It’s that time of year again when the First Nations politicians sit back and gather themselves around the Council table, talk to each other as brothers and re-evaluate what they’ve done during the 2001 - 02 season. Most of the talk around the council table is usually about how much money did we get this year from Ottawa for our community. What is the short-fall in those programs that were cut? Many chiefs are concerned about not receiving enough funds to do a proper job with Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) project funding.

Government funding is usually insufficient to complete even the smallest projects. And because non-Indians have easier access to money, they can step in and complete any project and then begin to generate revenue to continue other initiatives.

The Chiefs say that to be able to access financing quicker than the standard process that presently exists. Government approval is too time consuming. The ‘regulations’ of the Indian Act suppress economic opportunities. And First Nations are tired of having good initiatives taken away or stolen because they do not have enough funding to do a proper job.

A chief from the Summit said "First Nations require authority to generate their own funds to subsidise the Department of Indian Affairs generosity."

I liked that statement because he said it with a little humour. It’s actually a good way to explain the situation on reserves in Canada. You see DIA has an obligation to distribute funds to approximately 600 Indian Bands. And those Indian Bands, they know long before that they will not have sufficient funds and a positive budget to take care of business within their communities. It’s sad to witness, because the rules of the Indian Act dominate their thinking with too much red-tape..

More and more Ottawa believes that it is not their responsibility to take care of reserve Indians. The federal government more or less believes that baby-sitting Indians fell into their hands through a distortion of history. Now they want to give their responsibilities to the provinces.

The federal boys have to take a course in history so they see for themselves why the First Nations were put onto reserves and the reasons it happened. Ottawa has to correct the distortions of history.

In the 1860’s the Aboriginal people did not initiate the "Indian Act" and then go begging the Feds to legislate it into law.

The Feds did it! Yes, the Indian Act was passed in the House of Parliament in 1874.

What this act did:

It incorporated an inferior social status of native people into its language and provisions. Aboriginals were henceforth imprisoned on reserve lands and became wards of the state.

The Indian Act was an unconstitutional Act. It allowed the government to legally destroy a people.

The Federal Government is responsible for its actions - legislating the Indian Act into law was and is a terrible mistake. Yet other countries endorsed it and thanked Canada for teaching them how to apply it to control a people, (ie: South Africa).

I won’t go into the hundreds of reasons why the feds plotted out the reservation boundaries for the Aboriginal Peoples, but they were drawn up to house the first peoples or as someone said, ‘to keep the Indian savages out of the way of progress’.

Surely, everyone knows the results of the reserve system. I suggest you discuss those reasons. It’s ‘food for thought’ of the true history. The reactions and intentions of those early days (from the 1870’s) and the repercussions were devastating to the survival of all the aboriginal peoples.

Today First Nations are struggling to regain the health of their past.

Since there was never a serious thought to resolve the distortion of history, it is what is costing this country a lot of problems and wasting billions of dollars. The only way to correct this distortion of facts is to face the situation head on.

And that is what Ottawa has to do. It’s a crucial and bold situation - to ‘acknowledge who did what to whom.’ I encourage Canada to admit it. And of course, all the First Nation Chiefs must band together and unite, come together and bring integrity to the forefront in the next Federal government’s election mandate.

Ottawa must finally honour its own obligations and take responsibility by initiating good faith negotiations that would give First Nations and their communities an equitable share of land and resources.

Ottawa cannot ignore the distortions of history. It must tell and live by our country’s true history regarding the First Peoples.

They must compensate and settle with the aboriginal peoples. Such a settlement is necessary in order that First Nation communities may develop economies that will sustain their people with employment.

It should be the most important election issue on the agenda before the next federal election.

First Nations have to assert their wishes with demands for justice.

First Nations must have a vision for their leaders to follow.

First Nations require leadership - not go and ask ‘what each potential federal candidate is going to do for them after they get elected.

Man! We all know they lie. They will tell you right to your face, that all First Nations will have economic opportunities coming out of their ears and funding available as soon as the projects are prepared by the DIA.

You know Indian Bands in the past fell for that BS and when the elections were over they waited but nothing changed except the new faces of the MP’s in Ottawa.

