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Chiefs of Ontario press release ...

Statement from Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse on National Day of Action

    TORONTO, June 29 /CNW/ - The recent events in and around the area of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Alderville First Nation, and near Bala, Ontario are a result of the actions of a few individuals and are not reflective of the collective resolve of the First Nations in Ontario. There is no doubt that First Nations have longstanding legitimate grievances that must be addressed now and not ten, twenty or thirty years down the road. The National Day of Action was planned to initiate a peaceful process to raise awareness about these legitimate grievances, and to continue to advocate for the full recognition and respect of First Nations aboriginal and Treaty rights. First Nations leaders are responsible to represent, and speak for their citizens. First Nations leaders have clearly stated that the frustration and despair in our communities is palpable. We cannot stand by and pretend this is not the case. First Nations leaders have done their utmost to bring this situation to light, while advocating peaceful and constructive measures to build momentum and support for genuine, positive action on the part of governments to improve the quality of life for First Nations citizens. This means taking action to move beyond the grinding poverty and the hopelessness that exists now.

    We are all responsible to address and improve this situation --- First Nations leaders, Canadians, and Government. One must ask themselves why it takes blockades, or threats of blockades and occupations to force the Government to act. The Oka crisis in 1990 forced some change. For example, the Indian Claims Commission was established following the conclusion of the Oka crisis. Additionally, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was created. The 400 or so recommendations from the RCAP have been all but ignored. Now in 2007, with the threat of blockades and further uncertainty once again looming, both levels of government have made positive announcements that First Nations leaders have been advocating for over many years. These announcements include the creation of an independent body to settle land claims, and for more resources to support the settlement of claims in a more expedient manner. Why does it have to come to this for the government to act? Canadians must ask their elected officials this question.

    First Nations people believe in resolving differences in a peaceful manner. We remain committed to this principle and implore all First Nations citizens to stand with us in our collective efforts. The First Nation leadership in Ontario appeals for calm, restraint and good judgment on the part of all parties on this National Day of Action. We are appealing to all First Nations citizens to focus on the true message and to not lose sight of it, as this will only serve to detract us from achieving progress and building a strong network of support. We call on the Government of Canada to work with First Nations leadership in a true spirit of partnership, reflective of the Nation to Nation relationship that the sacred Treaties established. First Nations leaders call on both levels of government to move beyond the rhetoric by taking concrete and immediate actions to settle our legitimate grievances. The policies of inaction have consequences, and unfortunately, we are seeing more and more what these consequences can be. This benefits no one, and hurts all of us. Let's finally move beyond the status quo. First Nations leaders in Ontario are certainly willing to move forward in a positive manner for the good of all our citizens.

For further information: Pam Hunter, (905) 683-0322 or Policy Advisor, (613) 720-5539

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AFN National Chief Calls National Day of Action an Overwhelming Success and Show of Support for First Nations: "A hundred thousand strong, and a hundred points of hope"

"We are looking for the basic necessities of life that come with being Canadian - clean drinking water, decent housing, education and health care. We are looking for equality of opportunity so we can get good jobs and support ourselves and our families. We are looking to control our own destinies. Improving our lives will not only be good for us. It will be good for Canada."

AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine
Speaking to 3,000 supporters
National Day of Action event on Algonquin territory in Ottawa, Ontario

     OTTAWA, June 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine stated that today's National Day of Action organized by the Assembly of First Nations was an overwhelming success.

     "First Nations and Canadians across the country organized and participated in more than one hundred events," said National Chief Fontaine. "This is one of the largest rallies in Canadian history based on the sheer number of events and the number of locations. Today, the story is not about conflict or confrontation. It is about the overwhelming critical mass of support for justice and fairness for First Nations."

     The National Chief took part in the Ottawa event, which attracted approximately 3,000 supporters. The National Chief was joined by political leaders such as Liberal leader Stephan Dion and NDP leader Jack Layton, union leaders, church leaders, First Nations leaders and citizens and many non-Aboriginal Canadians. The Day of Action is also supported by all Premiers and Territorial leaders and many businesses including Canadian Pacific railways.

     "I hope the federal government takes note of this massive show of support for our people and our cause," said the National Chief. "This is a Day of Action and clearly Canadians want to see action. First Nations have a plan for progress and prosperity. All we need now is for the federal government to step up and demonstrate the will and the vision to work with us in partnership for a better, stronger Canada."

     In his address to the crowd, National Chief Fontaine called for immediate action to address the poor social conditions that afflict too many First Nations. The National Chief called on the federal government to honour its promises to First Nations; to implement the plan agreed to at the First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues in Kelowna, BC; to apologize to survivors of residential schools; and to work with First Nations to give life to their rights as recognized in Canada's Constitution.

     The National Chief noted that all AFN-organized events were peaceful and positive.

     "I thank all our supporters for gathering in a spirit of cooperation, and I commend law enforcement officials for their commitment to a measured and non-confrontational approach," said the National Chief.

     The National Chief noted that the Day of Action is only the beginning of creating a new era of peace and prosperity for First Nations. The AFN's Annual General Assembly takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia July 10-12, during which there will be a discussion about the National Day of Action and next steps. As well, the National Chief has been invited to meet with all Premiers and Territorial leaders on August 8 in Moncton, New Brunswick.

     "Today is only a beginning, but an excellent start to the work we must do as a nation," said National Chief Fontaine. "If we were to look at Canada from above today, we would see more than a hundred rallies and marches across the land, and thousands and thousands of people showing their support for a better quality of life for First Nations. Each event and each individual represents a point of hope - hope for a better future for First Nations, and hope for a stronger, more united Canada for all Canadians. We see the support for our cause: more than a hundred thousand strong, and a hundred points of hope."

     The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations in Canada.

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/For further information: Bryan Hendry, A/Director of Communications,
(613) 241-6789, ext. 229, cell (613) 293-6106, bhendry@afn.ca; Nancy Pine, Communications Advisor - Office of the National Chief, (613) 241-6789, ext 243, (613) 298-6382, npine@afn.ca/

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INAC press release ...

Statement by the honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians regarding the National Day of Action

     OTTAWA, June 29 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians issued the following statement today regarding the events that took place around today's National Day of Action.

     Today a number of Aboriginal organizations and communities across the country took part in activities relating to the National Day of Action. The express purpose of this day was to raise awareness of the serious issues facing Aboriginal people in this country. The vast majority of Aboriginal people taking part in these activities did so without causing disruptions for Canadians.

