Media.Knet.Ca

Members of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak team, lead by Darlene Rae, worked with Manitoba's First Nations SchoolNet team to host a two hour video conference with First Nation youth from across Ontario and Manitoba.

The video conference was held yesterday afternoon, February 20. The gathering was web streamed and archived and is available for viewing online at http://webcast.knet.ca/events (on Page 4 under FNS Ont_Man Youth Conference). Please Note: viewers do require the codec for displaying these videos that will pop-up when you click on the video.

Youth presenters spoke about their work in their First Nations in supporting the introduction and development of local ICT networks and applications. Some of the presentations included:

• Jesse Fiddler / Curtis Drake – Sandy Lake First Nation – Demonstration on line training
• Ryan Kemash (Manitoba FNS Helpdesk) - Online support using Messenger
• Christopher Foltz / Lisabeth Boissoneau – Garden River First Nation - the importance of ICTs in their community
• Andrew Wavey – Fox Lake - Former Youth Intern Success Story
• Derek Kanate – North Caribou Lake First Nation – Nov 2006 Youth Training session in Sioux Lookout
• Richard Debassige - M'Chigeeng First Nation - A video tour of my community
• Shauna Spence / Angeline Nelson - Orientation and Training Session June/July 2006 for Manitoba youth
• Terry Moreau (Lac Seul) / Franz Seibel – Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute Youth Employment placement
• Beverly Endanawas – Sheshegwaning First Nation - setting up and using the video conferencing equipment
• Chris Guimond – Sagkeeng & Andrew Wavey – Fox Lake - Broadband Connectivity and the Community
• Cal Kenny – Lac Seul First Nation – Video Production and online multi-media training
• Jason Bruyere, Desmond Blacksmith - Community Contribution, Employment Enhancement and Opportunities

The Canadian government is responding to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) concerning their treatment of First Nation land claims and other discrimination issues affecting Aboriginal people across the country. Several First Nation groups are also involved in these hearings.

First Nations Leadership Council press release ...

Canada Violating International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

First Nations Leadership Council Joins Other Indigenous Peoples in Accusing Canada of Violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - February 20, 2007

Coast Salish Traditional Territory/Vancouver, BC – The First Nations Leadership Council has sent a submission in response to Canada’s report to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Canada’s report will be heard by CERD in Geneva, Switzerland on February 20-21, 2007.

Indigenous Peoples' submissions will be considered along with the Canadian Government's report when CERD begins its review of Canada on Tuesday February 20th, 2007.

The First Nations Leadership Council submission takes exception with Canada’s assertions that it is a champion of human rights in Canada and elsewhere in the world.

“Indigenous peoples in Canada know the true story. Canada has a long history of denial of Aboriginal Title and Rights in this country”, said Grand Chief Edward John, a member of the First Nations Summit Political Executive and the First Nations Leadership Council.

“We have clearly illustrated in our submission to CERD that Canada has a longstanding policy of denying the existence of Aboriginal Title and Rights which has continually forced Aboriginal people in this country to resort to judicial processes to have the recognition and implementation of their rights legally affirmed”, added Chief John.

“Despite the fact that Section 35 of Canada's Constitution Act (1982) recognizes and affirms aboriginal and treaty rights, Canada as a matter of policy, systematically and continuously denies and rejects the very existence of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous rights to lands, territories and resources as well as Indigenous rights and authorities to self government,” stated Shawn Atleo, Regional Chief for the BC Assembly of First Nations and a member of the First Nations Leadership Council.

“We are utterly astounded at Canada's shameless hypocrisy as its officials appear before CERD. We fail to see how they can present Canada as a true defender of human rights whether here or elsewhere in the world given the federal government’s recent and shameful denial of Indigenous rights. It is truly disgraceful that Canada was one of only two countries on the UN Human Rights Council to vote against the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in June 2006”, stated Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and a member of the First Nations Leadership Council.

The Joint Unity Protocol Initiative of Chief Negotiators from BC First Nations also made its own submission to CERD. Robert Morales, the Chair of the Chief Negotiators forum stated “Canada has not significantly changed its approach on extinguishment and refusal to recognize aboriginal rights and title. Canada refuses to negotiate treaties based on recognition of aboriginal rights and title. Instead it brings a long list of fixed bottom line positions to the table. We ask how that can be considered negotiating”.

The reports submitted by these organizations as well as the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), and the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) and the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations (CT6FN) address a range of policies and practices violating Indigenous Peoples' human rights both in and outside of Canada.

-30-

The First Nations Leadership Council is comprised of the political executives of the First Nations Summit, Union of BC Indian Chiefs and the BC Assembly of First Nations. The Council works together to politically represent the interests of First Nations in British Columbia and develop strategies and actions to bring about significant and substantive changes to government policy that will benefit all First Nations in British Columbia.

Background information on the submissions from the First Nations Leadership Council and the Joint Initiative of Chief Negotiators from BC First Nations is attached.

