40-DAY FAST: Can Canada Survive?

First Nations People.

Although obviously I originally offended by using the term "Indians," and I tried to explain why I did so... this Wikipedia excerpt may clear the air a little.

I certainly recognize the term "First Nations" and "Indigenous" and "Aboriginal".

But this is a generational problem, not a problem with using an offensive word. Read this!

You see, "First Nations" only began to be widely used in the 1980's -- I was born in 1950. And when it started being used in the 1980's, I wasn't paying a lot of attention right away.

So has it taken me 30 years to catch up? Right! Getting your old head around a major vocabulary change, that happened when you weren't looking....

Also, since I am not a Canadian, I have an additional layer of cloudy thinking to get through.




Wikipedia:

"First Nations"' came into common usage in the 1980s to replace the term "Indian band". Elder Sol Sanderson says that he coined the term in the early 1980s. Others state that the term came into common usage in the 1970s to avoid using the word “Indian,” which some people considered offensive. Apparently, no legal definition of the term exists. Some Aboriginal peoples in Canada have also adopted the term “First Nation” to replace the word “band” in the name of their community. A band is a legally recognized "body of Indians for whose collective use and benefit lands have been set apart or money is held by the Canadian Crown, or declared to be a band for the purposes of the Indian Act."

As individuals, First Nations people are officially recognized by the Government of Canada by the terms "registered Indians" or "status Indians" only if they are listed on the Indian Register and are thus entitled to benefits under the Indian Act. They are considered "non-status Indian" if they are not so listed and thus not entitled to benefits, according to the Canadian state. Administration of the Indian Act and Indian Register is carried out by the federal government's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

While the word "Indian" is still a legal term, its use is erratic and in decline in Canada.[20][21] Some First Nations people consider the term offensive, while others prefer it to "Aboriginal person/persons/people," despite the fact that the term is a misnomer given to indigenous peoples of North America by European settlers who erroneously thought they had landed on the Indian subcontinent. The use of the term "Native Americans", which the United States government and others have adopted, is not common in Canada.

The First Nations are the various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population is nearly 700,000 people.

THANK YOU EVERYBODY, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO FOLLOW THIS OUT WITH ME.

as a canadian, i worry about the direction harper is leading us it, it seems we have lost our way, no longer concerned about social justice, peacekeeping and environmental science, we are no according to harper, a warrior nation and and a huge oil field...

I offer you the above picture.

Says more than a thousand words.

Quick Updates:

(1)

The Conservative Party has brought up Federal Health Minister, beholden to Prime Minister Harper for her Cabinet post, to attack the decision of Chief Theresa Spence to continue her public hunger strike.

Quoting from The National Post:

[link to news.nationalpost.com]

"Meanwhile, the federal health minister is calling on Spence to end the strike and meet with Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan.

"Leona Aglukkaq, who is Inuk, says aboriginal policy in Canada is Duncan’s job and therefore he’s the one who should be meeting with the Northern Ontario chief..."

My comment:

That's a good one. Chief Spence has had several contacts with John Duncan year after year, and she says he can never answer a question without looking around to get a clue from his aides, and that he doesn't have the authority to ever make a decision on his own anyway.

The only people who are going to be impressed with this statement are the brain dead.

Also, the Inuk are not "First Nations" in Canada, according to Wikipedia.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]


(2)

Another First Nations toady pipes up.

The same National Post story quotes Shane Gottfriedson, Tk’emlups Indian Band Chief, from British Columbia, "who said Friday that Spence’s strike is both honourable and noble, but he believes her point has been made."

"He says Spence is fasting for many issues that are important to aboriginals, but most of those issues will not be resolved soon, and he believes the chief’s health is more important....

"...Gottfriedson says the next step is to begin a dialogue with the federal government, and he says it shouldn’t take a meeting with the prime minister to get those talks underway..."

Who is Gottfriedson?

According to the website of Shuswap Nation Tribal Council...