So what’s new, you ask????? Weeeeellllll, they begin a new process - called re-inventing the wheel. It looks as though our Elders were right, they said, "the more the faces change the more we stay the same." Government controls Indians. And we let them...... My! My! My!

When do First Nations stop reacting?

Now the question is - which government controls Indians? Is it Federal government? Or is it Indian Band government?

A new Initiative coming forward.

But this time, there is a new twist to the game in ‘Indian Politics’. The Minister of Indian Affairs; Robert Nault is leading the charge in changing the ‘Indian Act’ to something First Nations may be able to live with as they enhance self- determination to their members both on and off-reserve. The AFN didn’t initiate this change so It’s a challenge. They must take it on to benefit their people’s objectives for a positive future.

First Nations must grasp the opportunity to beat Ottawa at its own game. Robert Nault is offering that opportunity. I say go for it, you have nothing to lose and much to gain. It’s a step up toward autonomy which is required for greater successes..

In early 2001 the Minister said that national consultation will go forward as scheduled. First Nations’ people and Chiefs who have already participated and who plan to participate in consultations will continue to be the backbone of the new Governance process.

First Nations must take it.

It’s an opportunity decision makers will never regret. Education, practical experience and sustainable development stem from this initiative. I say go for it.

It’s been said - hundreds of First Nations that originate from reserves and migrate to the urban areas do so because it is too difficult living within the reserve system; there’s no jobs, little social services, and the lack of accountability from the elected leadership.

It’s a fact that if someone receives money with no strings attached, there is no accountability. This statement is in reference to the grants that come from Ottawa. If the membership do not know what their leaders are doing with the funds, there is no accountability, money is misappropriated, spent on conflict-of-interest issues rather then being spent on the proper programs or projects that it was meant for.

An example of conflict-of-interest & mismanagement:

A woman with two small children - now living in Vancouver told Kahtou News that she lived in a small reserve and was collecting welfare for six months. She told Kahtou, "we were grateful," but her two kids were always hungry because they received a measly cheque that did not support them. She had rent, food, travel, phone expenses, medicine and clothing to buy for herself and her children each month. Around the fourth month she discovered that another woman; a band member with no children, had received almost four hundred dollars more than she received each month.

When she reported this to her Social Service Department, she was told to mind her own business. I don’t know what happened, but I got scared,’ she explained. Her life was tough enough before this revelation. She said that her children were treated badly from then on and she lived in fear. "We just had to leave because there was no one to turn to. We needed help, me and my children. I felt hopeless in my own community."

Band members should be able to trust their leaders to be honest in the delivery of services to those in need.

It’s been said in various reports that most reserve members do not know how the federal funding is spent by their administrations and elected leaders. Frustrated band members say, "Most chiefs and councils resent financial advisors. They say good advisors and legal consultants cost too much to hire. We can’t afford them." Band employees are hired from the membership and usually do not have the basic education, certificates nor the qualification to do the job, many are family relations - it’s called nepotism. It’s obvious in many communities.

You know without professional staff, qualified accountants, engineers and legal advice, trouble soon follows. I’ve seen it happen, funding dries up and welfare is the normal lifestyle. It’s part of the ‘reserve history’ under the rule of the Indian Act. First Nations were institutionalised.

So in frustration, people move away from their reserve communities and homelands and turn to the urban friendship Centres for help, in towns like Terrace, Kamloops, Mission, Merritt, Victoria, Nanaimo, Duncan, Prince Rupert, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George and Vancouver, B.C.

In politics, many First Nation leaders also have their own superior agendas which do not address the problems of today for those without money to support their families. They have to address the immediate inadequacies; health, education, housing and welfare There are families struggling to find money to nourish their children for tomorrow and the next day. The leaders must focus on those issues to help their people.

A political mandate of this magnitude is a long range agenda which may not benefit anyone for years to come. And it could be to late as the saying goes - too little to late to resolve the Aboriginal rights and Land Claims issues.

Times change as the world turns, land claims may not be an issue for future governments. Here’s a thought –we could be American in fifty years. And you have to acknowledge the fact First Nations members are migrating to the urban areas as we speak.