For more information:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, UBCIC, (250) 490-5314
Colin Braker, First Nations Summit, (604) 926-9903
Heather Gillies, BC Assembly of First Nations, (604) 922-7733

=======================================

Background Information

British Columbia First Nations Leadership Council’s Issues List
Summary Points from February 14, 2007 Letter to CERD

• The British Columbia First Nations Leadership Council takes exception to the manner, tone and content of paragraphs 27 - 42 and 306 - 311 in CERD/C/CAN/18 (5 April 2006), Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention.
• Canada purports to champion human rights elsewhere in the world and condemns those who violate international human rights standards, but Indigenous peoples have had to resort to the judicial processes in Canada for the recognition and implementation of their rights. Canada was also one of only two countries on the Human Rights Council to vote against the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on June 29, 2006.
• Despite the fact that section 35 of Canada's Constitution Act (1982) recognizes and affirms aboriginal and treaty rights Canada as a matter of policy, systematically and continuously denies and rejects the very existence of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous rights to lands, territories and resources as well as Indigenous rights and authorities to self government. Current case law in Canada further defines and supports these section 35 rights but Canada continues to maintain policies consistent with the denial of those rights.
• Despite the many positive decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada in favour of Indigenous peoples and rights, Canada falls back to its historic position, advocating "terra nullius" arguments and that there is "considerable uncertainty about the existence, content and scope of specific aboriginal rights of ownership and use of lands and resources, as well as uncertainty about who are the specific holders of such rights." In other words, Canada argues, it does not know if there are Indigenous peoples or the rights they may have unless these matters are dealt with through expensive and often inaccessible legal processes through Canada's judicial system.
• Crown denials of Aboriginal title and rights are evidenced in litigation with First Nations in British Columbia as well as in land and governance treaty negotiations mandates. This information is provided in greater detail in the First Nations Summit’s document entitled Implementation of National Legislation and Jurisprudence concerning Indigenous Peoples' Rights: Experiences from the Americas which have been provided to CERD on a CD and by email.
• In 2005 there were approximately 15 cases before the courts in British Columbia that involved Aboriginal peoples and the federal Crown, provincial Crown, or both and involved Aboriginal rights and title. In 14 of those 15 cases involving Aboriginal rights and title, the federal and provincial Crown advanced various defences that denied the existence of the Aboriginal title in question, asserted that such title remains unproved, or alleged that the Aboriginal title in question was extinguished.
• In 2007 those types of denial arguments are still raised by the federal and provincial Crown.

=======================================

Submission to CERD by
First Nations in the British Columbia Treaty Process
Joint Unity Protocol Chief Negotiators Initiative

Re: Canada’s Approach to Treaty Negotiations with First Nations in B.C.

1. Canada has not significantly changed its approach on extinguishment and refusal to recognize aboriginal rights and title.

a) Canada refuses to negotiate Treaties based on recognition of aboriginal rights and title. Instead it brings a long list of fixed bottom line positions to the Table. If First Nations want a Treaty, they have to agree. Canada refuses to allow First Nations to hold Treaty lands as aboriginal title lands. The lands must be held as private fee simple lands under provincial government jurisdiction. There is no room to negotiate.
b) The recent report from the federal Auditor General states that Treaty negotiations are one of the “most controlled and inflexible processes in the federal government” and that federal Treaty negotiators act “as if the main risk faced by the federal government in treaty negotiations is that of deviating from existing mandates, rather than that of not signing treaties”.

2. Canada refuses to commit in Treaties to improve vast gap between the high level of employment, education, health, and social conditions enjoyed by non-aboriginal Canadians and the crushing poverty, unemployment and poor health and living conditions suffered by aboriginal Canadians.

a) In fact, Canada potentially makes the situation worse by forcing First Nations to hand over 50% of revenues they generate post Treaty (including property tax revenues from former Reserve lands) to the federal government and by imposing discriminatory double taxation of First Nation corporations that pass on a portion of their profits to the First Nation government.

Ogemawahj Tribal Council press release ...

Decline of the Status Indian Motivates Ogemawahj Tribal Council to Host National First Nation Citizenship and Status Conference

Rama, ON, Feb. 21 - Enfranchisement and the intermarriage of Indian women with non-Indian men allowed Status Indians to acquire full Canadian citizenship by relinquishing their ties to the community, giving up the culture and traditions and giving up any rights they had as Indians. Indian women who married non-Indian men also lost their “Status” as Indians and the rights that accompanied that status.

The plan to assimilate Indians into society, however, has not worked, and the “temporary” nature of the Indian Act has led to many problems with the governance and lives of Indian people. It has also led to many constitutional challenges within Canada’s court system. This era of change and the need for a solution to the declining number of status Indians within their member First Nations have motivated the member communities of the Ogemawahj Tribal Council to coordinate and host a national information exchange on the topic.

The Ogemawahj Tribal Council invites you to participate in their First Nation Citizenship and Status Conference: “E-DBENDAAGZIJIG: Those Who Belong” on April 16th and 17th, 2007. This two day conference will examine the issues and cause for concern over First Nation citizenship, and in particular, the declining number of status Indians across the country. Why is it important, how will it affect you, and what are the options for the future? Join us to listen to the professionals and those who have already been seriously affected by this issue.