[link to shuswapnation.org]

Shane Gottfriedson is an iron worker by trade with a Business Certification from the University of British Columbia and is currently serving his ninth year as Chief of the Tk’emlups Indian Band. He resides in Kamloops with his family.

-- So, he is not raising his family on a reserve. Nice.

Chief Theresa Spence lives on the Attawapiskat First Nation Reserve, with her five daughters, and her spouse.

Want to hear about talks with the Canadian government?

READ THE TIMELINE AND WEEP. . . . .

Quoting Wikipedia:

[link to en.wikipedia.org]



On October 28, 2011 the Attawapiskat First Nations leadership declared a state of emergency in response to dropping temperatures, and the resulting health and safety concerns due to inadequete housing. Many residents were still living in tents, trailers and temporary shelters, and many residences and public buildings lacked running water and electricity. In one case, children, the elderly, and the ill were sleeping in rooms just a few feet away from a 2009 raw sewage spill that had not been adequately cleaned.[31][32]

Attawapiskat residents were evacuated during flood conditions in May 2009. The sole elementary school building, a state of the art construction in 1976, was closed in 2000 because of toxic fumes from a 1978 diesel spill that seeped into the ground underneath the school.

Along with 300 houses, there are 5 tents and 17 sheds used for housing. Trailers that house 90 people cost $100,000 a year to maintain.[33]

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan claimed that officials in his department were unaware of Attawapiskat's housing problems until Oct. 28, 2011, despite having visited the community many times that year.[34]

The crisis is the subject of a 2012 documentary by First Nations filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, The People of the Kattawapiskak River. Obomsawin was present in the community in 2011, working on another film for the National Film Board of Canada, when the housing issue came to national attention.[35]
[edit] Timeline

* 1979 - 30,000 gallons of diesel leaked from underground pipes was spilled underneath the recently built J.R. Nagokee School that houses grades 1-8(1976). It was the largest spill in Northern Ontario.[36]

* 2000 - Liberal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (Canada) Robert Nault agreed in 2000 to begin plans for a new school. Two successive Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development ministers, Andy Scott and Jim Prentice also promised a new school for Attawapiskat. You can read the full chronology of seven years of negotiations on the departmental website. On April 1, 2008, the new minister, Chuck Strahl, informed the Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority AFNEA that Ottawa would not finance the new school after all.[37]

* May 11, 2000 - J.R. Nagokee Elementary School closed due to health problems relating to the 1979 diesel spill. Since then the elementary school students are in portables.[37]

*

* December 8, 2004 - During his 2004 mission in Canada, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, UNESCO Special Rapporteur, observed first-hand the substandard conditions of on-reserve housing which included deteriorated units, lack of heating and insulation, leakage of pipes and toxic mould.[38]

* November 1, 2007 - UNHCHR Special Rapporteur, Mr. Miloon Kothari, noted that overcrowded and inadequate housing conditions, as well as difficulties to access basic services, including water and sanitation, are major problems for Aboriginal peoples. He called for changes in federal and provincial government, legislations, policies and budgetary allocation for Aboriginal people[39]

* December 2007 - The new Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister cancelled the plans for a new school claiming there were other communities who took priority and that they were no health and safety concerns in Attawapiskat.

* May 2008 – Hundreds of people are evacuated from the community after a state of emergency is declared. The threat stems from the possibility of ice jams in the Attawapiskat River and subsequent flooding.[40]

* 2009 - Members of the Attawapiskat First Nation blocked a winter road block near the DeBeers Victor Mine to protest the fact that the Attawapiskat First Nation live in such impoverished conditions alongside this billion dollar project.

