Richard Foot, of Postmedia News, http://tinyurl.com/26p36ne “Native communities struggle with governance, accountability”, Telegraph-Journal.com, December 30/10; hits the nail on the head with this well-written article covering all the bases of this difficult subject – difficulty which is of our making, not the First Peoples'.
Some years ago Georges Erasmus, then National Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Chief, told Project North cum Aboriginal Rights Coalition members that “we (First Nations people) have to do it ourselves. Yes, we're going to make mistakes, but you have to let us make our own mistakes while we learn how to govern ourselves and make decisions for ourselves!”
Now Shawn Atleo is saying the same thing. He stands by all the Chiefs (accountable or not) before the world, but within the AFN, he says: “Look, people – we've got to do better – for ourselves, not for anyone else. And we can do it – it's our time!”
Part of the legacy of the Indian Act which has governed the lives of those named “Indian” (one of our first mistakes), was to remove the traditional governance of First Peoples' Nations and replace it with a municipal-style Band Chief and Council system, with definite instructions to account to the Dept. of Indian Affairs (now INAC http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/index-eng.asp), and no instructions at all to provide any accounting to the people in the community.
There are a number of First Peoples who, when chosen to be chief of their community, have an innate sense of the traditional teachings in which “headmen” (now also “head women) were raised to understand that their role would be leadership, which meant service to the people. Atleo's own story confirms this. I heard him say that, as a child, he would be asked his name by an Elder, who would respond that he was destined to be a leader “to serve the people”. In Atleo, I think we see some of the best of the good teachings, which have not been wiped away by the residential school experience, but retained through the teaching of the Elders who remember the ancient values of their people.
I experienced this situation first-hand when I was asked by an Elder to accompany a small group of women who had decided to ask for a forensic audit of their Band Chief and Council. It's a long story which I'll tell another time, but the important part, to me, was the final remarks of the judge who suggested that, with an election coming in the spring, the “dissenters” could engage in “strong, peaceful protests during the campaign for band council elections in June”.
That was a “settler-immigrant newcomer” Canadian speaking; I knew that such an election process couldn't possibly happen at that time on that Reserve. The Chief had been in that role for a number of years and, supported by the particular brand of Christianity he and his family had espoused for many years, if you were not a member of that church, you were not considered for any Band Council appointments, and also not for many of the amenities that were supposed to be shared with Band members in the community – new housing, social assistance welfare, post-secondary education, etc. And if you tried to launch other candidates to oppose the elected officials, that would be remembered and you could definitely wipe out any possibility of benefiting from that rampant nepotism. And no one had the strength of will to try – they were imbued with a sense of hopelessness.
It is that kind of apathy prevalent among so many Band members, often as a result of the residential school experience where children grew up to believe they were worthless human beings, that they were not deserving of anything good, and that their voices would never be listened to, that has maintained the oppressive colonization across so much of “Indian Country”, and allowed Band officials to profit from that sense of malaise among the people.
And ultimately it is only the people themselves who can make those changes – within themselves, to believe that they are worthy and completely deserving of the best kind of leadership their own cultural and traditional values can offer – until they become strong enough to say, collectively, “we can do better, and we will!”
And how can we help?
First by understanding and accepting the reality of our shared history, dark though that legacy is from our perspective.
Second, by encouraging First Peoples brothers and sisters to regain the sense of their true worth as fellow human beings, with whom we are equal in every way, and with whom we share the good teachings of our respective cultures, traditions, and spirituality.
Third, by learning of and supporting the recommendations coming from the AFN Chiefs and Councillors as they lead the way for their people to move, collectively, into self-governance and self-reliance.
Fourth, by educating ourselves through the number of writings available to us for our understanding:
numerous books by authors like John S. Milloy, James R. Miller, Olive P. Dickason, etc.;
the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples;
the findings of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada;
meeting with and listening to – really listening – to First Peoples wherever they are willing to have us join in such ventures.
It is my hope that, as we begin to identify ourselves as “Treaty Persons,” First Peoples brothers and sisters will believe that it is indeed okay for them to let us meet with them so that we can listen and learn the truth of our shared history, and together we can find the way to move into the future as equals.
And who are “Treaty Persons”? You and I, who are the beneficiaries of those historic and modern treaties between the Nations of the First Peoples, and the Rest of Us who are settler/immigrant/newcomers to this part of Turtle Island we call Canada.
And I'll have more to say about “Treaty Persons” in a future blog. Till then, may your New Year be filled with new learning, new friendships, and new blessings as you join the walk towards respect, dignity, and equality with the First Peoples of our country, Canada, and their homeland, Turtle Island.
Thanks for listening.
Jean Koning.