The event will take place at the Toronto Downtown Marriott Eaton Centre in the heart of Ontario’s Capital. Registration is limited to the first 400 paid participants. For additional information or to register for this event, please go to the website:

www.firstnationstatusconference.ca

or contact the following:

Media Contact: Marc Manatch
Ogemawahj Tribal Council
P.O. Box 46,
7410 Benson Side Road
Mnjikaning First Nation, Ontario
L0K 1T0
Phone: (705) 329-2511
Fax: (705) 329-2509
admin@ogemawahj.on.ca

ON THE MOVE

Increasing the participation of girls and young women
in physical activity and sport

WORKSHOP INVITATION

On the Move is a national initiative to increase opportunities for inactive girls and young women (ages 9-18) to participate in sport and physical activity. On the Move is coordinated by CAAWS, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (http://www.caaws.ca/e/).

This interactive, issue-based session will provide an overview of the initiative, share best practices from across Canada, and provide “how-to” tips to increase the participation of girls and young women. Lessons learned and evaluation findings from Team Spirit: Aboriginal Girls in Sport, a national project to increase community sport opportunities for Aboriginal girls and young women, will also be discussed. Appropriate for everyone from practitioners to policy makers, the workshop will also provide an opportunity for participants to network and discuss collaboration and local action to make a difference in the lives of girls and young women in our communities.

Complimentary On the Move Handbooks will be given to each participant, and information about other resources and initiatives provided by CAAWS will be available.

About the Workshop Facilitator
Sydney Millar (B.Kin, MA) is CAAWS’ On the Move National Coordinator and Team Spirit Project Manager. Sydney has traveled across Canada promoting On the Move and talking to practitioners and policy makers across sectors and jurisdictions about how to increase the participation of girls and young women. She lives in Vancouver BC.

When:  

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
10 am to 2 pm – lunch will be provided

Where:       Sioux Lookout Recreation Centre
                     84 King Street
 
Cost: Participation is FREE

R.S.V.P. to:  Alan Howie, Manager of Community Services
 alhowie@siouxlookout.ca  807-737-1994

Registration deadline is Monday March 5, 2007

Click here to see the report, Survey of First Nations People Living Off-Reserve, Métis and Inuit FINAL REPORT (PDF, 1Mb)

From Canwest News Service ...

Urban natives report "disturbing" increase in racism

Jack Aubry, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen - February 19, 2007
  
OTTAWA - Urban natives say they are facing an increase in racism from businesses, schools, police and employers, with an "astounding" four out of 10 Indians, Inuit and Metis reporting discrimination in Canadian cities and towns, a newly released government report reveals.

In a national poll for the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 74 per cent of the Aboriginal Peoples who had experienced racism said it was at the hands of non-aboriginal people, an increase of 10 per cent from the last survey in 2003.

Forty-two per cent said they experienced discrimination by businesses, basically doubling the previous 20-per-cent finding in the earlier poll, while about one-quarter cited people at work, including their employer.

The report's conclusion said the finding was "disappointing" and "disturbing" and included the fact that aboriginal renters "often or always" experience discrimination from landlords.

Government was found to be a source of their experience of racism by two of 10 Aboriginal People, a slight rise from 2003.

There were also some positive findings, including the fact that in general, most Aboriginal People living outside of a reserve perceive their overall quality of life to be good and improving over time. However, the report pointed out the economic and social conditions experienced by natives is still not as high as might be found in the broader Canadian population.

Also one in four respondents said relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal People are improving with time, with a quarter of respondents believing it is because non-natives are better educated than in the past.

"Conversely, of those who believe that the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is deteriorating, roughly one-quarter blame this decline on racism or intolerance, while two in 10 say it comes from a sense of neglect or mistreatment by government," said the report.

Conducted by Ekos and Anishinabek Consultants Inc., the telephone survey of 1,000 Aboriginal People carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 per cent 19 times out of 20. The final report was completed in October, with the questions developed by Indian Affairs along with Canadian Heritage, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and the Office of the Federal Interlocator.

The poll cost $300,000 and was conducted by interviewers at Ekos' call centres in Ottawa and Edmonton.

The survey also revealed negative views generally outweighed positive ones when it came to the overall quality of government service delivered to Aboriginal People living off-reserve. City or town governments came out ahead, with one-quarter of individuals rating their local government on the positive side while provincial governments only rated positive notices from two out of 10.

And it was the federal government, which is directly responsible for Aboriginal People in the Constitution, who received the worst rating, with only 12 per cent, down from 17 in 2003, giving it the thumbs up when it came to the services it offered.

INAC press release ...

Minister Prentice and Anishinabek Nation Sign Governance Agreement-in-Principle

NIPISSING FIRST NATION, ON, Feb. 16 - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, today signed a Governance Agreement-in-Principle (AIP). The AIP establishes a framework for the Anishinabek Nation, represented in the negotiations by the Union of Ontario Indians, to assume greater control over its own institutions of government.