* July 11, 2009 - A massive sewage flood dumps waste into eight buildings that housed 90 people. DeBeers donated and retroffited two construction accommodation trailers intended as a short-term stop-gap measure, until the home could be remedied or replaced. They are still housing 90 people who share the four stoves and six washrooms.[41][42]

* August 21, 2009 - Community members traveled to Toronto to confront De Beers Canada about the growing prosperity of the company and the growing poverty in the community.[43]

* October 14, 2009 - Chief Theresa Hall raises concerns about the federal government's lack of response to the housing crisis in Attawapiskat caused by the sewage back-up. The government had claimed they had committed 700,000$ to repair homes.[43]

* October 28, 2011 – Attawapiskat First Nations Chief Theresa Spence calls a state of emergency for the third time in three years. Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan claimed that officials in his department were unaware of Attawapiskat's housing problems until Oct. 28, despite having visited the community many times this year.[34]
* December 1, 2011 - The Canadian Red Cross mobilized to help meet immediate needs in the community of Attawapiskat. The Red Cross continues to work closely with public authorities and the community to identify and address urgent, short-term needs. At the request of the community the Red Cross will also take on a donation management role to support these needs as identified.[44]

* CBC News journalist Adrienne Arsenault visited Attawapiskat to assess the situation on December 2, 2011.[45] Alarmed at Attawapiskat's housing problems, she dismissed claims by Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan that on an emergency basis there was adequate clean, dry shelter with running water and electricity available in the community, citing public buildings such as the healing centre and sportsplex. Adrienne Arsenault was particularly concerned about the most-at-risk groups, which include elderly people and children: the healing centre building is five kilometres out of town and has neither running water nor phone lines.

------------

Updates:

Now that 22 mobile units were sent up to Attawapiskat in the Summer 2012, there still remain hundreds of people without adequate housing.

The foundation was finally laid for a school in Summer 2012 also. Will it survive the winter, unfinished?

The Victor Diamond Mine, owned by DeBeers and operating on Attawapiskat land, pays no royalties to the Attawapiskat First Nation at all -- royalties go directly to the Province of Ontario, and the Province of Ontario by law, has no responsibilities to provide services to Attawapiskat.

“Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation has said she is prepared to fast until death. She should be taken at her word,” said James Bartleman, the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan “lacks the weight to deal with the crisis,” Bartleman wrote in a letter published Thursday in The Globe and Mail, adding that if Harper were to meet with Spence, it would be a sign of his compassion for all suffering aboriginal people.

“If he doesn’t, and Chief Spence dies, he will be forever remembered as someone too proud to do the right thing. Worst, he would never forgive himself,” Bartleman said.

[link to news.nationalpost.com]

I love the Idle No More campaign !

When will you all be idle no more and get jobs, pay taxes , obey laws and generally contribute to Canadian society in a positive manner ?

How do people who are doing nothing to preserve the resources of Canada for Canadians and future generations... how do those people "generally contribute to Canadian society in a positive manner"?

Having a job and paying taxes, by themselves, do not establish that a person is exercising "due diligence."

:Chief Spence:

Last Edited by 13th-Century on 12/29/2012 01:02 AM

On Sunday, December 20th, there will be Solidarity Demonstrations to support Chief Theresa Spence.

And at 2 p.m., there will be an 'Open House' at her teepee.

on another note - thanks to Jackson Browne and everyone who put together the concert to free Leonard Peltier: a political prisoner for too many years - on the level of Nelson Mandela.

with the passing of my friend, Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman, Russell Means and others, I have wondered if Peltier would be forgotten.
while reading about Chief Theresa
(thanks OP)
I read this
[link to bsnorrell.blogspot.com]

he must not be forgotten

Would all the Chiefs (authorized to wear the proper 'head-gear' but tutored by real Lawyers) who fought in the Canadian Courts be allowed to visit Gaza and advise them on what terms to be cautious of in signing any treaties with Israel. Could the Governments (both Canadian and Israeli) bitch but have to allow it to happen?

They dont hunt and gather. 75% of them live off of gov assistance and drink their lives away. Their children kill puppies for fun. Ive seen it.