     Canada's New Government has made real progress in addressing the issues facing Aboriginal people in Canada. We understand that the status quo is not sustainable - that the gaps in health, social and economic conditions must be closed. That is why, along with the provinces and territories, we will continue to work with responsible Aboriginal leaders to bring real improvements to the quality of life of Aboriginal people through improvements in housing, water conditions, education, economic development and accelerating the land claims process. Since taking office, we have focused our efforts on practical, results-oriented action.

     I can confidently tell all Aboriginal people in Canada and other Canadians that we will continue to follow through on our commitments. We will measure our performance as we go and we will ensure that our efforts are open, transparent and accountable to all Canadians.

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/For further information: Deirdra McCracken, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Jim Prentice, (819) 997-0002; This release is also available on the Internet at http://www.inac.gc.ca./

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 705-945-6226

Mushkegowuk 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 1-519-672-0131

Saugeen First Nation
Event Time: 11 a.m. on June 29
Event Location: Saugeen First Nation Band Office
Contact: Saugeen First Nation - Chief Randall Kahgee

Mohawk 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 Akwesasne

Nipissing 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) 753-2050

Assembly 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.htm

Jane 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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From the North Bay Nugget ...

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.

SLAAMB press release ...

New Aboriginal Apprenticeship Research Initiative Announced For 30 Remote First Nation Communities

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 (Sioux Lookout, ON) – A new initiative is underway for 30 remote First Nations located in the Sioux Lookout area to improve access and opportunity for First Nations people who are currently employed or want to be employed in the skilled trades. The 30 First Nations being targeted are the ones served by the former Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital.

The initiative is funded by Human Resources Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and will bring together the expertise of other numerous local and provincial partners.  The anticipated outcome of this research project would be to support Ontario’s and Canada’s need to generate a new wave of home grown skilled workforce in the trades while improving the social and economic conditions of the First Nations people as a result of obtaining a career in the trades.  

The Sioux Lookout Regional Centre For Aboriginal Apprenticeship Research (CAAR) Initiative is designed to maximize training and job opportunities around the construction of the Sioux Lookout Health Centre (Meno-Ya-Win) and the new hostel. The initiative will develop partnerships and tools that will facilitate, enhance and support the recruitment, retention and advancement of First Nations people in the skilled trades.

The Sioux Lookout Area Chiefs, Job Connect, the Municipality of Sioux Lookout, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada (AHRDCC), Confederation College, Northwestern Ontario Building and Construction Trades Council and the Meno-Ya-Win Health Centre by way of letters of support support the CAAR Initiative.
 
SLAAMB will work with the Apprenticeship office in Kenora (MTCU) to assess the skill levels of the various community members who have worked in the construction field over the last 15 – 20 years without their trade’s certification. After assessing their skill levels, we will prepare them to challenge the various trades’ exams (carpentry, electrical & plumbing). We will also place some people in apprenticeship to obtain their trade’s certification. At the same time, we will deliver pre-apprenticeship and upgrading of employment skills using the internet and video conferencing so people can stay in their home communities while upgrading/improving their skill levels.

This project will give the First Nations People in the area the opportunity to get their trades certification and become part of the future labour force to address the sever lack of trades people.

Last but certainly not least, we thank Human Resources Social Development Canada (HRSDC) for funding this important new initiative. We would ask the provincial Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to come on side with this important project by providing the additional resources needed to help ensure its success and a trades training school here in Sioux Lookout.  

For more information, contact:

Mr. Bob Bruyere
SLAAMB Coordinator
(807) 737-4047 or
bbruyere@slaamb.on.ca

From CNEWS ...

First Nations activists erect nine-metre teepee on lawn of Ont. legislature
By JERED STUFFCO - June 25, 2007

John Cutfeet is silhouetted outside the provincial legislature in Toronto, Monday June 25, 2007 after a nine-metre teepee was erected by members of the Grassy Narrows and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nations. 

TORONTO (CP) - Activists from two northern Ontario First Nations groups erected a nine-metre teepee on the front lawn of the Ontario legislature Monday, four days before a planned national aboriginal day of protest.

Members of the Grassy Narrows and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nations said they were using the teepee to draw attention to the continued logging and mineral extraction on their traditional lands. "Our traditional territory has been destroyed by forestry operations," said Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister.

"All the trees are gone, all the animals are gone, and there's been no compensation for our people."

Fobister also said the demonstration was intended to educate the public in advance of the day of protest on June 29.

John Cutfeet, a spokesman for the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, said the mining of minerals on traditional lands near Thunder Bay is illegal.

"What we're saying is it's now time for this government to recognize our rights and uphold the laws of this land," he said, noting a Supreme Court of Canada ruling stating that aboriginals must be consulted about resource development on their traditional lands. 

David Ramsay, the province's minister of natural resources and aboriginal affairs, insisted his office does consult with aboriginal groups before issuing permits, and he called the matter "a difference of opinion."

He said aboriginal groups and the provincial government have been unable to fully agree over the definition of a consultation, but added his ministry has tried to avoid allocating logging permits near trapping grounds and species migration areas.

Leah Fontaine, a 20-year-old who lives on the Grassy Narrows reserve near Kenora, Ont., travelled to Toronto last week to take part in Monday's protest.

"Our trapping and our wildlife are being destroyed by the logging companies," she said.

Only a few minutes from her home, Fontaine said massive areas of the forest have been clearcut.

"It's depressing."

But while the area has seen an increase in logging activity, she said none of the economic benefits have reached the reserve, which suffers from 75 per cent unemployment.

"In Grassy, there's maybe only 50 jobs and there's about 800 people there," she said. "It's impossible to find a job."

Grassy Narrows resident Melissa Fobister, 26, said previous efforts by the band to deter logging on their traditional lands have resulted in the logging companies moving to remote locations less easily accessed by roads.

"It's almost like they're being sneaky," she said, adding that the recent birth of her child has motivated her to take action.

"I have a young son, so I just want to protect our lands for him and other future generations."

The protesters did not say how long they planned to keep the teepee in front of the legislature in place.

The demonstration was organized in conjunction with the Rainforest Action Network and Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug: Our Home and Native Land

The following is a speech made by John Cutfeet on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007, at as part of a Roundtable on the Duty to consult aboriginal peoples and Ontario's Mining Act, at the Canadian Law and Society Association meetings at the Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

Greetings to all of you from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug!