"Canada's New Government is committed to working with First Nations to support stronger First Nation governments as a key step in improving the lives of First Nation people," said Minister Prentice. "This important agreement sets the groundwork for participating First Nations to adopt new governance institutions and structures that are more responsive and more accountable to their communities."

"The AIP on Governance is one step toward eliminating the Indian Act, re-asserting our jurisdiction, and re-establishing our own Anishinaabe forms of government," said Grand Council Chief Beaucage, who represents the forty-plus member First Nations of the Anishinabek Nation. "We look forward to completing these negotiations and forging new relationships with Canada that provide practical and effective ways to implement our inherent right to self-government and improve living conditions for our people."

The Agreement provides the framework for the establishment of the Anishinabek Nation government and for the recognition of First Nation governments with law-making authority in four core governance areas: leadership selection, citizenship, culture and language, and management and operations of government.

The Agreement also reflects the Government of Canada's support for replacing outdated provisions of the Indian Act with a modern legislative framework for First Nations governance. It provides a practical approach for supporting First Nations to strengthen their internal governance and solidify the political and financial accountability of First Nation governments to their citizens, while operating within the Canadian Constitutional framework.

The Agreement-in-Principle concludes the second of a three-stage negotiation process, and is not legally binding. A Final Agreement becomes legally binding on the parties only once it has been approved by the participating First Nations' citizens and brought into force through federal legislation. An Anishinabek Nation Framework Agreement on Governance was signed by the parties on November 26, 1998. As negotiations proceeded, the Province of Ontario has been kept apprised of developments.

The Anishinabek Nation and the Government of Canada have also been negotiating toward a "Final Agreement with Respect to the Exercise of Education Jurisdiction." An Agreement-in-Principal on education was signed by the parties in 2002.

The UOI is the oldest First Nation political organization in Ontario. It was incorporated as the secretariat arm of the Anishinabek Nation in 1949 and traces its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires which existed long before European contact. The Anishinabek Nation has a population of approximately 50,000 citizens, and comprises one-third of all First Nation communities in Ontario.

For further information: Deirdra McCracken, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Jim Prentice, (819) 997-0002; INAC Media Relations, (819) 953-1160; Monica Lister, Executive Liaison Officer, Union of Ontario Indians/Anishinabek Nation, (705) 498-5552; Mary Laronde, Communications Coordinator, Union of Ontario Indians/Anishinabek Nation, (705) 497-9127; This press release is also available on the Internet at http://www.inac-ainc.gc.ca and www.anishinabek.ca

Backgrounder - Anishinabek Nation Agreement-In-Principle With Respect to Governance

From Kenora Miner & News ...

Costs dictate cutting adult education

By Shelley Bujold - Miner and News - February 14, 2007

Trustees of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board opted Tuesday to cut its losses and end its adult education program.

The board, which had to deal with lost revenue of nearly $2 million last summer in a budget providing total operating expenditures of $73.5 million and total capital expenditures of $10.3 million, made the move against mounting long-term financial pressures. The board knowingly operated the adult education program with budgeted losses of $616,168 for 2006/2007.

Operation costs were budgeted for this school year at $489,444 with only $278,306 in revenue for a loss before facility operations of $211,109. Related costs to operate the facilities are budgeted at a net cost of just over $400,000.

“I don’t think anybody’s happy about it but we have to do it,” said board chairman Dave Penny, after the motion was passed.

Dean Carrie, manager of finance at the board, said the board’s obligation lies with those students they are mandated to educate and that’s those under 21 years of age. Money being spent in other areas takes away from their educational experience when the program is at a loss, especially when the program is not breaking even.

“Our primary obligation is for students under 21 years of age,” said Carrie, who reported changes to the delivery model over the past few years to cut costs have failed.

An outline of financial results for 2003-2004 through 2005-2006 provided to the board, revealed operating losses, even without taking facility costs into account. The losses including facility operations totaled over half a million dollars a year: $588,198 in 2003-2004; $734,638 in 2004-2005; and $679,071 in 2005-2006.

While the board made its decision Tuesday, when the program is closing is still being negotiated. The board contracts its business arm, Crescive Corporation, to run the adult education program along with others services such as transportation.

Director of education Janet Wilkinson, who sits on the Crescive Corporation board as one of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board representatives, said Tuesday that Crescive is also losing about $33,000 a year on running the program.

The contract for the program runs out August 2008 but if the two parties come to a consensus, they can terminate the program early -- likely at the end of this school year.

The adult education program in Kenora underwent a move and renovation last summer to where it’s currently located across the street from Beaver Brae High School. There are facilities in Dryden and Sioux Lookout as well.

Trustee Gerald Kleist, of Ear Falls, said the decision to cut these services was difficult. Funding in the area of adult education is not likely in the near future and continuing it at a loss is not a good option to the board which is already having difficulties with recent reductions in funding.

++++++

From Kenora Miner and News ...

Some adult education options remain

By Shelley Bujold - Miner and News - February 16, 2007

Despite the cancellation of adult education at the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, there are other adult-based educational opportunities in the community.

