
"FN activists were back at the blockade on Monday after celebrating a decade of turning back logging trucks from Grassy Narrows traditional lands..."
Congratulations on 10 years of resistance to Canadian colonialism and settler complicity/apathy
Attawapiskat Chief Launches Hunger Strike to Force Treaty Meeting with PM, Queen
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/12/10/attawapiskat-chief-launches-hunger-...
"...Spence said in an open letter she wouldn't end her hunger-strike until Harper and Queen Elizabeth or one of her representatives agreed to the treaty meeting.."
Our asshole of a GG just said on P&P he won't meet with Chief Spence. He's Harper's hand-picked puppet.
ETA: Meanwhile, The GG admitted he's shilling for the government on trade junkets around the world.
First Nations “war drums” will “ring loudly” if Attawapiskat Chief Spence dies: Nepinak