These greetings come to you from 600 kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay. You may have heard of the legal issues surrounding our territory now I want to introduce you to our land, which we call Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug territory. I hope by the time I finish you will better understand and appreciate why we believe that we have a sacred responsibility to protect our home and native land for future generations.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug territory, the heart of the north, is located South of the Hudson Bay coast. Kitchenuhmaykoosib means the big lake where the trout are found. Inninuwug means the people and when you put them together it means the peoples of the Big Lake where the trout are found. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug is home to approximately fifteen hundred people who live on and continue to utilize the land and the waters in the same way as our ancestors have for centuries before us.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib is also the site where the adhesion to Treaty Nine was signed on July 5, 1929.

My grandmother Marion Anderson, an Order of Ontario recipient, and her best friend, Jemima Morris, were present at the signing of the treaty adhesion in Kitchenuhmaykoosib. Jemima, a living witness to the signing of the adhesion in July 5, 1929; was 12 years old when this took place. Jemima spoke with me while I was living in the city.

She said, “kuhoshehtoon shakeh, daaki.”

I didn’t understand or know why she was telling me this, as I've lived away from the community most of my adult life. I had only participated in traditional land activities until I was in my late teens. She was telling me that I had to create or make my land. I came to understand later that I had to create my environment with everything that was around me. What she was telling me was that I had the authority to be able to do that. That is a very empowering statement coming from an Elder.

I fully began to comprehend and appreciate these instructions after I was placed in a position of leadership. It is with this knowledge in 1999 when I became part of the leadership under the Chief and Council system that I became
responsible for the Lands and Environment portfolio. It is at that time that our community began to look at laws that would help us protect and preserve Kitchenuhmaykoosib lands for future generations.

My grandmother, Marion Anderson was 16 years old when the treaty adhesion was signed in our community. She was exercising leadership qualities at that age, unlike 16 year olds of today. She understood the rights that came from the treaty promises had to be respected; they were sacred.

What made them sacred was the language - using God's creation to symbolize how long the treaty commitments would last. To get Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug support, the Treaty Commission said that these commitments would remain for "as long as the sun shines, the rivers flow, and the grass grows."

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug recognizing the supremacy of God, who created the sun, water, moon and stars in the heavens, the earth and all creatures including man, understood this to mean that these promises would last forever. Marion Anderson heard these words but you do not see this commitment reflected in the treaty document.

The Treaty Commission arrived with the papers already completed, minus the signatures- with the paper written in English only.

Although the document was not translated at the signing, the words at the time were translated and that is what Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug understood to be the content of these documents. That is the basis for the sharing of the land and "all that it possesses."

In signing the adhesion, our forefathers understood that we would live in peace and harmony with the newcomers to this great land. They understood and we understand that we were to share in the wealth extracted throughout the territory under treaty # 9. Our ancestors never understood the signing of the treaty to represent a mass land surrender.

There was also another pressing reason why our forefathers signed the treaty #9 adhesion. They wanted to put a stop to the harassment of our hunters, trappers, and fishermen by the Department of Lands and Forest, as they went about their daily routine of providing for their families from the land. In nineteen hundred and ten (1910) the province was parceling off our land, 19 years before the adhesion was signed in 1929. It is our view that they had no legal right to impose their laws and to even be in our territory before the signing of the 1929 adhesion.

The signing of the treaty adhesion became a mechanism for which we would engage with the newcomers to this land. The treaty land entitlement process became a way to which we could begin to settle the outstanding land that we claim is still owing to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Innininuwg. We filed a land claim in 2000 for the lands that we calculated were still owing, in the amount of more than 200 square miles.

In 2007, the province of Ontario, without the courtesy of written notice beforehand to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, referenced our claim in court, saying that "it is tenuous at best and without merit."

Over seven years had gone by since the claim had been filed with no response from Ontario. When we challenged their practice of handing out a permit that will impact on our potential land selection, they came out and discounted our land claim. Canada still hasn't decided.

The land claim process was only one mechanism that we reviewed in 2000 that we could utilize to protect and preserve our territory and have a say in how development, if any, were to occur in our territory.

Over the years, we noticed that the Supreme Court of Canada had been making rulings that called for consultation and accommodation if treaty rights were going to impacted through the actions of the Crown. For Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, there was nothing in place at that time which said this is how we want to be consulted so we developed our own Consultation Protocol. This protocol was recognized by Justice Patrick Smith in the first two rulings along with the outstanding treaty land entitlement claim.

Although we utilized current processes like the Land Claims process and the Supreme Court ruling of consultation and accommodation, the Ontario government issued a permit to Platinex Incorporated (based in Aurora, Ontario) to come and install a drilling program in our territory. Platinex claimed that they were told that they had "quiet possession” of the land, so without our knowledge and consent, armed with a provincial permit, they proceeded toward a drilling program in February of 2006.

When Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug found out that there were intruders on the land without our knowledge, a protest was organized, until the drilling crew left and we were served with a ten billion dollar lawsuit plus change by Platinex. They also filed for an injunction to prevent us from interfering with their drilling program.

Justice Smith ruled in our favour by giving us an interim injunction for five months when consultations were to occur.

Since this ruling, free-entry into our territory is no longer free. There are now certain requirements that have to be addressed by the company, including: provisions for burial sites, environmental impacts; impacts to hunting and trapping; participation in decision-making, use of KI supplies and services; employment, and compensation and funding.

In the latest ruling, the court referenced treaties as being "special agreements, made between sovereign states." Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug have always believed that we signed the treaty sovereign to sovereign.

How, then, can a creation of Canada, a successor state, such as a province determine what happens on our land? As far as we are concerned, with the non-fulfillment of our treaty land entitlement, aboriginal title remains until the land claim is settled and the people have given their consent to give up all rights to land.

I would like to introduce you to a concept, a law, that we utilized in asking the drilling company to leave the territory.

In the absence of the Crown respecting its own processes and the Supreme Court ruling, the law of the land, we had to invoke Kitchenuhmaykoosib Ininuwug sacred law of Kanawayandan D'aaki.

As early as I can remember, my late father, Daniel Cutfeet, had used his skills as a hunter, fisherman, and a trapper to provide sustenance for his family just like his father and his father’s father before that. This land has supported generations of Cutfeet right to the present day. A culture built around hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and harvesting activities requires intimate knowledge and respect for the very land that ensures your very survival.