The board, along with its partner company Crescive Corporation who runs the adult education program for the board, have finalized the closing date for Aug. 31, 2007. At this time all courses will cease and students will have to go through other options to complete their high school diploma or upgrade courses.

The school board made its decision after being unable to find a delivery model which did not lose money.

“Our primary obligation is for students under 21 year of age,” said Carrie, manager of finance at the board.

Confederation College’s Pat Pernsky said they would have liked to work closer with the adult education program as they recognized its value across the district.

“Maybe there’s something we can do to meet the needs of the community,” she said.

General education development certificates, which are accepted as high school equivalent with many businesses, are available at Confederation College. This testing offers students a chance to show their knowledge on a high-based level. Students can write it on their own and pick up a textbook at the college, or take a course geared to prepare for the test. Daytime course options offer the possibility of a bursary if a student is qualified to receive it, said Pernsky.

Pre-apprentice and apprenticeship programs are also available at the college with different ones being offer every year.

Careers in the medical field can also be taken locally. Some courses need prerequisites, she said, which can often be taken at the college before getting into the program. These include pre-health which covers biology and others for the nursing program.

If unsure about which career path to take, Pernsky said she can help solve the maze of post-secondary education.

“Some people need some encouragement, some assistance and they need an education plan,” she said.

Another option for adult education lies in correspondence and online opportunities. The TVOntario Independent Learning Centre, a program run through the government, allows students to pick up high school credits through a combination of both. Students can seek help from a teacher online, but send in their work to be marked to the offices. Most core classes are available through this method like English, math and some sciences.

To get information go online to www.ilc.org or call 1-800-387-5512.

Toronto Star news article ...

Native voices going extinct - A few tongues survive in Canada

Feb 18, 2007 - Peter Calamai, Science Writer

SAN FRANCISCO–Every time a language dies, experts warned here yesterday, the world loses irreplaceable scientific knowledge as well as cultural richness.

The potential toll is immense, with an estimated half of humanity's current 7,000 languages struggling to survive, often spoken by just an elderly few.

A 1996 UN report classed aboriginal languages in Canada as among the most endangered in the world and Statistics Canada concluded that only three out of 50 – Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut – had large enough populations to be considered secure from extinction in the long run.

"The accumulated knowledge is fragile because most of the world's languages have no writing," said linguist David Harrison, director of research with the Living Tongues Institute.

Harrison said that Western biologists are only now beginning to unravel the diversity of plants and species that local inhabitants have long understood and catalogued in their rich vocabulary.

For example, recent research discovered that a butterfly in Costa Rica wasn't one species but 10. Yet the local Tzeltal people had already called the caterpillars by different names, because they attacked different crops.

"The knowledge that science thinks it is discovering about plants, animals and weather cycles has often been around for a long time," said Harrison, a professor at Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College.

"It is out there, it is fragile and it is rapidly eroding," he said.

Yet recent success in reviving several aboriginal tongues is rousing hope that the tide of language extinction is not inevitable, delegates at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science heard. Some examples:

• The language of Miami-Illinois Indians, long classed as extinct, is now spoken daily by at least 50 people after a major "reclamation" effort.
• Languages on the brink of extinction are being recorded for future revival – such as that of the Chulym, a tribe of hunters and fishers in Siberia.
• A master-apprentice program is rejuvenating some of the 50 threatened aboriginal languages in California.

* More than 2,000 schoolchildren are now fluent speakers of Hawaiian, a language banned from schools in Hawaii for almost a century.

"The reason that a lot of indigenous languages went extinct was that they could not be used in school," said William Wilson, a professor of Hawaiian Language and Studies at Hilo, Hawaii.

Despite a policy of official bilingualism, the native Hawaiian language was in its death throes, but that changed dramatically after the state legislature in 1987 scrapped a 90-year-ban on using Hawaiian in the schools. Now, students are taught in their native language from pre-school to college.

Yet Hawaiian-speaking students also study Japanese in the first six grades, Latin in Grades 7 and 8, and English throughout. "We feel children can learn many languages if they have a solid base in English and Hawaiian," the language professor said.

Wilson said in an interview that the architects of language recovery in Hawaii worked closely with aboriginal groups in Canada, including the Squamish in Vancouver and the Six Nations at Brantford. The Hawaiian group also produced a multilingual book in co-operation with the Inuit.

The preservation of aboriginal languages in Canada was dealt a major blow last year when the Harper government scrapped a 10-year, $173 million language revitalization program.

Yet Miami tribe member Daryl Baldwin told a news conference that even a supposedly extinct aboriginal language can be brought back to life. That's what happened with the Miami language previously spoken over a wide region of the lower Great Lakes.

At Miami University in Ohio, Baldwin and colleagues pored over written records to help interested tribe members again speak the language.

And the language is kept up to date, he said. In Miami, the word for a computer translates as "the thing that thinks fast."

+++++++++++

From mongabay.com news ...

Does language extinction matter?

February 16, 2007

Most of humanity's 6,000 languages could be extinct within the next two centuries. Does it matter?

At the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, University of Alaska Fairbanks professor emeritus Michael Krauss argued it does.

