National Day of Action events planned by First Nation groups and organizations
First Nation organizations and communities across Ontario are planning a variety of events to take place on the NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION, Friday, June 29. Everyone is invited to participate in any event and show your support for these demonstrations highlighting the inadequate government efforts to address poverty and third world conditions in First Nations. See the newspaper articles below as examples ...
The following list of events is just a sample of the type of gatherings being planned. Everyone is invited to contact their nearby First Nation or First Nation organization to find out how you can help make the government listen to Canadians who want immediate action to provide solutions and resources required to correct the wrongs imposed on Aboriginal people across the country.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation
Event Time: 10:00 AM
Event Location: Lakehead Labour Centre – 929 Fort William Road to Marina Park, Thunder Bay
Contact: Jenna Young Director of Communications Nishnawbe Aski Nation (807) 625 4952 jyoung@nan.on.ca.Batchewana First Nation, Garden River First Nation, First Peoples National Party of Canada and Various Sault Ste Marie Native Organizations
Event Time: 10 AM
Event Location: Clergue Park Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Contact: Cory Mcleod 705-945-6226Mushkegowuk Council
Event Time: 10:00 a.m
Event Location: Hollinger Park Timmins, Ontario
Contact: Grand Chief Louttit at 705-658-4222, cell 705-363-7670 or by email at stanlouttit@mushkegowuk.ca.Toronto Council Fire & Mississaugas of the New Credit
Event Time: 8:30 AM & 10 AM Starts
Event Location: Walk begins from Council Fire at 8:30 AM or meet at Little Norway Park (10 AM to 2 PM)
Contact: Jayne, Patricia, Jennifer or David at Council Fire
Tel.: (416) 360-4350 or email esecretary@councilfire.ca.
Link for more information: http://www.councilfire.ca/National Day of Action - London, Ontario
Event Time: Start at Sunrise - End at Dinner - 5:00pm
Event Location: *Sunrise Ceremony - N'Amerind Friendship Centre* 10:00am Meet at N'Amerind Friendship Centre, 260 Colborne St., London, Ontario and walk downtown to City Hall and then Harris Park. Guest Speakers will present at all locations. Potluck dinner to follow at N"amerind FC.
Contact: N'Amerind Friendship Centre 1-519-672-0131Saugeen First Nation
Event Time: 11 a.m. on June 29
Event Location: Saugeen First Nation Band Office
Contact: Saugeen First Nation - Chief Randall KahgeeMohawk Council of Akwesasne
Event Time: 10:00 am to 2 pm
Event Location: Cornwall Island, Ontario Open Field west side of Canada Customs compound
Contact: Akwesasne Rally for National Day of Action Russ E. Jock Mohawk Council of AkwesasneNipissing First Nation (NFN)
Event Time: 12:00 noon until 4:00 pm
Event Location: N’bisiing Education Centre 469B Couchie Memorial Dr. in Duchensay Ontario bordering North Bay just west of the city
Contact: Perry McLeod-Shabogesic (705) 471-3780 / 472-7888 (ext. 25) or Dwayne Nashkawa (705) 753-2050Assembly of First Nations
Event Time: 12:00 Noon
Event Location: Ottawa City Hall (Festival Plaza) at 110 Laurier Avenue West
Contact: Donnie Garrow at 1-866-869-6789; Fax: (613) 241-5808; dgarrow@afn.ca
Link for more information: http://www.afn.ca/nda.htmJane Mattinas Health Centre
Event Time: 9:30 a.m. June 29th
Event Location: Highway 11 Jct 663, Ontario
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National Chief Statement on potential illegal protests on June 29th
OTTAWA, June 27, 2007
I am aware of public statements in recent days about intentions to disrupt traffic during the National day of Action in support of First Nations on June 29th. While these comments have been widely reported they are isolated comments and do not reflect the position of the Assembly of First Nations, or the many First Nations across the country, who have organized peaceful and positive events that are inclusive of all Canadians.