Statistically, over 68% of the total First Nations are now living off reserves and more are following that lead because it’s their only hope for a better life. That’s reality!

These members are doing what they think is best for themselves - they can not wait, their future is today.,,,, So, you see, we need improvement now. The status quo is not producing positive results.

First things first - INAC Minister Robert Nault’s First Nations Governance Act is a good initiative. Unfortunately it is not accepted by the AFN and the Union of B.C. Chiefs. Minister Nault sees the ‘Indian Act’ as out dated. He would like to find a solution that begins today so families may regain their lost dignity. For those individuals who have no hope and no where to go - they will be able to access legal aid and will have an appeal process in place through the FNGA.

He says the political process that develops from this new First Nations Governance Act will not replace the Treaty process or any present negotiations with First Nations for self-reliance or self-government.

It will encourage more economic opportunities for those prepared a step forward.

The FNGA will provide an interim step towards self- government. It will empower the membership rather than give Chiefs and Councils more power. It gives democracy within reserve communities room to establish itself for good government.

The new Governance Act does not interfere with the First Nations Aboriginal Title/ Rights and Treaty Rights which is in the Constitution of Canada, which states in Section 35 that Aboriginal and Treaty Rights are recognised and affirmed.

The Minister was asked about the legal capacity for First Nations to look after themselves. Nault said the new legislation will enable First Nations to become legal entities and build legal capacity in order to govern themselves and give them certainty in order to build an economy for employment within the communities.

The House of Commons agreed with the Hon. Minister’s initiative.

He has the empowerment to improve and encourage First Nations on reserves to advance to a greater stage of autonomy.

You see if Nault was trying to legislate something greater at this time – the House of Commons would not endorse his legislative agenda. So under those circumstances he is going for what he can achieve so First Nations living under the present Indian Act will be better off looking after themselves on a much more honourable manner then what is dictated by the ‘Indian Act’.

The FNGA will increase First Nation Band administrative powers by removing the requirement for Ottawa to approve Band bylaws.

Minister Robert Nault says there will be less Ottawa involvement.

I agree. There are First Nation leaders working to become entities to create the vehicles needed to sustain their little communities.

There are First Nations from across Canada negotiating for more land. The new Act will not hinder their agreed upon process.

Kamloops, Burns Lake, Squamish, Ktunaxa-Kinbasket, Homalco, Cowichan, Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Chehalis, Musqueam, Scowlitz, Osoyoos and many other First Nations are leading in economic development initiatives, creating employment and benefiting from tax fees.

The FNGA initiative is not holding those leaders from generating revenue.

Amendments to the old Indian Act made new incentives possible for many Indian Bands. In 1986 - Sechelt Band achieved political success. Through Bill C-93 it removed Sechelt from the ‘ Indian Act’. Sechelt has Fee simple Title to its reserve lands.

To have success in economic development First Nations must integrate and compete in business. Westbank is doing the best for its people in creating sustainable employment. Westbank is moving toward self-government and the new FN Governance Act is not an impediment to them.

Just last week, the Cowichan Tribes voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Community Improvement Fee. The Chief stated that this fee will allow the Band the opportunity to deal with issues that are important to the members and deal with them in a timely fashion. The FNGA was not an impediment to their process. With their new improvement fee they can get on with the business of improving the quality of life for all their community members.

As Robert Nault said, "This new Governance Act will provide an interim step towards self-government."

It does not address the Land Claims. Resolving any Land Claims is a separate and more comprehensive issue that will be on the negotiating table with the other two parties.

It has to be understood that Aboriginal Rights and Aboriginal Title is a destination not yet reached. The map is not clear. It will require the three parties to draw up the map.

The simple answer is in the Delgamuukw Supreme Court Decision of 1997 which encourages all parties to come together and clarify the best solution to define for us our Aboriginal and Inherent Right to live in harmony. All regions of Canada must maintain territorial integrity. Together, it is achievable. Then and only then, will we have environmental preservation of our territories and economic sustainability so that every Canadian will benefit for the future

generations to come.

Have a happy B.C. day!