"I claim that it is catastrophic for the future of mankind," Krauss said in a statement. "It should be as scary as losing 90 percent of the biological species."

Krauss said that there are ethical and practical reasons why language diversity matters.
 
"Languages contain the intellectual wisdom of populations of people," explained a statement released by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "They contain their observations of and adaptations to the world around them. Humanity became human in a complex system of languages that interacted with each other."

"That is somehow interdependent such that we lose sections of it at the same peril that we lose sections of the biosphere," Krauss said. "Every time we lose (a language), we lose that much also of our adaptability and our diversity that gives us our strength and our ability to survive."

According to figures from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the most widely spoken language on earth is Mandarin which is used as a first language by nearly a billion people. Second on the list is English with around 358 million, followed by Spanish.

UNESCO estimates that over 50% of the world's 6900 languages are endangered and that one language disappears on average every two weeks. It notes that 96% of the world's 6000 languages are spoken by 4% of the world's population and 90% of the world's languages are not represented on the Internet.

+++++++++++

From huliq.com news report ...  Feb 17, 2007

Linguistics expert to speak on language extinction

Fairbanks, Alaska—Humans speak more than 6,000 languages. Nearly all of them could be extinct in the next two centuries.

So what?

University of Alaska Fairbanks professor emeritus Michael Krauss will attempt to answer that question during his presentation this week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, which begins today in San Francisco.

"I claim that it is catastrophic for the future of mankind," Krauss said. "It should be as scary as losing 90 percent of the biological species."

The reasons are multiple, he said. From an ethical standpoint, all languages are of equal value, he said. But the value of a language goes far beyond academic discourse, Krauss said. Languages contain the intellectual wisdom of populations of people. They contain their observations of and adaptations to the world around them. Humanity became human in a complex system of languages that interacted with each other.

"That is somehow interdependent such that we lose sections of it at the same peril that we lose sections of the biosphere," Krauss said. "Every time we lose (a language), we lose that much also of our adaptability and our diversity that gives us our strength and our ability to survive."

Krauss is one of four researchers scheduled to speak during a session on the dynamics of extinction Friday, Feb. 16, 2007 from 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the AAAS meeting at the Hilton San Francisco. The cross-disciplinary session focuses broadly on the phenomenon of extinction, including factors that cause endangerment and extinction and interventions that can delay or end the extinction process.-University of Alaska Fairbanks

London Free Press news article ...

Powder keg

By JOHN MINER, FREE PRESS REPORTER - Sat, February 17, 2007

There are more than 1,300 land claims filed against Canada by native groups - hundreds more filed against provinces - and the list, and frustration, is growing longer under a system plagued with decade-long delays, writes Sun Media reporter John Miner.

The masked warrior at the hastily thrown up barricade at the Caledonia subdivision holds up a sign for the gathering spectators and reporters -- "Canada, your home on native land," it reads.

It is the morning of April 20, 2006, and the sky in the town south of Hamilton has been blackened by burning tires on roadways in the area.

Responding to a court order, Ontario Provincial Police had briefly held the subdivision before being pushed out again by about 200 natives from the Six Nations reserve.

Caledonia, still simmering, with the potential to boil over again, has become etched in the minds of Canadians along with Oka, Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake, B.C., disputes.

But these are only the land claims that have made it into the national headlines.

There are now more than 1,300 land claims filed against Canada by native groups, hundreds more filed against provinces, and the list, along with frustration, is growing longer under a system that is plagued with decade-long delays.

"Nobody is happy with the progress that is being made. Caledonia, Ipperwash, I don't know how many others we will have," said David White, director of the Walpole Island Heritage Centre that specializes in land claim research.

In addition to concerns that land claim clashes can explode into gunfire as they did at Oka, Ipperwash and Gustafsen Lake, the financial and territorial stakes are enormous.

The federal government has built a $6-billion contingency into its books, the estimated cost of settling all of what it calls "specific" claims, and has budgeted $100 million a year for such settlements.

University of Western Ontario law professor Michael Coyle, who has mediated land disputes for 16 years, said at the current rate, it will take 50 years for the federal government to resolve all the claims that have already been filed by native groups.

"The average claim filed with the federal government in this province that is in negotiation was filed about 16 years ago. That is a very long time for aboriginal Ontarians to think about how long they might have to fight in a dispute with the government without even having it resolved," Coyle said.

In one case, documented by the Indian Claims Commission, the Chippewas of the Thames hired a lawyer in 1885 over land that had been sold by the federal Indian agent, who pocketed the money. It took 120 years to win a final settlement.

The delays provide ideal ingredients for more violent standoffs, such as the 1995 clash between natives and OPP in Ipperwash Provincial Park that left native protester Dudley George dead from a police sniper's bullet.

"While it is not a smart idea to try to predict what will happen this year or five years from now in some place that we haven't even thought of, there will always be a risk of two things," Coyle said.

"One, of people with justifiable legal claims against a government feeling frustrated because they are being treated like second-class citizens because they are not able to have their rights honoured.

"The second risk is some people in some communities may feel they need to do more to get public attention to the grievance so that they can have it addressed."