I know there are many wonderful natives in Canada but I have honestly have not met a single one who was not violent... girls included.

Duh . . . 13th Century various Canadian governments have been trying to get rid of the Indian (actual root: en Dios - in God or living in harmony with the environment) Act for decades but it's the Indians themselves who cling to it. Trudeau and Chretian tried to do it in the early 70s with the White Paper and they all freaked out.

As far as self government goes anytime it's been attempted to pass off revenues directly to the elected chiefs without any oversight from the federal and provincial depts of Indian affairs, the idea has been roundly rejected by the Band membership like the Squamish and the Prince George bands did a few years ago. The reason: rank and file membership do not trust their corrupt leaders.

And starving in a teepee is pretty close to traditional life.

What they want is to live like their "colonial" neighbours, free of charge, compliments of the rest of us.

I wish you would take the time to read all my factual posts on your concerns in this Thread, and you would have a little different perspective, I think.

I tried to find some of your "factual" posts and failed.

I have lived and worked among Canadian Indians all of my life and I'm forced to conclude that they are the most pampered and self absorbed minority on earth. Most of them are also somewhat simple minded and easy to lead around by the nose as this Soros funded Idle No More bowel movement is.

That is basically the deal they made with the Queen back in the day.

We are all treaty people, at least according to Harper and his cronies.
Too bad they want to break all the treaties.

You draw that emotion out in me with just one post, perhaps you are more of the problem than the solution.

Somebody mentioned pampered, is that pampered while being denied many freedoms in moves that are nothing but racially motivated. If the current Gov is unresponsive is she not then supposed to seek justice through a higher court, the ICC in this case or do they have to get statehood first? aka shades of Gaza. I would think the Royals and that crowd are the 'most pampered minority' around. Give the members of the various Tribes a trip around the world and if they want to move then that is where the 'pension' checks will be sent.

Holding onto the knowledge of the past is fine and dandy but in some circumstances it should be forgotten (as in my grandparents coming from German in the 1900's, they were right to not try and keep the local traditions alive considering the wars that soon followed.

I would also update the inside of the Tee-pee so it looks more like a modern command center with it's own cell tower or sat dish. Rather than one or two important people coming by she could be chatting with many people around the world that would be able to relate to her plight as well as getting comments from ones that see her cause as being 'win-able'. A two hour conversation with Hugo might be time well spent and it would make her issue more visible on the international stage as the keeping it a local event is not getting the expected results. 'Stretching exercises from a Tibetan Monk' and they can relate to oppression and how to blend in without losing your identity. (or something like that, getting soundbites published might require something other than CBC doing the broadcasting)

Perhaps some current issues could be resolved, having a newer car is nice but if the money for gas goes to a off-rez stations then that is who it is benefiting. A rez car could be NG filled at home or electric and charged at home if that was even an issue.

If they have cross-border shopping then the rez should be able to start a store for members only. A certain amount of purchases makes you a member for that day only, come back next payday. I'm quite sure the whole Tribe would be willing to get involved in the looking for deals worldwide and setting up all avenues that lead to an inflow of more money than is going out. Doing it legally is something we haven't solved yet so that part needs some fine tuning. Send some students to the manufacturer to get training on repairs for just that model and the money goes to the ones on the rez, incentive to get the specialized training to qualify as an 'instant pro' at journey man rate and a slice of the profits the repair business brings in. His helpers do the normal apprentice thing and they have to be part of the owners to work there so they might have some paper work to do from home before his day is finished but since it is overtime hours it gets done before socializing on a $50/hr salary.

It isn't a matter of throwing money at them, it is giving them some long term options on how to best use that money, with them making the decisions on what that path looks like after they are given a look at how other nations are solving their issues with and crowded society and the ills that come with that.

This part is somewhat important, the way we came to be in power may not be the best method to be taught to the next generation that will be running things.

Spoken like a very uneducated but good little sheep!

Mhz in the last posting mentioned:

"... shades of Gaza .."