Even confined to his wheelchair, my father guided me on where to set nets during certain times of the year by drawing maps. His knowledge of the fish and animal patterns in the lake and on the land came from exercising these skills he learned from his father and his father before him. This knowledge accumulated over generations and Daniel Cutfeet understood and respected how this land sustained countless generations before him. He knew what Kanawayandan D'aaki meant.

Kanawayandan D'aaki! That is what the elders say when they give us the original instructions to look after the land.

Kanawayandan D'aaki means “look after my land”, but most importantly, it means “keep my land”. Kanawayandan D'aaki not only means you have a responsibility to look after the land but that you also have a sacred duty from our Creator "God Almighty" to fulfill this sacred responsibility.

This term represents the passing of the responsibility from generation to generation that occurred to ensure the survival of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug. Our primary responsibilities as keepers of the land revolve around our spiritual mandate to preserve and protect it Kanawayandan D'aaki!

The special, spiritual relationship we have with the land is based on how we interact with the land and the respectful way we view our land that provides for all our needs. It is only natural that we safeguard and preserve our
traditional lands that sustain our culture and our way of life if we are to be true to our core beliefs. We believe that there is no aspect of our lives that is untouched by the land and water, which is why there is a high priority on protecting the relatively unspoiled character of our land base. We also have to ensure that it continues to support our future generations.

Justice Patrick Smith understood what we are talking about when he wrote:

The relationship that aboriginal peoples have with the land cannot be understated. The land is the very essence of their being. It is their very heart and soul. No amount of money can compensate for its loss. Aboriginal identity, spirituality, laws, traditions, culture, and rights are connected to and arise from this relationship to the land.

What he describes and says is Kanawayandan D'aaki!

It is under these teachings and beliefs that Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug acted on in our own defense by asserting our God-given authority to protect our lands in the pursuit of justice, justice that has until Justice Patrick Smith's ruling had been non-existent and remains elusive for Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.

When the exploration company came onto our land without permission from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, it directly challenged our culture, our spirituality, and the sacred mandate that had been entrusted to us by the Creator to protect the land in which we were placed.

For too long the practice and exercise of this responsibility has been suppressed and demeaned by this government. Land and all that exists within it, including Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug continue to be stripped away. Our right to lands or the exercise of our aboriginal and treaty rights is denied, or ignored, at best.

The actions of the governments deny Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug a basic human right: the right to exist! The right to exist in peace and comfort; and to ensure that survival continues based on our worldview, culture and spiritual connection; and to be safe in our lives on our own lands within our own customs.

Before the signing of the treaty adhesion in 1929 in our community, the Crown was interfering in the lives of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug by harassing our people as they went about their daily lives of providing for our families as we have done since time immemorial.

Much like as it was before 1929, our experience remains the same. We have to continue to be vigilant when it comes to our wellbeing and our survival on the land that was provided for us. That vigilance includes watching the actions of those who made the treaty with us and whose descendents wish to deny historical sacred agreements to which all parties agreed.

The current Supreme Court ruling made the following statements about consulation:

First Peoples do not have a veto over development and the consultation and accommodation;

The process has to be meaningful; and it has to try to achieve the goal of Reconciliation between First Peoples and the Crown.

Our position asks how the process can be meaningful, if consultation and accommodation is only a formality and the project is a foregone conclusion.

The consultation process then becomes meaningless, as the process doesn't allow you to say No to project that can jeopardize your way of life and to your environment.

Our consultation protocol calls for a referendum, and in a referendum, you have the choice to say yes or no as part of the principles of democracy. How, then, if it has been recognized at the Superior Court level can this be denied to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug?

In the first decision the judge referred to irreparable harm for KI by the fact that we would be losing a valuable piece of property which could potentially form part of our treaty land entitlement settlement. If staking and drilling continue at this point, a third party interest would have been created in the territory.

Under the federal land claims policy, these lands would be off the table and we would have lost a potential valuable piece of land. That is irreparable harm.

How can there be reconciliation if the Crown continues to wage war on our aboriginal and treaty rights on a daily basis?

On Wednesday of this past week, SLAAMB offically launched their new Centre for Aboriginal Apprenticeship Research (CAAR) initiative (http://slaamb.on.ca/caar.html). The initiative is receiving over three million dollars from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada over the next three years to support the development of this program.

CAAR is a three year pilot project utilizing new and innovative tools to promote Aboriginal Apprenticeships in Northern Ontario.

The Sioux Lookout Aboriginal Area Management Board (SLAAMB - http://slaamb.on.ca ) is establishing a new Centre for Aboriginal Apprenticeship Research (CAAR) in Sioux Lookout. CAAR's objective is to plan, implement and document the apprenticeship development services and supports developed for the Centre for Aboriginal Apprenticeship Research project. Goals are:

• Increase the number of Aboriginal people in various trades across Northern Ontario.
• Utilizing various ICT applications to enhance the delivery of service .
• Provide the support services needed for the participants
  Liase with First Nations, Ministry of Training, College and Universities and Employers
• Document all findings

An overview of the steps for getting involved in this new initiative can be found at http://slaamb.on.ca/apply.html

Step 1: Interested in a trade - How to apply

If you are interested in learning a new trade and willing to apprentice, CAAR will be able to assist you. Please visit or call our office to make an appointment.

Step 2: Qualifying - See if you qualify

Various trades have various standards for entry. At your appointment, please bring all your transcripts from school and a resume to see if you qualify.

Step 3: Challenging the exam - Written exam

Once you meet or exceed the mininum requirements, then you then be asked to challenge the exam. Once participants pass the exam, they can proceed to step 4.

Step 4: Placement - Earning time

Upon sucessful passing of the exam, participants can now start earning time towards their "ticket". Depending on the field, from time to time, individuals may require addition testing and/or class study during the apprenticeship.

From the Straight Goods ...

Treaties are just the starting point - Indigenous people work hard to recover their connection with their ancestors and with the land.
by Kate Harries - June 18, 2007

[Editor's Note: Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says he's going to expedite specific claims, numbering around 800, as they arise from the government's failure to live up to legal obligations entered into by treaty. But specific claims are just the tip of the iceberg. Comprehensive claims arise where aboriginal lands were taken without treaties or other legal processes. And then there are a myriad of other disputes in which aboriginal rights run up against federal or provincial government regulation — such as the one involving the people who once lived on Trout Lake in northwestern Ontario. In the nearby gold-mining town of Red Lake, trapper Kaaren Dannenman and the Ontario government faced off in court recently over a community's attempts to recover lost skills and traditions. ]

In May 2006, the Ministry of Natural Resources office on Red Lake's main street was struck by lightning. Nature scoring a direct hit on the people who manage Ontario's wilderness.