Those are the ones that cover violations of treaties, some going back hundreds of years, and cover most of the land claims in Ontario.

There are about 230 such claims filed by First Nations in Ontario, but they could turn out to be the tip of the iceberg.

While Walpole Island, for instance, has 21 claims filed with the Canadian government, it has 34 claims it is working on.

"When you start researching one claim and looking at it, you discover other things," said White.

And then there are the claims filed against the province.

While the original treaties are a federal matter, Ontario sometimes becomes part of a claim because it controls all Crown land, a favourite target in land claim negotiations.

At other times, it is drawn in for enforcing provincial fishing and hunting regulations that are in direct conflict with rights that were promised to natives by the Crown.

Ontario is now negotiating seven land claims, and is reviewing another 50 claims to decide if it will agree to negotiate.

Other claims are being pursued through the courts.

Then there are claims called "comprehensive claims," involving allegations by a First Nations group that they never negotiated away their aboriginal title to the land, a concept that has been upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

One such claim that has been accepted as legitimate for negotiation by the Canadian government is the Algonquin land claim.

It covers 36,000 square kilometres and includes most of Algonquin Park, CFB Petawawa and the national capital region, including Parliament Hill. More than one million people live in the area covered by the claim.

The federal government has said a final settlement of that claim may include land, financial compensation, economic development initiatives and harvesting rights for fishing, hunting and trapping.

A similar claim based on aboriginal title has been launched by the Walpole Island First Nation and the Saugeen and Nawash First Nations.

The First Nations claim they have title to the land across to the U.S. border under sections of lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron, and the Detroit and St. Clair rivers.

Specific land claims range from relatively small ones, such as one the Oneida Nation of the Thames filed for mismanagement of 75 pounds sterling in 1842, to massive ones, such as the Six Nations claim to the land six miles on either side of the Grand River from Lake Erie to its source.

In the Walpole Island case, the First Nation is claiming the entire Sombra Township was supposed to be a reserve, but was instead sold off to settlers.

Most land claims involve allegations that the natives were never given all of the land originally promised in their treaties. In other cases, First Nations claim they were forgotten when the treaties were being negotiated.

And there have been documented cases of fraud, bribes paid to natives to get them to vote to surrender their land, and reserve land that was simply taken by the government and sold off

"A lot of things have gone wrong in the relationship in the past and dealings with aboriginal peoples and their lands and their rights," said Coyle.

And there is no quick fix.

The situation has reached the point that one of the first qualifications a First Nation looks at when they hire a lawyer to press their case is their age, White said.

"We want to be sure they will be around long enough to possibly see it through," he said.

NATIVE LAND CLAIMS IN ONTARIO

THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF LAND CLAIMS IN ONTARIO. RATHER, IT INCLUDES THE MAJOR CLAIMS AND THOSE AT VARIOUS STAGES BEFORE THE COURTS. THERE ARE MORE THAN 100 CLAIMS IN ONTARIO.

1. Algonquin land claim. The largest under negotiation in Ontario, covering 36,000 square kilometres that includes the nation's capital, Ottawa, most of Algonquin Park, and CFB Petawawa.

2. Six Nations of the Grand River has the most land claims filed in Ontario, including that the conditions of the Haldimand Deed of 1784 were breached. The deed gave natives all the land six miles on either side of the Grand River from its mouth to its source.

3. Walpole Island lawsuit claiming aboriginal title to the Canadian portions of Lake Huron south of Goderich, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair and Detroit rivers and the western part of Lake Erie.

4. Chenail Ecarte claim by Walpole Island First Nation covers Sombra Township and part of Chatham Township.

5. Boblo Island claim by Walpole Island First Nation.

6. Chippewas of Sarnia claim that 2,450 acres of its reserve was sold by the Crown in 1840 to politician Malcolm Cameron without the land being surrendered by the First Nation.

7. Caldwell band claims its members are original inhabitants, occupants and owners of Point Pelee and Pelee Island and that it never surrendered Point Pelee in 1790.

8. Kettle and Stony Point First Nation lawsuit claims the 1927 surrender of part of the Kettle Point reserve and its subsequent sale in 1929 is invalid.

9. Kettle and Stony Point First Nation claims the 1928 surrender and sale of 377 acres of the Stoney Point Reserve (Ipperwash Provincial Park) was invalid.

10. Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen First Nation have filed a lawsuit claiming aboriginal title to the land under the water beginning 18 kilometres south of Goderich, west to the American border, north around the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, east to the middle of Georgian Bay and south to Nottawasaga Bay.

11. Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen claim includes the return of 50,000 acres in the Bruce Peninsula plus financial compensation for treaty violations.

12. Chippewas of the Thames First Nation claim 5,120-acre Big Bear Creek Reserve was sold by the Crown in the 1830s without a proper surrender.

13. Mississauga Tribal Council claims that 1797 treaty for cession of lands at Burlington Bay was illegal and that the Mississauga Nation retained rights and title to lakeshore at Burlington Bay and 200 acres at Burlington Heights. Other claims include that lakeshore in the townships of Oakville Burlington, Mississauga and Etobicoke were never ceded by treaty or otherwise.

