First Peoples Rights in the Hospital Setting

Have a look at this item:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/judge-rejects-application-take-aboriginal-girl-from-family-for-chemo-1.2834674 – and then think of what would have happened if McMaster Hospital authorities had managed this situation differently – which is what the judgment is really pointing out to them.

 

The hospital authorities could have recognized and respected the constitutional right of the First Peoples to be self-determining about their own and their children’s lives.  Then they could have said to the family and the girl:  “we recognize your constitutional right to be self-determining in the management of your child’s health.  Now, tell us how we can  help you to fulfil that responsibility.”

 

I dare to say that the outcome would be quite different – and in fact, if the hospital authorities are willing to have that conversation now, having acknowledged that they had previously missed the step of respect and recognition of First Peoples constitutional rights, then a different outcome for the child may still be possible.

 

As media reporters begin to consult "experts" to try to help their readers/viewers/listeners understand what has happened in this court judgment, we will be subjected to professional people who, though well-educated, have no understanding of the law as it applies to the relationship between the First Peoples and The Rest of Us.  Thus, the professionals will bemoan the fact that a child will probably die because her Mohawk family is claiming the right to follow Indigenous Knowledge, instead of placing the child totally in the hands of Scientific Knowledge.  Thus, even the professional scientific knowledge carriers do not know their Canadian law, and do not respect the Indigenous Knowledge carriers who minister among their own peoples.

 

What the judge's finding indicates is not whether the child will live or die according to the kind of treatment she receives, but that the First Peoples have the consitutional right to manage their own lives, and it is that right that must be respected. 

None of us wants to see a child die unnecessarily, but that is not the issue this Canadian judge is facing.  Rather, he faces the issue of whether Canada is going to live up to and respect its own constitutional law, or whether it is going to continue to ignore the terms of the historic treaties under which our settler ancestors came to this country.

 

My heartiest congratulations to the Mohawk families, and the Brant CAS, for recognizing, respecting, and upholding this very important right of the First Peoples in whose homelands The Rest of Us "live and move and have our being", 

 

 May it lead to a deeper understanding of how we are to live together in harmony. 

THE BROCK STREET BURIAL in Peterborough, Ontario

Date:  September 2007

The stone – granite I think – measures 50” long, 38” wide, and 31” high.  It sits on Brock Street, P’boro, between the sidewalk and the edge of an asphalt parking lot across the street from Price Choppers.

The words on the plaque attached to the face of the stone are:

THE BROCK STREET BURIAL

Here on December 6, 1960, the skeletal remains of a man who lived in this area about 2,000 years ago were discovered by Douglas Yaxley of Peterborough.  Buried with the man were 29 artifacts attributed to the Point Peninsula culture which occupied the Trent River system before the Christian era.

See P’boro Examiner, December 7, 1960:

“Expert Says Indian Bones ‘Important Find’”,  and “Indian Grave Uncovered” – “Royal Ontario Museum archaeologist Walter Kenyon examines an excavation where bones believed to be 2,000 years old were found under the Brock Street parking lot Monday.  Mr. Kenyon describes the find as “a most exciting discovery”.  Another picture and story on front page, second section.”  [Cutline with photo of Kenyon]

Recorded by Jean Koning, Peterborough, ON, in my computer files, September 2007

Further comment, January 6, 2014:

While this refers to the presence of First Peoples in the territory we call Peterborough some 2,000 years ago, it may not cause Canadians to realize that the ancestors of those same First Peoples are still living among us today.  Neither does it help us to recognize the fact that the First Peoples were never “conquered” and that they are, in fact, a nation of sovereign peoples within whose homeland we now reside.

This is why it is important - nay, imperative - to observe the protocols concerning the relationship between two sovereign nations: The First Peoples by whatever name they call themselves in their own language  (in Peterborough territory it is probably the Mississauga Nation of the Anishinabek  - or Ojibwe) and Canada, as we settler/immigrants call our nation.

To learn about the protocols in your territory, please consult the nearest Indian Friendship Centre or First Nation.  There are people who would be most willing to help you learn about these protocols, such as presenting tobacco to an Elder, or how to listen effectively within the Talking Circle.  

I always ask, in the same way that I now share this blog, by saying that I am speaking and writing in the spirit of peace, respect and friendship.

Thanks for listening.

Jean Koning.