Now that phrase drew a lot of emotion out of me.

It needs to be pointed out that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has put Canada right there, on the side of Israel, while the rest of the world has realized it is a rogue, fascist state.

I think we're getting to the point, as middle-class Americans and Canadians both, that --

"rank and file membership do not trust their corrupt leaders."

Somehow or other, you and other people making dismissive comments seems to think that First Nations peoples have a monopoly on wasting government money, various frauds, scams, and scandals.

Look, they are in the minority, and whatever rip-offs have been pulled off by First Nations band councils have PALE FACE next to what goes on it Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Oh and you also said: "Starving in a teepee is pretty close to traditional life."

Most of the people of Attawapiskat, to this day, continue to hunt and fish at wilderness camps in the summertime. That is their traditional way of life.

They avoid paying through the nose for your frozen processed chicken fingers.

Actually I never touch frozen processed chicken fingers. I'm strictly organic.

I live among and work for a First Nations company and they do 95% of their hunter gathering in the local supermarket just like everyone else. And you should see the crap in their shopping carts.

Their style is big houses, brand new 4x4s and gang banger gear.

And check out Theresa's canvas tent, hardly traditional.

Not all First Nations groups are the same, friend.

Actually, the info on how much the Attawapiskat people rely on the land for their living is true.

Excerpt from Wikipedia entry:

Traditional structures, thinking and interpretation of life were maintained in a deeper fashion than for many less isolated First Nations communities. Some elders still lead a traditional life on the land, moving into the community only over Christmas season[6] Some families, although having their home base in the community, are still using the land extensively as their economic and social basis. The vast majority of community members are involved in the yearly goose hunts in fall and spring.[7] Therefore there is still an awareness of traditional way of life among most of the Attawapiskat First Nation members.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

I do not believe the native issues solely lie with conservative politics in Canada, but I will say that I support Natives protesting and standing up for their rights.

Regarding the tent, the media has realy not done its job here.

Chief Spence and her supporters are staying at a tourist attraction. If the tent is not "traditional" enough for you, get this -- it is not her tent.

[link to www.aboriginalexperiences.com]

The tent is part of a display on the grounds of "Aboriginal Experiences" -- advertised on the website as "Canada's only Urban Aboriginal Cultural Attraction".

Chief Spence probably chose this location because it is so close to the Canadian Parliament buildings, which can be seen from the shore of the location on Victoria Island, Ontario.

I get the feeling these negative comments are from people totally detached from reality, and too lazy to read or research.

One can hardly blame them for being cautious about more paper from the white-man's world. Last time they signed the 'other side broke it blatantly or dragged it through the courts for 20 years at a cost to the taxpayer of 200M in Lawyers fees. In the age of touch-screens the members of each Tribe could be part of the voting process and idle chit-chat would make sure all members were aware of all the fine print loop-holes before signing on the dotted line rather than years in court and then losing anyway. That is a conflict because the Canadian Court System is the defendant in Treaty Law Might as well have some Judges from Venezuela (or similar Nation) sit in for them while they defend themselves.


That isn't a fair system in our world, why would anybody expect a different outcome. How about being able to see through their store to someone who does something for the Band that allows the Band to put them in a 'temporary member slot' and they can take advantage of the 'savings' by getting a 'day pass'. Right down to raw whiskey and heritage herbs. The whiskey is oil for the lamps at night, saves killing the bears for their fat.


Got to agree it looks a little barren, 8 projection tv's on the walls (for an 8 sided one) would certainly be surround vision. Who is going to put together the program where you are on a horse (western saddle) and 'the mission' is to use a bow to get one buffalo out of the herd to fall down before you get trampled or your horse tires out (10 min). Use modern sail cloth and it would last for 20 years in all sorts of weather. Would that create a line-up at the door, as long as it was First Nations themed it would be an 'educational tool' rather than 'leisure activity' making production cost a tax deductible expense.