The real story here is not about conflict. It is about the many events that are taking place across the country which, combined, make for one of the largest rallies ever held in Canada. The real story here is that we have an unprecedented critical mass of support for justice and fairness for First Nations. We have already received pledges of participation from various organizations, corporations, unions, church groups, and ordinary Canadians.
We respectfully urge Canadians not to criminalize First Nations people with respect to the actions they plan to take on June 29th and beyond. Our people do have a right to protest, as do all Canadians. The Assembly of First Nations has never resorted to illegal activities, or anything beyond the rule of law, to advance the causes of FN people.
We understand the frustration that exists among too many of our people. Our objective in organizing the National Day of Action is to provide a positive channel for that energy. We invite all Canadians to stand with us in support of a better life for First Nations and a stronger country for all Canadians.
In recent weeks, the AFN has met with various police forces, as well as CN and CP Rail, because of our mutual interest in ensuring public safety and security during the various events that will make up the National Day of Action.
Of course, the best way to prevent problems of a disruptive nature is for First Nations and Canada to show that we are working together for a better future, and to give our people hope. Since the National Day of Action was passed by resolution by the Chiefs in Assembly last December, the intent has always been to have a peaceful day of education and awareness in order to create a common rallying point for all Canadians to show their support and solidarity for First Nations people.
Phil Fontaine
National Chief
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Campaign brings together First Nations, non-natives
Local News - June 27, 2007
The Anishinabek Nation will launch a summer-long public education campaign Friday, as First Nations across Canada mark a national day of action.
The launch will be held at the Union of Ontario Indians head office with Grand Council Chief John Beaucage and special guests including Sam George, brother of Dudley George, who was killed during the Ipperwash standoff.
A postcard campaign will be unveiled during the launch, asking Ontario residents to join Anishinabek Nation citizens in endorsing key recommendations of the report of the Ipperwash inquiry.
The campaign is the first call to action for First Nations and non-native people to work together for a better future. Postcards will be delivered to Premier Dalton McGuinty Sept. 6.
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From the Belleville Intelligencer ...
Health issues overwhelm native community
Samantha Craggs - June 26, 2007
When posing for a photograph, Janet Brant Nelles smiles.
As program co-ordinator for Tyendinaga Home and Community Care, she has many reasons not to smile, however. With a small staff funded on a shoestring budget, Brant Nelles administers a program that sees firsthand the poor health condition of some of the members of her community.
She provides home care to about 50 patients on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory at any given time, from babies to the elderly. She concurs with the assessment by aboriginal leaders and health professionals that when it comes to First Nations, health issues tend to triple the rates of non-native communities.
"Our rate of diabetes is 30 or 40 per cent," said Brant Nelles. "And those are the ones that know (they have it)." By comparison, the Canadian Diabetes Association Quinte branch estimates about 12 per cent are diabetic in the general Quinte area.
Higher diabetes rates lead to a multitude of health problems. Brant Nelles estimates rates of heart disease and high blood pressure, dialysis, amputations and diabetic-related wounds such as ulcers are about 10 times higher on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory than in non-native communities. A nurse practitioner and graduate of Queen's University, Brant Nelles worked in operating rooms in Belleville, Trenton and Kingston and has seen the difference.
"Poverty, education, employment, mental health status, all of those things affect health," she said.
The proximity of grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables affect local health, she said. Native people also have what Brant Nelles calls a "thrifty gene," which historically allowed the hunter-gatherer population to go without food for long periods of time. The influx of western convenience foods is attributed to the higher rates of diabetes.
Broader figures of First Nations communities show an ailing population. In the province's 2005 Report on the Health Status of Aboriginal People, Dr. Chandrakant Shah reported that 50 per cent of aboriginal people living off-reserve smoke, with rates as high as 70 per cent in the late 1990s.
Forty-three per cent engage in binge drinking and 28 per cent use illegal drugs. Sixty-three per cent are considered overweight or obese, compared to 39 per cent of Canadians. Cancers in both sexes are on the rise, and in 1999, 10.7 per cent of all HIV/AIDS cases in Canada were aboriginal.
"The rule of thumb is that you can take almost any possible mental or physical health problem and multiply it by three in aboriginal communities," said Shah.
