Kim Patrick Weaver posted this and I further share this eloquent statement: Genocide is still happening today through legislation, institutional racism, personal racism, and apathy of Canadians who have condoned 150 years of governments not living up to their ethical, Treaty and fiduciary obligations assumed in the Treaties, because it is to their advantage: socially, financially, spiritually. I say spiritually because apathy and lack of challenge to successive governments by Canadians has allowed the issue of genocide to become an abstract. It is easy to say it is not your problem because you are not directly involved. However, you elect the government and by not directly challenging them, your apathy allows the inbred behaviour and institutional momentum of 150 years to continue so you are part of the system that allows the cycle to continue. It all happened long ago before your were born so it is not your problem. As the cycle diagram shows, genocide is pernicious. It is a shape shifter becoming more subtle as the processes become more refined over time. It isnt really happening. The Natives just want more of my tax dollars and a continued free ride. Denial is the biggest issue that I see every day. I am told almost every day as I confront racists, oppressors, and perpetuators of stereotypes and the status quo, that it just isnt so in Canada. It is so. It is happening. The Natives (I really hate that word it is so depersonalizing) are waking up from the persistent attacks on our identity. Our voices are speaking out demanding justice. Demanding Canada and Canadians honour their word as expressed in written Treaty and In accepting the Two Row Wampum. Our way of life is so altered we cannot sustain ourselves on the little we have left. To give up and assimilate is not an acceptable answer to us and it shouldnt be acceptable to you to have this land and wealth through denial of our right to our own way of life and our lands as promised in the Treaties. I cannot educate everyone in every step of the cycle. That is not how it works. I speak a Truth. If it matters, you forgo an hour here and there of television or other activity and invest it in improving the character of your Nation. I can help with references that will educate and assist. Social justice and ethical responsibility are not fast food restaurant items. There is no simple way to step up and give 5 bucks and you are on your way. It is uncomfortable, messy, emotionally depleting work. It is also necessary work to fulfill your responsibility as a citizen in a supposedly democratic Nation state. Continuous learning brings us to new realizations and through those realizations we walk a straighter path with a good heart and in a good mind. This week I learned that all the Treaty Commissioners who represented the Crown were not cheaters and shysters. I believed they were because my learning was not complete. I still have much to learn. I know this much from what I read this week, that there were good men like Alexander Morris who negotiated many of the numbered Treaties. He understood the principles woven into the Two Row Wampum and into the Treaty of Niagara. He kept a transcript of the negotiations on Treaty 4. His transcript reveals he understood the Indigenous Peoples notions of the meaning of the spirit and intent of the Treaty. He understood the notion of shared land and resource where both parties would live in their own way without interfering in each others paths. His accounts are remarkably close to the oral records of the Elders with whom, he negotiated. If this is so, then what happened so Treaty 4 Indians are stuck on little plots of crappy land so they are not able to take care of themselves? The answer is in the first four steps of the genocide wheel. The government in Ottawa took the written Treaty clauses from Morris, They transcribed it all into formal Treaty documents. They added in the preamble a clause Morris never discussed with the Indigenous negotiators, This clause was that the Indigenous would cede and surrender their lands. The Indigenous signed the documents because Morris was compelled by his political masters to get them to do this. They could not read the language and just signed an X beside their names. The same applies for most of the numbered Treaties based on the consistency of the available documentation. Morris fought back. He badgered Ottawa over the cede and surrender clause and for their lack of respect for the Rights of the Indigenous People. He was marginalized and eventually pushed out of office and out of sight by direct political action. This I learned by reading On Being Here to Stay by Michael Asch. We have the responsibility as citizens of our respective Nations. I have chosen my path as Kanienkeha:ka. I am who I am and I have been accepted. You are who you are. If you are Canadian (or American) you have your responsibility to ensure justice and honouring of your collective word. Why bring this up at the time of year when we are to be in a spirit of light and celebration? I bring it up because my sleep has been troubled for days over the plight of the Barriere Lake people. Just like the Nakota, Dakota, Lakota, Kainai, Cree, OjiCree, Anishinabe, and others at the time of Confederation, the Algonquin people there are starving. The third party manager appointed by AANDC has refused to pay Social Assistance payments because the Chief and Council refuse to obey the FNTA legislation passed by Canada. This is the non-essential payments Bernard Valcourt talks about. The people have too little land left to be self -sustaining. What land they have is open to clear cutting destroying the necessary habitat for fur trapping, successful hunting, and gathering of traditional foods. They negotiated a tripartite agreement in 2006 with Quebec and industry to stop unsustainable resource extraction and to improve the lives of those on Reserve within their unceded territory. Yes, Canada and Quebec have never negotiated a Treaty to use or occupy their land. Today they are not honouring their tripartite agreement. The people starve, The cycle of genocide continues. That is why I write this. Read and share. Write your MP. Give food or clothing. Donate cash. It is the best Christmas gift I could get this year. barrierelakesolidarity.org/
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 00:36:36 +0000
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