Controls could range from a mechanical bull to a set of 'boots' Red Skelton had for one skit. It was a coil spring of just the right tension that if standing and leaning forward his nose would almost touch the floor. When he wanted to go upright he took a squatting position and moving the mass closer to the spring made the spring take it's original shape, straight up and down. lol, what an awesome skit.

Rebuilding an almost lost heritage and making a few honest dollars (long term ) that is something that can be an inheritance type of business as tourism is a natural pastime in any healthy society, that also mean the ones on the rez should be world travelers themselves, South America as a heritage trip so it is a business expense as importing coco-pop is on the agenda, same stuff you can get in Europe today (or the US Embassy in Peru). This is the counterbalance the fire-water, (ADDAC members are Govt funded for the first 30 days).

There must be some loop-holes in those Treaties that can be exploited under Admiralty Law to the benefit of the ones living on the land. Currently they are prevented from taking advantage in a business setting, such as fishing. If they cannot catch and then sell in all markets then why can they not act as fish farmers in that the oxygenate the lakes they own and feed the fish stock as much as they can eat and then allow the harvest to enter the food market in the towns and cities near and far. The thing is today the middle-man would take the loins share of the profit and the producer getting less than they should and the consumer paying more because shareholders in companies thing they deserve part of the profits from a good idea. No doubt the algae that invades lakes in the summer due to agricultural runoff would also have some market value and it would cost almost nothing more include. Lots of old wind turbines coming on the market, make them air pumps for helping the water and a bellows has 2 moving parts. Somebody with water rights should be able to develop that kind of industry using local talent for most if not all positions in any of the enterprises they take advantage of.

Marketing is a snap because the First Nations already have a vast array of words and saying that could be trademarked to a business that is part of a closed net-work for all intensive purposes.
Can you imagine how many hits the store would get when the take out prices are shown for the upcoming weekend sale??? lol

People would show up days early with their empty holiday trailer and leave with it 10 lbs under the legal limit for weight. Rather than 1 big store have it done like a garage sale with a map to which items are at which location. Brought right to your vehicle by the 'staff' which should almost eliminate theft, perhaps leave the chip in but have the customer be given a number to call that would locate any of the things he has purchased from the store.

If the Gov wants to add some fees (which they will)Revenue Canada can to that so the fee is part of what is shown in the virtual catalog. Maybe they actually have the option of using different banking rules, say they adopt the ones Iceland recently has, so business and be a crook means you do some jail time.

She will be successful. I've seen it in my dreams. All Canadians will get something in return thanks to her.

Thee Bob , I will take this time to tell you that there is still hope for you.
Your evolution to a higher self will come.
You are almost there, but you must start by leaving the left-right paradigm behind.
Harper is Crap, 2006 Bilderberg meeting attendee, 2007 PRIME MINISTER OF THE CORPORATION OF CANADA, yes, he also has been bought.
Also at this time in your evolution to a higher consciousness do not speak for any other white people you do not have the parts to make such assumptions/statements obviously.
You must be very young and niave, or very old and ignorant.
The more I hear from people like you, the more I believe that I have much more in commom with people who have come from, and truly are a people of MOTHER EARTH!(although they and us are all a little confused with all the bullshit being fed to all of us by the TPTB)
Like when white, anglo/saxons really cared for and about MOTHER EARTH,when it provided, and we respected, what it gave us a long, long, long time ago it seems.......

THE EARTH PROVIDES ENOUGH FOR EVERY MANS NEEDS...BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR EVERY MANS GREED!!!!

NOW THINK ON THAT A LITTLE..........

THEN FUCK OFF!!!

13 th CENTURY AND MHz...... KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT.
Although we might have small points we could debate, generally, I concur.

HOPEFULLY THE REST OF THE SHEEP WILL WAKE UP SOON AND FIGURE OUT THIS FIGHT IS FOR ALL OF US!!!!