Throwing money at it, he said, is not necessarily the solution. The problem is deeply rooted and interconnected to other First Nations issues - land claims, the reserve system, the lack of cultural identity. All have led to the depression and mental health issues manifesting themselves in startling health statistics, he said.
"There is a lack of self-esteem and a lack of inner happiness," said Shah, who has organized a forum for Wednesday featuring former Prime Minister Paul Martin and Chief R. Donald Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. "Until we fix that, nothing will help ... It's a huge task, but it's a doable task."
At Anishnawbe Health Toronto, where Shah is a staff physician, a mixture of western and traditional medicine is used, such as sweat lodges and healing ceremonies, an approach that is "absolutely crucial" for native communities, he said.
In British Columbia, self-governing First Nations have found less suicide and better health in general amongst their people, he said. Related is the lack of aboriginal physicians. The University of Calgary spearheaded a program in the 1990s to leave five spots open in its medical school for indigenous students, and eight other universities have done the same, including the University of Ottawa, said Dr. Malcolm King, an Ojibway medical researcher from Ontario's Mississaugas of the New
Credit. King chairs the aboriginal health care careers committee in Calgary and the Aboriginal People's Health Institution, and is also past president of the Canadian Thorasics Society, making him the first aboriginal president of a mainstream medical organization.
"The barrier many aboriginal communities face is that their own education system at the high school level is just not conducive to training and science and the subjects needed to get into medicine," King said. "There is already a much higher high school drop-out rate in most aboriginal communities anyway."
King sees the solution as being not just with the government, but with aboriginal communities themselves. The tide is turning, but more communities need to develop their own health promotion programs, he said.
"Governments really can't do anything," he said. "They can't go in and change things. The change has to come from within, a desire to do something for the community, followed by more of a collaborative working arrangement between governments and First Nations communities. We can't just throw money at it."
Like Shah, however, King sees a link between what the government isn't doing, such as settling land claims, and health. Until land claims are resolved and a settlement with residential school survivors is reached, the needed "respectful relationship" to curb physical and mental health issues can't exist, he said.
"Until that's solved, there isn't the will," he said. "People may think it shouldn't have anything to do with it, but it does."
For her part, Brant Nelles is helping the change. She is helping the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte band council develop its own strategic plan for health, which will see a new perspective for a healthier community. A public meeting in February drew about 100 people. Then 10 people, ranging from social services workers to the band council's CAO, did a four-day retreat to develop a plan. It is expected to be ratified in the fall.
The plan will include short- and long-term goals and encompass the areas of mind, body and spirit, she said.
"For each of those three areas, we look at the things that might affect them," she said. "We also defined what health means to us."
With her training, Brant Nelles could actually be writing prescriptions and treating ailments on the reserve, but jurisdictional wrangling has prevented the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte from getting approval, said spokesman Brant Bardy said. The Ministry of Health says it is a federal matter, while Health Canada sends them back to the province.
"That happens with a lot of issues, not just health care," he said. King supports the aboriginal day of action, provided it is peaceful, to eventually improve the health of aboriginal communities.
"It's important to get these political issues out in the open and dealt with so we can get on with issues like health and education," he said. "They are so critical to aboriginal peoples that they really have to be dealt with, or we're never going to get where we need to go."
Statistics
50 per cent of aboriginal people smoke on a daily basis. In 1997, 79 per cent of males and 72 per cent of females were smokers.
43 per cent engage in binge drinking, and 28 per cent use illegal drugs.
63 per cent of First Nations people aged 18-34 are considered overweight or obese, compared to 39 per cent of Canadians.
Health problems on the increase in aboriginal communities include diabetes, ischemic heart disease and cancers in both sexes.
The suicide rate in aboriginal communities is three to four times greater, as are the rates of most mental illnesses. At least 75 per cent of aboriginal women have experienced family violence, and an estimated 20,697 aboriginals in Ontario are currently suffering from a major mental disorder, most commonly depression, anxiety and substance abuse.
Source: Report on the Health Status of Aboriginal People in Ontario, 2005, by Dr. Chandrakant P. Shah.