I have been reading blogs and news articles on the upcoming First Nations and Crown Summit between the Indian Act Chiefs and Prime Minister Harper that is taking place on January 24, 2012 and have been disheartened by what I am reading. The needs of our people are being ignored once again by the academics and politicians, both Aboriginal and not.
First Nations in Canada are governed by the Indian Act, a racist piece of legislation that was designed in 1876 to “kill the Indian” and assimilate our people into mainstream society. It is an Act of cultural genocide. Our culture is being murdered and not one of our “leaders”, except National Chief Atleo (how ironic), are advocating on our behalf to stop the genocide that is occurring today.
Anyone who knows anything about Indigenous peoples and politics will tell you that the problems facing our people today are not caused by the current Aboriginal politicians of the day, like National Chief Atleo, who lack the courage to speak up on our behalf. The broken and racist Indian Act system is the cause of all of our problems. The National Chiefs of the National Aboriginal Organizations, past and present, perpetuate the problems through their self-interest and greed.
A Summit between the Chiefs and Prime Minister Harper’s bureaucrats on January 24, 2012 is not going to produce any initiatives that will reduce the poverty in First Nations and neither will the Liberal Party’s Kelowna Accord. STOP referring to the Kelowna Accord like it’s the Holy Grail!! The Summit is a political ploy to soothe our Chiefs into submission and it is working.
I am neither a Liberal or Conservative Party supporter. My blog is strictly the view of an educated First Nations female lawyer who happens to have experience working for and/or with the federal government, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), as well as numerous First Nations. I have worked with First Nations people on and off-reserve. I have seen it all and I know exactly how the dysfunctional and broken Indian Act regime works and devastates our people to this day.
It is time to address the plight of our people in a wholistic manner that meets the needs of our people, and not the needs of an individual who wants attention and fame.
One has to wonder about the mindset of a First Nations person who would refer to the Kelowna Accord, a Liberal Party project that is a “one-size-fits-all”, top down, colonial approach similar to the Indian Act regime. Referring to or calling on the implementation of the Kelowna Accord is proof that some of our people have internalized the Indian Act regime despite their outward calls for self-government on behalf of our people. One should be wary of those individuals. It will only lead to more oppression and colonization.
The Kelowna Accord would take years, and several costly roundtables, to figure out how to implement, and a big fight would ensue among the people as to the amount of money that would be sent to individual First Nations. The only people who would benefit from the Kelowna Accord would be the National Chief of the AFN and his consultant friends aka the “Aboriginal industry”. The Kelowna Accord was a project to soothe the Chiefs into submission just like the current Summit on January 24, 2012 and boy, was it ever successful in doing just that. Some of our First Nations people have internalized the Kelowna Accord just like they did the Indian Act!
The only solution to solving poverty in First Nations communities is to repeal the Indian Act and for our people to take the initiative and build their own accountable governance structures. Once our people have effective and accountable governing institutions in place, successful economic development will take place. However, many of our people do not have the capacity to build their own institutions and require assistance from our non-Aboriginal counterparts. It requires the will of mainstream society to step forward and assist our people on this endeavour. Doing so will benefit the Canadian taxpayer in the long run. Our people will become self-sufficient, thus, requiring a decrease in the transfer of tax dollars to First Nations.
The motives of any person who blames only the National Chief of the AFN for our problems without discussing the real issues and actions of other “leaders” and organizations should be examined because often you will find self-interest underlying their comments. Such self-interests could be that their friend or him/herself, wants to become an Aboriginal politician or is seeking attention. The average non-First Nations and First Nations person is uninformed about Indigenous issues and Indigenous politics and therefore, runs the risk of believing what the person is saying.
One should always inform himself of all the issues from several sources before relying solely on one source.
As for the current Summit on January 24, 2012, I will not be watching National Chief Atleo because he cannot advocate for us in the way we want him to. The position of National Chief of the AFN is a token federal government position designed to implement the federal government’s Indian agenda. It has always been this way and will never change. If the National Chief speaks up on our behalf, the Prime Minister will pull the AFN funding. Pulling funding from the AFN is how the federal government controls and oppresses us. It does not matter who is in that position or who the political party of the day is. The Liberals and Conservatives behave the same way towards First Nations people when they are in power and their goal is to assimilate us through the Indian Act.
If you are going to bash National Chief Atleo, bash the Vice-Chiefs of the AFN as well because they are just as responsible as National Chief Atleo for perpetuating our problems. Furthermore, bash all the National Chiefs of the AFN, CAP, and NWAC (past and present) because they also perpetuated the problems. The only difference between then and now is that now we have access to the internet and are able to reach the grassroots people to inform them of the inactions of the National Chiefs.
NWAC did not lose their Sisters in Spirit (SIS) funding because they brought international attention to the issue of missing and murdered women. They lost their funding because the SIS program dollars did not produce anything substantial in terms of change for missing and murdered women. It brought attention to the issue of missing and murdered women but there is much more that NWAC could have been done on the issue. For example, outreach programs could have been initiated at the grassroots level to prevent prostitution. Where did the SIS funding dollars go and how did NWAC use that money? That is question that we, as First Nations women, should be asking NWAC. The majority of First Nations women were not even consulted on this issue!!
The National Chiefs of the AFN, CAP, and NWAC are not accountable to First Nations people. They are accountable to the federal government. The National Chiefs sell off our rights behind the scenes in exchange for senate appointments and pictures with politicians and diplomats. They are rewarded for being a good token Aboriginal for the federal government. The National Chief of the day collects a big tax-free pay check and gets to live in the city!
A real leader is one, like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, who leads with integrity and not for personal gain. The National Chiefs will not have their faces implanted on the side of a mountain like Crazy Horse, that's for sure! Crazy Horse would never pose for a picture with the President. In fact, he refused to pose to have his face drawn!
A real leader works for his people and examines and exposes all the facts, no matter how disheartening, and exposes all wrongdoing to the public, not just those of his enemy!
It is time to stop calling on the National Chiefs of AFN, CAP, and NWAC to do something about our interests as First Nations people. It will never work. The only solution is to repeal the Indian Act and build our own accountable governing institutions.
It all comes down to Indigenous Governance!!
As a side note: National Chief Atleo deserves some credit. At least he is calling for the repeal of the Indian Act! He knows that the Indian Act is the problem. He is getting the movement started!
WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN?
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