"Maybe Creator was giving them a warning," my friend Kaaren Olsen Dannenmann laughed as we drove past the still vacant MNR building in early June this year. Her trial on charges laid by the ministry had just concluded, with judgment reserved until October, and after three days of handling her own defence, her relief was palpable.

The Ministry has thwarted the Trout Lake community's efforts to find healing and recover lost skills and memories, says aboriginal activist.

Trapper, teacher, activist, Kaaren's a force of nature herself. You might not give her a second look if you met her in the grocery store, a middle-aged Anishinaape woman wearing glasses, long black hair shot with grey cascading down her back. In fact, she says, it's a not uncommon experience for a cashier to look right through her at the check-up counter and prepare to ring in the next customer's purchases. "It's not on purpose," she says. "They apologize when they realize — but they just don't see us." That's how racism works, she says. The other — in this case, the aboriginal — is invisible. "It's as if we aren't there."

But she was a powerful presence in the Red Lake courtroom. She and her husband Phil are charged with building a cabin on public lands without a permit, and ignoring a verbal stop-work order. His case has been deferred. Robert Ponton, a justice of the peace from London, Ontario, heard Kaaren's case and he gave her considerable leeway in presenting the aboriginal perspective on the charges. Like the aboriginal worldview in which all elements of creation are interconnected, and community is a concept that includes people, trees, birds, rocks and visitors, her perspective was all-encompassing.

She quoted Judge Sidney Linden's report of his inquiry into the police shooting of Dudley George, at which the MNR acknowledged that "the historic policies and practices of provincial and federal governments have resulted in ongoing disenfranchisement and displacement of aboriginal people from their land and traditional practices in Canada."

She noted that the Ipperwash report refers to MNR's "high-handed and adversarial stance" in dealing with aboriginal people, using prosecution and other court actions rather than engaging them in determining the extent of their rights.

Evidence put forward by the Crown included a series of photos taken by James Guise, an MNR conservation office. One picture showed a motor boat. "Do you know what the significance of that boat is to us?" asked Kaaren, who cross-examined the MNR witnesses. "No, I don't," Guise replied. Kaaren explained that the boat was given to the Trout Lake people by the family of Dudley George and represents the strong connection the community feels to the inquiry. "I'm just surprised how little you know about the things you are photographing," she told him.

Kaaren also pointed out that none of the photographs submitted to the court — taken by Guise at different times — showed posters on the wall of the cabin advertising upcoming gatherings. At her request, those photos were found and filed as evidence of the communal nature of the cabin. She told Ponton that she built the cabin as a gathering place for the NamekosipiiwAnishinaapek, who once lived along the waterways and forests of Trout Lake, Red Lake and Lac Seul. She recounted the sad history of her people following the 1925 discovery of gold in the Trout Lake area and the construction of two residential schools in Northwestern Ontario. "I don't think it was a coincidence that those two events occurred in the same year," she said.

Born in 1950 to an Anishinaape mother and a Norwegian father who obtained a commercial fishing licence and lived on Trout Lake, Kaaren remembers a community of some 100 people, still pursuing a traditional lifestyle — although the migratory patterns followed by their forebears were constrained by the flooding for a hydro-electric dam of seasonal harvesting places, and their subsistence lifestyle was running up against competition for resources from mining, forestry and tourism interests.

As the residential school children returned to their community, they turned out to have been poorly educated and lacking the skills to survive on the land. They had lost their language and they had been taught to despise who they were. "In the 1960s was when people really started drinking." she testified. "Within a 10-year span we lost a whole generation of kids to Children's Aid."

At some stage, she noted, perhaps in the 1970s, MNR decided that the Trout Lake Anishnaape had lost their right to live in their homeland and build residential shelters for their families. Their descendants number over 1,300, including adoptees who were dispersed across North America, some of whom are coming back.

Local community members, living in Red Lake, Kenora and Winnipeg, started holding regular meetings in 1998, first at the cabin on Olsen Island where Kaaren was born and grew up. There wasn't enough room there, and so construction began of the 24 by 24 foot structure on a beach on the north shore of the lake, where Kaaren has her trapline (an area along the north shore of Trout Lake where she holds a license to trap). This is where community members learn trapping and traditional skills, gatherings are held, and camps are organized for aboriginal and non-aboriginal children to gain an understanding of the ancient ways of living in the forest.

"I made every effort to have the lines of authority that I believed were applicable to us in doing this," she said. She met with MNR district manager Graeme Swanwick and told him what she was planning. She filled out an application for a work permit, amending the document however to read "agreement" rather than "permit."

"I believe there's a role for MNR," she explained, "but I don't believe it's policing us. I believe we're capable of doing that ourselves. The non-aboriginal community needs that type of enforcement in place." She took Stanwick's verbal stop-work order as a request that she chose to ignore, believing that an official order would be in written form.

The efforts of the Trout Lake community to find healing and recover lost skills and memories have been consistently thwarted by the ministry, Kaaren told Ponton. "Re-membering our collective life gives us strength and hope and joy. Why is MNR not working to facilitate that effort instead of putting all kinds of roadblocks in our way?"

She recalled that doing research in the 1980s, she found letters from tourism camp operators in MNR files dating back to the 1960s, requesting that the Indians of Trout Lake not be allowed to build any more cabins because they were "an eyesore" for the guests who were flown in to fish and hunt. Some cabins belonging to her cousins were torched by MNR officials. Another cousin had an attractive log cabin. It was dismantled piece by piece when he was away one summer and rebuilt on the property of a camp operator. When he returned he complained to what was then the department of lands and forests; they refused to help him. "My experience," Kaaren said, "has given me a strong message that MNR would much rather see me and my people homeless and drunk on the streets of Red Lake."

Under cross-examination by crown attorney Brian Wilkie, Kaaren agreed that her hope is for a vibrant permanent community to be re-established on Trout Lake. "If you had your way would you ever come back to Red Lake?" he asked. "No," she said. And the cabin on Anton Beach would be her permanent home base? No, she replied, that's not her vision of her permanent home on Trout Lake, "it's not what it looks like and it's not what it's going to look like."

Wilkie argued that the matter was an open and shut case. Kaaren had admitted to having built the cabin there, with a little help from her friends — whom she refused to name. While the Supreme Court has ruled that a cabin is needed for an aboriginal to exercise the right to hunt and trap, Wilkie pointed out that there were several structures on Kaaren's trapline that would provide the necessary shelter.