14. Mississauga Tribal Council claims land covered by the Niagara treaty of 1781 in Niagara region was never properly ceded.

15. Chippewas of Beausoleil, Rama and Georgina Island claim reserve land was taken illegally in 1836.

16. Curve Lake First Nation claims reserve land set aside in 1837 was flooded when dams constructed for the Trent-Severn Waterway raised water levels.

17. United Indian Council claims the 1923 Williams Treaty is invalid, that there was inadequate compensation for land taken and failure to provide reserves.

18. Alderville First Nation claims 2,350 acres at Bay of Quinte were taken without proper surrender.

19. Mohawks of Akwesasne claim islands in the St. Lawrence between Gananaque and Prescott.

20. Wahnapitae First nation claims it didn't receive amount of reserve land under its treaty.

21. Temagami First Nation claims it has aboriginal title to 10,360 square kilometres in vicinity of Lake Temagami.

22. Matachewan First Nation claims outstanding treaty land entitlement.

23. Wahgoshig First Nation alleges the 1951 and 1974 division of assets between the Wahgoshig and Abitibiwinni First Nations in Quebec was unfair.

24. Mattagami claim flooding of 1,340 acres of reserve.

25. Mississaugas of the Credit claims the Toronto Purchase (1787 & 1805) was illegal.

26. Chapleau Ojibway First Nation claims an error in 1906 led to a land entitlement shortfall under its treaty of 8,051 acres.

27. Moose Cree First Nation claims it is owed land under its treaty. Also, that Canada failed to provide 14 First Nation veterans with lands promised.

28. Missanabie Cree claims it was a separate and distinct band at the time of treaty and should have received full land entitlement.

29. Eight First Nations -- Long Lake, Pays Plat, Sand Point, Whitesand, Rocky Bay, Pic Mobert, Red Rock, and Ojibways of the Pic River -- claim they were never part of the Robinson Superior treaty and still retain aboriginal title to the lands covered by it: more than 50,000 square miles.

30. Eabametoong First Nation claims a population-count error in 1909 led to a land entitlement shortfall of about 10 square miles.

31. Weenusk First Nation claims a shortfall of 23.7 square miles in its treaty land.

32. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation claims it has not received full amount of treaty land.

33. Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation claims Canada permitted non-Indians to construct dams that led to the flooding of 1,300 acres of reserve land.

34. Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabauskang First Nation claim treaty shortfall of 7,314 acres.

35. Iskatewizaagegan claims there was an improper surrender of its land for flooding. It also claims 32 islands in Indian Bay.

36. Grand Council of Treaty No. 3 claims Indian Affairs sold Anicinabe Park without consultation.

37. Wauzhushk Onigum Nation suit over the flooding of the Lake of the Woods and the damage to reserve lands.

38. Couchiching First Nation claims a shortfall of 224,000 acres under its treaty land entitlement.

39. Lac La Croix First Nation claims Canada failed to prevent inclusion of unsurrendered reserve land in Quetico Provincial Park.

40. Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation claims it was never compensated for the flooding of more than 2,300 acres.

41. Lac Seul First Nation claims its land was illegally flooded and it received inadequate compensation.

42. Fort William First Nation claims reserve doesn't reflect original treaty.

43. Fort William First Nation claims a 5,000-acre sale of reserve land in 1859 was illegal.

44. Gull Bay First Nation claims it didn't receive the land it was entitled to under treaty.

45. Pays Plat First Nation is negotiating to increase size of its reserve.

46. Michipicoten First Nation claims the boundaries of reserve don't reflect what was promised in original treaty.

47. Whitefish River First Nation claims it didn't receive the full amount of treaty land.

48. Henvey Inlet First Nation claims land illegally taken from reserve.

49. Wikwemikong First Nation claims 41 islands near Manitoulin Island were never surrendered.

50. Moose Deer Point First Nation claims promises made in 1837 amounted to a treaty that included land for settlement.

Attawapiskat First Nation press release ...

Attawapiskat First Nation Denounces Metalex Ventures

ATTAWAPISKAT, Canada, February 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Attawapiskat First Nation is alerting shareholders and potential investors in Metalex Ventures (MTX), of Kelowna, B.C. that the work the Company is undertaking in Attawapiskat First Nation territory is being done without the involvement or agreement of the First Nation.

Metalex Ventures has continued exploration work throughout 2006 and 2007 without the support of Attawapiskat First Nation. On December 13, 2006 Metalex Ventures reported a kimberlite find in their T1 project. Attawapiskat First Nation has no intention of supporting the project as long as it continues to show disrespect for First Nation Rights.

Chief Mike Carpenter commented, "Our First Nation has demonstrated in the Victor Diamond Project that where our interests are accommodated, we are supportive partners. Where we are ignored as Metalex Ventures is doing, we will not go away quietly. These are our traditional lands and investors should be very cautious knowing that the First Nations interests have not been accommodated in this project."

Attawapiskat continues to work cooperatively with De Beers Canada and other exploration companies who have reached agreement with the First Nation.

Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Attawapiskat First Nation