He challenged her portrayal of the cabin as a communal facility. On the shores of Anton Beach (the beach was named by Kaaren for her grandson) with a wonderful view of Trout Lake, the cabin is in an idyllic location, he pointed out. A satellite dish had been rigged up to provide reception for a TV and Dannenman built a child's playhouse at the request of her granddaughter. "It's a beautiful personal home," Wilkie said. "It's not some communal hall for 50 or 60 people. It's the sort of cottage all of us would like to have."

In her reply, Kaaren explained that the reason there were several cabins on her trapline was that the layout was designed by her brother — the head trapper on the line until he died in 1998 — to accommodate trapping patterns without snow machines. Each cabin was a day's travel apart.

"We have recently started talking about going back to snowshoes and walking trails to work the trap line, not so much because of the exorbitant price of gasoline, but mainly because we have found that, as soon as we step onto a snow machine, we are disconnected from the land. We have found that the more powerful the machine, the more we are disconnected from the land."

She also answered the question that Wilkie didn't ask about her vision of her permanent home. It provided a stark contrast to his take on her "cottage."

"I want my own personal shelter to emulate the shelters of the past, bent saplings covered with bark, stitched with pine roots," she said "Big enough to have a bed made of moss, balsam branches and moose hair. My shelter is going to have the ground as the floor and a stump for my table. I will have a wood stove small enough that I won't need a chain saw or maul. I will be making the shelter of my dreams when my old age will limit my abilities to work like I am able right now."

Ponton has given himself more than four months to ponder Kaaren's position that the cabin is a step down the road to achieving redress for oppressive and genocidal practices — and decide what weight to give to the evidence she brought forward, which ranged from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (adopted last year by the UN Human Rights Council but not yet bought before the General Assembly for ratification because of opposition from Canada) to the letter her brother Harald wrote to the MNR a few months before his death in a hunting accident, urging that they not clearcut his trapline.

"I find evidence of the lives of my ancestors all over the bush," he wrote. "Trails hundreds of years old, medicine taps on ancient tree stands, birches still standing with the bark peeled off, mounds where camps one stood and flourished.

"When I relate my findings to my mother, she verifies it all and tells me a lot more. In the vast storehouses of the memories of my mother and other elders and sacred teachers is information that is more valuable to us than any other. Every square foot of the land was known and occupied. The foods from balsams, birches, ashes and other hardwoods, from the shrubs and water plants, are plentiful in this forest area.

"My time out here is more than for economic reasons in hunting and trapping and fishing. It is time of constant spiritual renewal, growth and rebirth through not only my daily activities, but in personal rituals and the sacred ceremonies of my people."

His request was not granted. Clearcuts have erased the ancient trails, and now it falls to Kaaren and other Trout Lake people to, in her word, "re-member" the community and the land.

Kate Harries is a journalist specializing in environmental and First Nations issues. She can be reached at the following email address kateharries@gmail.com

Chiefs of Ontario press release ...

Ontario First Nations Reject Settlement Offer To A Share Of Provincial Gaming Revenues

TORONTO, June 18 - The First Nations in Ontario today rejected a settlement offer from the Province that would have involved the payment to First Nations of a share of provincial gaming revenues in order to settle disputes related to Casino Rama based on the Province collecting a 20% tax on the Casino Rama gross revenues in breach of promises made at the time Casino Rama was established.

The Province's settlement offer involved the payment of 1.6% of provincial gaming revenues to First Nations that could have amounted to $125 million per year for 20 years. This would amount to an average of less than $1 million annually per First Nation. However, it also involved:

• Compromising First Nations jurisdiction and sovereignty for generations to come;
• The First Nations being subject to an array of restrictions covering the use of the funds;
• The First Nations giving up their interest in Casino Rama, which should generate $10 billion in gross revenues over 20 years; and,
• Abandoning a lawsuit against the Province under which the First Nations are claiming over $2 billion in connection with Casino Rama.

The First Nations and the Province had signed a non binding Agreement-in-Principle in March 2006 outlining the proposal. However, the proposal that the Province finally presented to the First Nations contained significant provisions and restrictions that were not referred to in the Agreement-in-Principle.

Angus Toulouse, the Ontario Regional Chief, said "We are all extremely disappointed that the Province's proposal was so one-sided and contained provisions that the First Nations could not accept, particularly when these provisions had not been raised at the Agreement-in-Principle stage. As everyone knows, many of our Nations are in dire need of funding to break the cycle of dependence and poverty that plagues them. This seemed like a promising way in which a portion of the needed funding could be provided. However, the province cannot expect the First Nations to agree to unreasonable terms and conditions attached to the receipt of that funding. While the proposal involved a lot of money, there is more at issue than money."

A formal response will be forwarded to the Province that suggests positive next steps and a willingness to reach a suitable and reasonable agreement.

For further information: Pam Hunter, Policy Advisor, (416) 597-1266 Office, (613) 203-3233 Mobile

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From the National Post ....  (another example of biase headlines)

Ont. Natives fold on proposal to share gaming revenues
CanWest News Service - June 18, 2007

TORONTO -- The First Nations in Ontario on Monday rejected an offer from the province to share provincial gaming revenues.

The province had offered to pay 1.6% of its gaming revenues - an amount estimated to have been worth $125-million per year for 20 years.

But when divided among Ontario's 133 aboriginal communities, that would have resulted in an annual payment of less than $1-million per First Nation, the native group said Monday.

Chiefs, who were expected to ratify the proposal on Monday claimed in a prepared statement the deal would only compromise:"First Nations jurisdiction and sovereignty for generations to come.

"We are all extremely disappointed that the province's proposal was so one-sided and contained provisions that the First Nations could not accept, particularly when these provisions had not been raised at the agreement-in-principle stage, " said Angus Toulouse, the Ontario Regional Chief.

The proposed revenue-sharing deal with provincial lotteries and casinos would have doubled the communities' yearly revenue share by providing a percentage of gross revenues from all provincial gaming operations. Native groups currently receive gaming money from the operations of Casino Rama, in Orillia, Ont.

The deal also called for the First Nations to give up their interest in Casino Rama - a proposal they opposed.

The new agreement would have settled a series of lawsuits against the Ontario government that stem from the funding generated by the Orillia casino. A group of Ontario chiefs have challenged a 1996 decision by the former Conservative government that directed a cut of Casino Rama's profits into provincial coffers.

The Casino Rama operation was originally set up so that all revenues went to First Nations.

The June 16 story has now been followed up with the June 19 story that indicates that Ottawa will likely appeal the BC court ruling (see the two stories below) ...

From the Globe and Mail ...

Indian status can be traced through mother, court rules
BILL CURRY - June 16, 2007

VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Supreme Court has wiped out one of the most contentious aspects of the federal Indian Act, striking down part of Ottawa's definition of a status Indian and opening the door to hundreds of thousands of new applications for native services.

The court rejected part of the existing legal definition on the grounds that it discriminates against Canadians who trace their aboriginal roots through their female relatives rather than their father or grandfather.

The ruling alters the federal law that has long created two classes of aboriginals in Canada: the 767,000 who fit the definition of status Indian and the several hundred thousand more who don't.

The 2001 census found 976,000 Canadians who self-identified as aboriginal and more than 1.3 million who said they had aboriginal ancestry.

Many aboriginals who failed in their requests for status will now have a much better chance of success, said Beverley Jacobs, the president of the Native Women's Association of Canada.

"This opens the floodgates," she said. "I don't think we could have asked for a better judgment."

Aboriginals with status qualify for prescription drug coverage and can apply for postsecondary assistance.

Status Indians are also exempt from paying taxes on income earned on reserves. But Sharon McIvor, who successfully challenged the law with her son Jacob Grismer, argued in court that status also carries a huge social value in native communities that can mean the difference between acceptance or rejection.

In an interview yesterday, Ms. McIvor, a professor and lawyer who lives on the Lower Nicola Indian Band, where she traces her native lineage to her matrilineal grandmother, predicted the decision will have a major impact.

"Conservatively, we're looking at probably 200,000 people [who could now qualify for status that did not before the ruling]," she said. Before contact with Europeans, many native tribes operated under matrilineal power structures in which women were the community leaders. After Confederation, male-dominated ruleswere imposed on those communities through the Indian Act that meant only men could pass along native status.

The federal government claimed to have addressed the long-standing discrimination in 1985 though Bill C-31, which added about 175,000 more people to the Indian registry. But the B.C. Supreme Court said that bill did not go far enough and created problems for future generations.

"I have concluded that the registration provisions embodied in [Section 6] of the 1985 Indian Act continue the very discrimination that the amendments were intended to eliminate," wrote Madam Justice Carol Ross. "The provisions prefer male Indians and their descendants to female Indians and their descendants."

Federal government lawyers urged the judge to suspend her decision for 24 months to give Parliament time to consult aboriginal groups and draft new legislation. Judge Ross rejected that argument, meaning that Section 6 of the Indian Act - which is the entire section outlining how someone can qualify as a status Indian - "is of no force and effect insofar, and only insofar, as it authorized the differential treatment of Indian men and Indian women." The federal government is still reviewing the ruling and has not decided whether to appeal.

The Assembly of First Nations, which represents status Indians who belong to reserves, has been increasingly concerned about the rules governing status. The National Chief of the AFN, Phil Fontaine, has warned discrimination against descendants of native women is just one of many problems caused by Bill C-31.

With estimates that more than half of all natives now marry non-natives, the current law's "second-generation cut-off" means an increasing number of natives are unable to pass on their status to their children.

"The McIvor decision puts pressure on the Government of Canada for policy and legislative reform. The Government of Canada will no doubt appeal this decision," Mr. Fontaine said in a statement yesterday. The national chief of the main off-reserve and non-status group, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, said the ruling supports his organization's long-standing argument that thousands of natives are being unfairly denied access to services.

"I don't think that the majority of Canadians are aware that there are over 400,000 non-status Indians in this country who unfortunately can't access any programs and services," said Patrick Brazeau, who urged Ottawa not to appeal. "More and more people are becoming non-status Indians, so it's a question of liability and therefore a question of dollar signs."

++++++++++

From Globe and Mail ...

Appeal of native ruling likely, Ottawa says
BILL CURRY - June 19, 2007

OTTAWA — Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said his government will likely appeal a major court ruling that would expand the number of aboriginals qualifying for services by hundreds of thousands.

In a statement released by his office yesterday, the minister said he would need a ruling from a higher court than the B.C. Supreme Court, which released the judgment last week.

"I expect that the decision will be appealed, although that decision has not yet been made," Mr. Prentice said. "The [B.C. Supreme Court] decision is a significant one and it is reasonable to expect that the final decision will have to be made at a higher appellate level."

The appeal would come in spite of recently released internal documents showing Ottawa has been fighting the issue in court fully expecting to lose.
 
The B.C. Supreme Court decision could transform the way Ottawa deals with aboriginals. It struck down part of a 1985 change to the Indian Act called C-31 on the grounds that it discriminates against natives who trace their roots through their female forebears. The court also raised concern about what is known as the "second-generation cutoff" in which many grandchildren of people who were status Indians in 1985 are now being denied status due to marriages with non-natives.

For the most part, Ottawa has limited its legal obligation to "status Indians," a term it created that currently applies to about 700,000 people. That leaves out hundreds of thousands of Canadians with aboriginal heritage.

Indian Affairs documents obtained by NDP MP Jean Crowder show the department was bracing for "disruption" and rising costs after an expected defeat.

Ms. Crowder said the documents show it is time for Ottawa to stop the legal battles and craft a way forward with aboriginal groups, several of whom have also urged Ottawa not to appeal. "This government has been talking about how it's a champion of human rights, so if they appeal that decision, I wonder how they are going to justify that," she said, in reference to a bill introduced by Mr. Prentice to allow the Human Rights Act to apply on reserves.

Liberal Indian affairs critic Anita Neville agreed. "I'm disappointed he's appealing," she said. "More taxpayers' dollars should not go into fighting aboriginal women after the years of discrimination they've endured."

From Winnipeg Free Press ...

Hope amid a tragedy - An exchange trip to Shamattawa opens the door to an enduring friendship
By Alexandra Paul - Jun 17 2007

A group of 15 Ontario students visiting the remote Cree First Nation of Shamattawa last week saw an RCMP SWAT team, camouflaged and carrying rifles, search the streets for an alleged gunman, and then pitched in to help a devastated community cope with the suicide of a 12-year-old boy.

You'd think these teens from the Mississauga New Credit First Nation near Toronto would want out of the troubled community.

And you'd be wrong.

Shamattawa is fighting its way out of the grip of a solvent abuse epidemic in Canada's North that dates back decades. Five years ago, a despairing chief declared a state of emergency after three suicides in eight days. Even police are wary there.

But for the Ojibway students from southern Ontario on a trip north to see their friends in a student exchange program, the violence was eased by "tonnes" of great food, pristine scenery, fishing and great warmth from their hosts.

"We had a hard time leaving. We wanted to scoop up all the kids and bring them home with us," chaperone Veronica Jamieson, one of two adults with the 15 teenagers from southern Ontario, said from her home, 70 kilometres southwest of Toronto, this week.
 
For a send-off, the whole community got together with the visitors for a rally and a feast. Tina Keeper, the area's MP, flew in for the event and visited privately with the family of the boy who died. The bonds she saw impressed her.

"There was tragedy but in the middle of it all was this culture (with the kids). They were an impressive group, solid. These were teens meeting teens. Their experience together was give and take and it was really generous," Keeper said.

The groups got so close that one Shamattawa teenager got permission from her family to fly back with the group.

"I brought one of the girls home for the summer," said the chaperone, who raised six kids of her own, now all in high school or university. The teenager was part of a Shamattawa exchange visit to New Credit last month. Shamattawa teachers had previously pegged her as one who "could make it" outside the reserve, thinking she'd leave when she went south to high school.

The suicide made the teen seize the moment.

The chaperone said they'll never forget the week-long trip north, part of an exchange program run by the YMCA-YWCA to promote anti-bullying in schools.

"It was eye opening for the kids from Ontario to go up there. Some of the kids are still crying. I think it's still sinking in, the difference in the environment (up north). The kids are so thankful for what they have here," Jamieson said.

The group arrived for a week on Saturday, June 2. Overnight Sunday, the RCMP detachment reported hearing half a dozen gunshots ricocheting off the detachment's exterior walls. Three officers on duty huddled on the floor until daybreak. Then, they cautioned everyone to stay indoors and took action.

The RCMP flew three planeloads of officers from Winnipeg and Thompson. They painted their faces in camouflage colours, wore camouflage gear and searched the streets of the town with armed rifles.

No gunman turned up; no arrests have been made to date.

Shamattawa chief and council say they're skeptical there were any gunshots. They discovered a girl was throwing rocks at a building next door the same night. "We're saying, 'They jumped the gun'," Chief Jeffrey Napoakesik said, with dry humour. He's lodged complaints with RCMP headquarters over the reaction.

Shaune Rice, the guidance counsellor at the Shamattawa school who helped arrange the exchange student trip through the YMCA-YWCA said the arrival of the SWAT team was like something on TV, and confusing, too.

"It was unreal. It was like warriors circling with guns. It was like an Oka crisis," Rice said.

Then, Thursday night, two youngsters stumbled across the body of a troubled boy. He'd hanged himself from a tree in a backyard. Practically in plain sight. Attempts to resuscitate him at the nursing station failed.

"The thing with suicide is you hear about it all the time, but then, we were right in the middle of it," Jamieson said.

The community is devastated by the loss, the chief said this week.

"He had to have had bad feelings to do this kind of thing," the chief said in a phone interview, almost at a loss for words to explain boy's violent death. On Tuesday, one of the boys who'd found the body hanging from the tree was so distraught he, too, tried to kill himself. He was maybe nine, or perhaps 11, the chief said. Somehow, the little boy blamed himself for the other boy's death, the chief said. "He was crying and I told him it was not his fault," Napoakesik said.

YOUTH suicide rates soar among First Nations. But not this young. Not even in Shamattawa. This is a place where leaders are trying hard to make life better. The exchange trip was the latest in a couple of excursions over the past few years designed to give youngsters a taste of the world beyond the isolated reserve.

Right now, the local Awasis child and family service agency is investigating the suicide and there's speculation the boy hanged himself out of a repressed despair.

"He lived with his grandpa. His father had married (again) and his mother had passed away a few years ago. She committed suicide as well," the chief said.

So, last Thursday, it was midnight, an hour after the boy was cut down from the tree when news of the death swept the community like a wild fire. The chaperones and the students from New Credit and Shamattawa swung into action, together.

Rice said he took a group of kids home where he keeps a hand drum. They got through the night with talking and singing.

Jamieson said she did the same with four local kids and more of her students, staying in the teacherage.

They, too, talked most of the night. For both groups, the violent events helped them forge an amazing bond, like comrades who survive wartime.

"True friendship is meaningful when atrocities are confronted and shared," Rice said.

Jamieson said she and her students worked hard to cheer up their new friends by telling them how they worked hard to make a better life in New Credit.

"We have our talking circles and our kids are active in singing and dancing (culturally). We said you can change things. You can make it a better place to be. It just takes a small group," Jamieson said.

"We said if you want to do a powwow (later on) we'll help you."

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A Shamattawa snapshot

The site of a former trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company, Shamattawa First Nation was established as a permanent Cree community in 1950. It is 720 kilometres north of Winnipeg, on the north shore of God's River where it meets Echoing River, south of Hudson Bay and close to the Ontario border. It is one of Canada's most remote communities.

* 1,270 registered population; most living on reserve.

* Fly-in community; no permanent road. Winter road is 200 kilometres long.

* Sewage treatment plant supplies water.

* Nearest bank is 320 kilometres away in Thompson.

* Volunteer fire department and fire hall.

* Governed by a chief and four councillors, elected according to custom to indefinite terms.

* Total annual federal funding of $12,786,134 in 2005, the last year for which audited statements are available.

* RCMP detachment with eight full-time officers, covering shifts 24/7.

* Nursing station staffed by three nurses. Fly-in doctor available four days a week.

* Abraham Beardy Memorial School, nursery to Grade 10, 250 students

* Three Christian denominations, the Full Gospel Church, the Pentecostal Church, the Anglican Church. Plus traditional cultural beliefs.

* Most residents, including youth, are fluent in Cree and use it more than English.

* Unemployment rates soar to 98 per cent.

* Alcoholism and sniff (solvent abuse) rates are also high. Drinkers make do with their own home-brew, a cocktail described as packing a punch that will put you out, but good.

* Crime rates are rising for break-ins, acts of vandalism and various forms of violence.

* Some 200 children under age 18 are under the care of Awasis child and family services. Agency has five workers on staff in the community. Most kids in care are boarded off-reserve in foster homes scattered from Winnipeg to Thompson.

Sources: Chief Jeffrey Napoakesik, Beardy Memorial School, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca