Periodical
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Up-Date (March/April 1987)
- Title
- Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Up-Date (March/April 1987)
- Is Part Of
- 1.06-01.07 UBCIC Up-Date
- 1.06.-01 Newsletters and bulletins sub-series
- Date
- February 1987
- Language
- english
- Identifier
- 1.06-01.07-04.01
- pages
- 8
- Contributor
- Chief Saul Terry
- Type
- periodical
- Transcription (Hover to view)
-
U N I O N O F B.C. I N D I A N CHIEFS U P - D A T E
MARCH / APRIL
1987
ISSUE
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
P e r h a p s some o f u s h a v e b r e a t h e d a s i g h o f r e l i e f a t t h e
c o n c l u s i o n o f t h e F i r s t M i n i s t e r ' s C o n f e r e n c e on A b o r i g i n a l
Rights.
We b e l i e v e t h a t we came o u t o f t h a t p r o c e s s w i t h o u t
losing anying.
D i d we, i n d e e d , s u r v i v e u n s c a t h e d ?
As we a l l know t h e d a n g e r i n t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a m e n d i n g
f o r m u l a e i s t h e f a c t t h a t I n d i a n P e o p l e s do n o t h a v e a v o t e i n
that process.
The p r o v i n c e s had no p r e v i o u s v o i c e i n o u r a f f a i r s
b u t a s s t a t e d by t h e Prime M i n i s t e r , he f e e l s c o m p e l l e d t o
i n v o l v e t h e p r o v i n c e s due t o t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l p r o c e s s r e q u i r i n g
p r o v i n c i a l involvement.
T h i s g a v e t h e government o f Canada an
o p p o r t u n i t y t o e m b r o i l t h e p r o v i n c e s i n o u r a f f a i r s and t h e
natural r e s u l t i s the c o l l a p s e of the constitution t a l k s .
What
we w i t n e s s e d i n f a c t was t h e F e d e r a l Government c a v i n g i n t o the
p r o v i n c i a l governments.
What d o e s t h i s mean t o u s a s I n d i a n N a t i o n s i n t h e W e s t ?
F i r s t o f a l l i t means t h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n m e n t s now h a v e a
growing i n v o l v e m e n t with our a f f a i r s .
T h e i r s o l u t i o n s a r e i n the
o r d e r o f e n r i c h e d programs and l e g i s l a t i v e s o l u t i o n s .
In an
effort
to s o l i d i f y h i s p o s i t i o n the Premier
o f B.C. i s
c o n t e m p l a t i n g t h e f o r m u l i z i n g o f r e l a t i o n s w i t h A l b e r t a and
Saskatchewan t o a d d r e s s I n d i a n i s s u e s .
I n my m i n d t h i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e P r e m i e r s a r e a w a r e o f o u r
p r e c i s e p o s i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o o u r A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s
and t h a t t h e y ( P r e m i e r V a n d e r Zalm i n c l u d e d ) a r e making c o n s c i o u s
efforts to plead ignorance of or c l a i m to not understand the
Indian Peoples position.
I n f a c t a n e f f o r t i s b e i n g made t o
d i s c r e d i t t h e p o s i t i o n w h i c h was c l e a r l y c o n v e y e d
to the Premier
and t h e Prime M i n i s t e r t h r o u g h o u r s u b m i s s i o n t o them o f o u r
A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s P o s i t i o n
Paper.
The c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e h a s p u t u s a t g r e a t e r r i s k t o
p r o v i n c i a l p r o g r a m a n d l e g i s l a t i v e remedy.
A r e a l risk of
d e l e g a t e d s t a t u s as w e l l as s u b j e c t i o n t o the implementation o f
t h e N i e l s o n T a s k F o r c e R e p o r t recommendations.
Our t a s k s t h e n must be g e a r e d , o v e r t h e n e x t
determine c o u n t e r - a c t i o n s to these i n i t i a t i v e s .
few m o n t h s , t o
Your i d e a s a l o n g t h i s l i n e a r e welcome and I hope to have an
o p p o r t u n i t y t o d i s c u s s w i t h y o u some o f t h e p r e l i m i n a r y a c t i o n s I
have t a k e n .
Hope
2nd
to s e e o r hear
from you soon.
F l o o r , 73 Water S t . , Vancouver, BC
V6B 1A1
T e l . : 604-684-0231
-
COLONIALISM AND
2
-
INDIAN NATIONS:
We
present
this excerpt
f r o m B i s h o p R e m i de R o o ' s s p e e c h t o
the
U n i o n o f B.C.
Indian Chiefs 1 8 t h Annual G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y ,
because
i t
points
out
the
dangers
that
come w i t h
discussions
or
n e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h the F e d e r a l and/or P r o v i n c i a l Governments.
If
you
r e a d t h e B i s h o p ' s s p e e c h and r e c a l l what h a p p e n e d t h r o u g h
the
First
M i n i s t e r ' s C o n s t i t u t i o n P r o c e s s on A b o r i g i n a l R i g h t s
over
t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s ; you w i l l see t h e d a n g e r s
involved.
Your
comments
or
observations
on
these
issues
are
welcome.
"I k n o w y o u a r e c o n s c i o u s o f t h a t and l i s t e n i n g t o you,
Mr.
P r e s i d e n t t h i s morning, I got that note of concern from your t a l k
and
t h a t s h a r p r e m i n d e r t o e v e r y o n e t h a t we r e a l l y h a v e t o l o o k a
l i t t l e
d e e p e r b e n e a t h the e x t e r n a l a p p e a r a n c e s and
get at
the
c a u s e s and r e a l l y a s c e r t a i n what a r e t h e power r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t
c o n d i t i o n our
reality.
To u n d e r s t a n d t h a t a l i t t l e b e t t e r I want t o
b r i e f l y s o m e o f my own
perceptions
as t o what has
h i s t o r i c a l l y and
I n o t i c e that your President t h i s
a b o u t the c o l o n i a l p r o b l e m w i t h o u t g o i n g i n t o any
T o me i t i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d w h a t i s l y
expression
of c o l o n i a l i s m .
share with
you
been going
on
morning spoke
of the
detail.
i n g under that
C o l o n i a l i s m i s a r e s u l t o f t h e g r o w i n g irupres3ior. by
the
E u r o p e a n p e o p l e s t h a t somehow t h e y w e r e a s u p e r i o r c u l t u r e .
As a
r e s u l t t h e y c o u l d b e g i n t o e x t e n d t h e m s e l v e s and t o d o m i n a t e t h e
rest
of the world.
We
saw
that h i s t o r i c a l l y happening in a
number
of
c o u n t r i e s
India,
A f r i c a ,
L a t i n
America.
U n c o n s c i o u s l y , as f a r as many p e o p l e a r e c o n c e r n e d , t h e
same
thing
happened here
i n North America.
Maybe s l i g h t l y
more
s o p h i s t i c a t e d b u t b a s i c a l l y t h e p r o b l e m i s t h e same.
Underlying
t h i s idea of c o l o n i a l i s m there are r e a l l y s e v e r a l
ideologies.
M e a n i n g by i d e o l o g i e s , p a r t i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s t h a t a r e t a k e n f o r
the f u l l n e s s of t r u t h .
I am g o i n g t o m e n t i o n t o y o u b e c a u s e i t
i s i m p o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d what t h i s b e a s t c o l o n i a l i s m , what t h i s
c r e a t u r e i s r e a l l y a l l about.
What i s i t t h a t c a u s e s t h i s c o l o n i a l a t t i t u d e ?
F i r s t of a l l
i t i s a whole view of c r e a t i o n .
We s o m e t i m e c a l l i t t h e
technoindustrial creation.
I t comes out of the r e n a i s s a n c e
and
the
enlightment.
T h a t p e r i o d i n h i s t o r y b r o u g h t us an a w f u l l o t o f
p r o g r e s s i n terms o f modern s c i e n c e . I t a l s o b r o u g h t us a l o t of
n a r r o w n e s s i n t e r m s o f o u r t h i n k i n g b e c a u s e t h r o u g h t h e new
found
powers of science,
p e o p l e began to l o o k upon n a t u r e , upon
the
w h o l e o f c r e a t i o n as
a k i n d of machine, something you
could
- 3 -
m a n i p u l a t e , something you c o u l d take a p a r t .
The p a r t s o f w h i c h
you c o u l d work w i t h and r e a s s e m b l e .
T h a t was a v e r y h e a d y t r i p
b e c a u s e i t g a v e t h e i m p r e s s i o n t h a t we c o u l d u l t i m a t e l y c o n t r o l
nature.
F o r s o m e t i m e we a c t u a l l y l i v e d w i t h t h a t i l l u s i o n ,
that
we h a d s o m u c h p o w e r we c o u l d a c t u a l l y d o w h a t we l i k e d
with
nature.
I t i s beginning
t o b a c k f i r e now b e c a u s e n a t u r e i s
s t a r t i n g t o r e - a s s e r t i t s e l f i n some s t r a n g e w a y s .
You h a v e a l l
had t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f s e e i n g t h e k i n d o f m o n s t r o s i t i e s t h a t b e g i n
t o a p p e a r i n n a t u r e w h e n we t a m p e r t o o m u c h w i t h i t s l a w s a n d
t h i n k we c a n r e - d i r e c t n a t u r e .
T h i s came i n t o o b v i o u s c l a s h w i t h t h e m o r e h o l i s t i c v i e w o f
c r e a t i o n which has a l w a y s been t h e h e r i t a g e o f the n a t i v e
peoples.
The E u r o p e a n p e o p l e a l s o f e l t t h a t somehow by
dominating
n a t u r e , by c o n q u e r i n g , by c o n t r o l l i n g , and i f need be
b y o p p r e s s i n g t h o s e p e o p l e s who s t o o d i n t h e i r w a y , t h e y c o u l d
e v e n t u a l l y s e t t h e m s e l v e s upon a path o f u n l i m i t e d p r o g r e s s and
you know t h a t s y m b o l o f p r o g r e s s became k i n d o f a g u i d i n g l i g h t
for the whole European Western C i v i l i z a t i o n .
N o w h e r e was i t
s t r o n g e r than here i n North America because of our tremendous
n a t u r a l resources and o u r f i n a n c e s and t h e i d e a l i s m and a l l t h e
e n e r g y o f t h e new p e o p l e s who came t o t h i s g r e a t l a n d , t h e y
fell
r i g h t into that trap of u n l i m i t e d progress.
T h e r e s u l t was t h a t
a n y o n e who s t o o d
i n t h e way o f s o - c a l l e d p r o g r e s s
was
just
r u t h l e s s l y shunted a s i d e .
B e c a u s e t h e r e was a t h i r d d i m e n s i o n o f
t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y , i t was k i n d o f a n i n t r u m e n t a l
reasoning.
T h i s i s v e r y c l e a r i n t h e a p p r o a c h t h a t t h e d e v e l o p e r s , t h e new
p e o p l e s who c a m e t o N o r t h A m e r i c a t o o k t o t h e l a n d .
Whereas
n a t i v e p e o p l e s , as you w e l l know, had seen t h e l a n d as t h e g i f t
o f t h e s p i r i t , as a h e r i t a g e t o p r o t e c t and t o t r a n s m i t as t h e
m a t r i x , one m i g h t s a y , o u t o f w h i c h c u l t u r e i t s e l f w o u l d a r i s e .
I r e m e m b e r l i s t e n i n g t o some o f t h e n a t i v e s c h i e f s who
presented
b r i e f s or papers to t h e Berger Commission t a l k i n g about Mother
E a r t h a n d how we a r e s o i n t i m a t e l y l i n k e d w i t h t h i s s o u r c e o f o u r
being.
That contrasted with t h i s c o l o n i a l
i d e a t h a t l a n d was
b a s i c a l l y a commodity, something a person c o u l d
possess,
s o m e t h i n g t h a t c o u l d be used as an i n s t r u m e n t and m a n i p u l a t e d a t
will.
F u r t h e r t o t h a t was a l s o a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g
of civilization
w h i c h came o u t o f t h e E u r o p e a n e x p e r i e n c e .
As i f t h e o n l y
c i v i l i z a t i o n was t h e W e s t e r n I n d u s t r i a l S o c i e t y a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y
t h e t e n d e n c y t o l o o k down o n a n y o t h e r c u l t u r a l e x p r e s s i o n o r a n y
o t h e r c i v i l i z a t i o n as l e s s than adequate.
O t h e r c u l t u r e s , c o n s e q u e n t l y were c o n s i d e r e d by t h e s e p e o p l e
with a colonial
m e n t a l i t y as s o m e t h i n g t o be
"modernized,
absorbed o r a s s i m i l a t e d . "
I f y o u w a n t t o k n o w why t h i s
constant
pressure f o r a s s i m i l a t i o n that you have had t o f i g h t a g a i n s t f o r
so
l o n g , w h e r e d o e s t h a t come f r o m ?
I t comes o u t o f t h a t
mentality.
I t i s good t o u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e t h e r o o t s o f a l l t h i s
lie.
Because then y o u w i l l be i n a b e t t e r p o s i t i o n to t r y to
take the unnecessary c o r r e c t i v e a c t i o n .
-
4
-
P e o p l e w i t h t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y w i l l l o o k upon c u l t u r e
and c i v i l i z a t i o n b a s i c a l l y as a b l e n d i n g t o g e t h e r o f a k i n d o f
homogeniety instead of respect f o r the d i v e r s i t y of c u l t u r e s .
T h a t i s w h e r e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a n d r a c i s m w i l 1 come o u t o f . A n y o n e
that doesn't f i t i n t o t h a t w h i t e p a t t e r n , t h a t c o l o n i a l p a t t e r n ,
is then repressed
o r e f f o r t s a r e made t o t r y a n d a s s i m i l a t e
b e c a u s e u l t i m a t e l y a n d t h a t i s t h e f i n a l p o i n t i n t e r m s o f an
assessment i n terms o f t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y , t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s
in
a c o l o n i a l
mentality
a r e those o f d o m i n a t i o n and o f
dependence.
P e o p l e w i t h a c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y a r r i v e i n a c o u n t r y and t h e
c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t h e BOSS.
T h e p e o p l e who c a n o r d e r
other
p e o p l e around.
They c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t h e owners.
The r e s u l t
of i t i s t h a t e v e n i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s and n e g o t i a t i o n s you h a v e
c o n s t a n t l y a u n i l a t e r a l d e f i n i t i o n o f the terms o f r e l a t i o n s h i p
and t h o s e o f y o u who h a v e s t r u g g l e d w i t h g o v e r n m e n t s k n o w w h a t I
mean b y t h a t .
You a r e a l w a y s i n a l o s i n g race where t h e o t h e r
p a r t y i s a l w a y s r e d e f i n i n g t h e t e r m s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r own s e l f
understanding.
I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o h a v e a g r a s p on t h a t a n d t o r e a l i z e t h e
d e p t h o f t h a t p r e s s u r e and t h a t m e n t a l i t y so t h a t when y o u h a v e
t o d e a l w i t h i t y o u don't l e t y o u r s e l f be m i s l e a d by s u p e r f i c i a l
appearances of changes of a t t i t u d e or of m e n t a l i t y .
It really
r u n s v e r y deep.
B e c a u s e o u r C a n a d i a n g o v e r n m e n t i s s t i l l i n many w a y s c a u g h t
up i n t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y we a r e g o i n g t o h a v e t o c o n s t a n t l y
take that i n t o
account.
For instance, the s e l e c t i v e d e a l i n g s with the u n i l a t e r a l
s e t t i n g o f terms f o r n e g o t i a t i o n s , the c l a i m s that the government
knows b e s t .
The c o n s t a n t b r i n g i n g back o f t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i s e
and
the s e t t i n g aside the experience
of people as i f that
experience
i s n o t i n i t s e l f a g r e a t e r and p o s s i b l y a sounder
expertise.
The t e n d e n c y t o d i v i d e and c o n q u e r , t o l i m i t
i n f o r m a t i o n so t h a t y o u h a v e t o n e g o t i a t e k n o w i n g o n l y p a r t o f
what t h e o t h e r p a r t y h a s i n h a n d - a l w a y s w i t h a s t a c k e d d e c k o f
c a r d s a g a i n s t you as i twere.
The a t t e m p t t o s e t up p a r t i a l
t r e a t i e s a n d t h e n c l a i m o n t h e b a s i s o f some r a t h e r p r e s s u r i z e d
s o l u t i o n t o a l o c a l p r o b l e m t h a t a g e n e r a l s o l u t i o n h a s been
found f o r a l l the wider i s s u e s .
A l l these tendencies
come o u t o f
t h a t m e n t a l i t y a n d i t i s g o o d t o know w h e r e t h e y come from."
* * * * *
- 5 The f o l l o w i n g a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d "The F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t ' s P o s i t i o n
on A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e a n d R i g h t s " i s an e d i t e d v e r s i o n o f a p a p e r
done by C h i e f B e r n a r d C h a r l e s , a r t i c l i n g s t u d e n t w i t h t h e Union
o f B.C. C h i e f s .
I f y o u w i s h t o p u r s u e d i s c u s s i o n on t h i s i t e m I
am c e r t a i n t h a t B e r n a r d w o u l d b e h a p p y t o d i s c u s s t h e m a t t e r .
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POSITION ON ABORIGINAL T I T L E AND RIGHTS"
Indian p e o p l e s have argued f o rdecades f o r t h e r e c o g n i t i o n
o f t h e c o n c e p t s o f A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s w h i c h a r e commonly
r e f e r r e d t o as t h e " l a n d q u e s t i o n " w i t h i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . I n
c o n t r a s t , t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s i t s own c o n c e p t o f t h e s e
i s s u e s w h i c h we m i g h t c a l l " t h e o t h e r I n d i a n l a n d
question."
This
Federal
concept
i s a direct
denial o f t h e "trust"
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r Indian people and i saimed a t t e r m i n a t i o n o f
" s p e c i a l s t a t u s " f o r I n d i a n s i n modern Canada.
As a n e x a m p l e , t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s c o n s t a n t l y t r i e d
to
reduce t h eRoyal
Proclamation
o f 1763 t o a mere " l a n d
management s c h e m e . "
The r a t i o n a l e o f t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t p o s i t i o n a p p e a r s
d e r i v e d from t h e i r i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e i n t e n t o f c o l o n i a l
authorities.
L e g a l a d v i s o r s i nthe F e d e r a l J u s t i c e Department
a r g u e t h a t t h e P r o c l a m a t i o n m e r e l y f u l f i l l e d t h e Crown's n e e d t o
e s t a b l i s h i t s t i t l e to land, provide c o n t r o l over a l l o c a t i o n s of
l a n d t o s e t t l e r s , a n d d e v e l o p a s y s t e m f o r a t a x a t i o n scheme.
The scheme was d e v e l o p e d t o p r o t e c t t h e C r o w n ' s i n t e r e s t
from t h e r i s k o f surrender
o f lands by Indians t o other
governments o r p r i v a t e p a r t i e s b u t t h e r e were few mechanisms t o
ensure that
Indian
rights
were p r o t e c t e d
when l a n d was
surrendered
t o t h e Crown.
In theopinion o f the Federal
Government,
t h e Royal
Proclamation
o f 1763 and subsequent
t r e a t i e s made i n C a n a d a a n d t h e USA, w e r e m e r e l y e a r l y r e a l
e s t a t e t r a n s a c t i o n s a n d n o t h i n g more.
They a r g u e t h a t t h e s c h e m e
p r o v i d e d v e r y l i t t l e i n t h e way o f p r o t e c t i n g I n d i a n r i g h t s .
The
e a r l y i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s and p r o v i s i o n s o f the Royal
P r o c l a m a t i o n o f 1763 w e r e c a r r i e d f o r w a r d t o t h e BNA A c t . T h e
b a s i c concept being a need f o r a c e n t r a l i z e d c o n t r o l o f l a n d .
The
BNA A c t a l l o c a t e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r " I n d i a n s a n d L a n d s
r e s e r v e d f o r t h e I n d i a n s " t o t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t u n d e r S. 9 1
(24).
Today, t h e F e d e r a l government c o n t i n u e s t o a r g u e t h a t i t s
primary " t r u s t " r e s p o n s i b i l i t y under that s e c t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y t o
administer
" I n d i a n l a n d s , " w i t h l e s s emphasis on I n d i a n
peoples.
F o r e x a m p l e , t h e r e c e n t Supreme C o u r t o f C a n a d a d e c i s i o n i n
the G u e r i n c a s e h e l d t h a t t h e r e was a f i d u c i a r y
obligation
p l a c e d on t h e Federal government t o p r o t e c t t h e Indian i n t e r e s t
in land surrendered
f o rl e a s e purposes.
Also
an a n a l y s i s o f t h e i r
Indian
Acts
and policy
development i n d i c a t e c l e a r l y that both t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n and
l e g i s l a t i v e i n i t i a t i v e s a r e based on t h eg o a l s o f a s s i m i l a t i o n .
H i s t o r i c a l a n a l y s i s shows t h a t t h ec o n c e p t o f s p e c i a l "group
rights" contradicts individuals rights.
Viewed, i n t h i s
light,
one c a n r e a d i l y s e e why t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s t r i e d , a n d
c o n t i n u e s t o t r y , t o remove i t s e l f from t h e " I n d i a n " b u s i n e s s .
They v i e w t h e d i f f e r e n c e s as i r r e c o n c i l a b l e t o t h e i r system.
C l a i m s s e t t l e m e n t s , a s proposed by t h e F e d e r a l
Government,
are aimed a t e n s u r i n g Crown c o n t r o l o v e r r e s o u r c e s r a t h e r than
c o n t r o l f o rp r o t e c t i o n and use by Indian Peoples.
I n most
instances,
o u t s i d e economic i n t e r e s t s r e c e i v e p r i o r i t y
over
I n d i a n needs and o b j e c t i v e s .
Control over resource
management
a r e more i m p o r t a n t t o g o v e r n m e n t t h a n t h e needs o f t h e I n d i a n
people.
-
6
-
If the "termination" goal o f the Federal authorities i snot
a c h i e v e d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y , they have another f o r k i n t h e i r twot r a c k p o l i c y t h a t has been designed
to operate
concurrently.
This i n v o l v e s developing the concept of a municipa1-form of
government delegated
from the F e d e r a l
authority to Indian
communities, with corresponding P r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a t i v e i n i a t i v e s .
An e x a m p l e o f t h i s i s t h e S e c h e l t m o d e l .
This model f a l l s f a r
s h o r t o f t h e d i s t i n c t o r d e r o f g o v e r n m e n t a d v o c a t e d by I n d i a n
people.
The S e c h e l t B i l l p r o v i d e s f o r a f e e s i m p l e l a n d d e s i g n a t i o n
for
existing reserve
lands.
This has been p r o v i d e d t o
facilitate
e c o n o m i c f i n a n c i n g and b o r r o w i n g power.
The l a n d s
r e m a i n u n d e r S e c t i o n 91 (24) m a i n t a i n i n g t h e F e d e r a l
"trust"
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r Indian lands.
I t i s l e f t
f o r future
d e t e r m i n a t i o n whether or not t h e "freedom" i n t e r e p r e t a t i o n p l a c e d
upon t h e B i l l
can stand beside a "trust" o b l i g a t i o n f o rthe
Indian People o f Sechelt.
I t may be i n t e r p r e t e d t h a t t h e S e c h e l t
B i l l h a s t h e e f f e c t o f t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e S e c h e l t p e o p l e and t h e i r
l a n d s f r o m S 9 1 ( 2 4 ) t o S 35 o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n A c t 1 9 8 2 .
In t h e c o u r t c a s e s
i n v o l v i n g t h e G i t k s a n , Meares I s l a n d and
CN,
t h e F e d e r a l and/or P r o v i n c i a l Crown have been added as
defendants.
I f t h e r e was a n y d o u b t a b o u t t h e F e d e r a l p o s i t i o n i t
has been d i s s p e l l e d by t h e i r i n v o l v e m e n t
i n these cases.
Ifthe
F e d e r a l government recognized a t r u e " t r u s t " r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , you
would expect that they would support the Indian p o s i t i o n s i n
these cases or a t l e a s t remain n e u t r a l .
I t i s maddening to
Indian Peoples
t h a t the Federal Government i s t a k i n g a coo p e r a t i v e a p p r o a c h by t h e i r a c c e p t a n c e o f t h e P r o v i n c i a l p o s i t i o n
and i f t h e P r o v i n c e
o f B.C. s u c c e e d s i n t h e s e c a s e s , t h e F e d e r a l
p o s i t i o n o n o u t s t a n d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i v e c l a i m s w i l l b e amended t o
take t h i s into
account.
The I n d i a n View
Be M a r s h a l l e d
of Federal/Indian
Relations
- What S t r a t e g i e s
Can
I t i s g e n e r a l l y known t h a t t h e I n d i a n / C a n a d a r e l a t i o n s h i p i s
n o t a c c e p t a b l e t o I n d i a n s i n B.C.
The a g e n d a s a r e o u t o f o u r
c o n t r o l a n d i f I n d i a n p e o p l e a r e t o s u c c e e d we m u s t
develop
s t r a t e g i e s to achieve
control.
Formal agreements o r approaches t o counter the governmental
p o s i t i o n s must be e x p l o r e d .
This c o u l d be achieved through t h e
development and implementation
of the Treaty/Accord
process
a p p r o v e d a t t h e U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n C h i e f ' s A n n u a l
General
Assembly.
T h i s p r o c e s s o f f e r s a mechanism whereby I n d i a n N a t i o n s
w o u l d f o r m a l i z e a g r e e m e n t s on a r e a s o r i s s u e s t h a t t h e y c o u l d
m u t u a l l y support, thus e l i m i n a t i n g the f r a c t i o n a 1 i z a t i o n that
tends to hinder Indian people.
In this process
the mutual
agreements w o u l d n o t t h r e a t e n t h e autonomy of each n a t i o n but
w o u l d g i v e more s t r e n g t h o r i m p a c t t o o v e r a l l p o s i t i o n s .
The r e a s o n s b e h i n d t h e n e e d t o m a r s h a l 1 a c o n c e r t e d
effort
are e a s i l y understood but the p r a c t i c a l i t y of a c h i e v i n g t h i s g o a l
h a s so f a r e l u d e d u s . W h e t h e r t h e f i g h t be l e g a l , p o l i t i c a l o r
economic, t h e need f o r c o n c e r t e d , c o - o p e r a t i v e a c t i o n r e m a i n s .
The
l i m i t e d f i s c a l a n d human r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e i n e a c h N a t i o n
i n d i c a t e t h e need t o reach agreements t h a t w i l l
facilitate
e f f e c t i v e use of l i m i t e d resources.
F o r those present a t the
f o u n d i n g c o n f e r e n c e o f t h e U n i o n o f BC I n d i a n C h i e f s ,
t h e theme
" U n i t e d We S t a n d ,
D i v i d e d We P e r i s h " w i l l
s p r i n g t o mind.
Perhaps i n today's w o r l d o f f a s t - p a c e change these words have
added meaning.
*
* * * *
-
J O B
7-
O P P O R T U N I T I E S
The
U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n
Chiefs
i s presently
accepting
a p p l i c a t i o n s t o f i l l t h e p o s i t i o n s o f H e a l t h C o n s u l t a t i o n Coordinator and Health L i a i s o n Officer.
A s t r o n g background, both
in
terms o f formal
t r a i n i n g and previous
experience, i s
preferred.
E q u a l l y i m p o r t a n t , i st h a t these i n d i v i d u a l s must
possess a thorough understanding
o f t h econcept o f s e l f government as i t r e l a t e s t o t h ew e l l - b e i n g , a n d t h e h e a l t h and
environmental
concerns o f our communities, along with the a b i l i t y
to communicate these c o n c e r n s o r a l l y and w r i t t e n .
We a r e a l s o c o m p i l i n g a r e s o u r c e l i s t o f N a t i v e I n d i a n P e o p l e who
a r e i n t e r e s t e d and a v a i l a b l e t o do p r o j e c t and/or c o n t r a c t work
in the area o f H e a l t h .
A g a i n we e n c o u r a g e i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h t h e
e q u i v a l e n t o f a c e r t i f i c a t e i nCommunity H e a l t h , a B a c h e l o r o f
Science degree o r b e t t e r , o r other r e l a t e d formal t r a i n i n g , t o
f o r w a r d t h e i r resume a l o n g w i t h a sample o f y o u r w r i t i n g .
For a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n and/or a f u l l
e i t h e r o f t h e above p o s i t i o n w r i t e t o :
j o b d e s c r i p t i o n on
Administrator
U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n C h i e f s
S u i t e 200, 73 Water S t r e e t
Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1
*
* * * *
WATER RIGHTS MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April
21, 1987
Experiencing d i f f i c u l t i e s with t h e Federal o r P r o v i n c i a l
Government's water a g e n c i e s ?
I f so y o u a r e welcome t o a t t e n d t h e
m e e t i n g t o be h e l d a t o u r b o a r d r o o m o n T u e s d a y , A p r i l 21; 1987
b e g i n n i n g a t 1 0 : 0 0 am. W a t e r f o r d o m e s t i c , a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d
i n d u s t r i a l u s e a r e welcome f o r d i s c u s s i o n .
I fyou are i n t e r e s t e d
p l e a s e c a l l o u ro f f i c e , 684-0231, t o i n d i c a t e o r c o n f i r m your
attendance.
*
* * * *
CHIEFS' COUNCIL MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April
22, 23, 24, 1987
Agenda items w i l l r e v o l v e around programs and s e r v i c e s p o l i c i e s ,
l e g i s l a t i v e p r o t e c t i o n s and/or i n i t i a t i v e s ,
a n d p o s t S e c t i o n 37
Constitution discussion.
A luncheon,
o r g a n i z e d b y t h e UBCIC s t a f f ,
i sscheduled f o r
Wednesday, A p r i l
22nd a t w h i c h time t h e v i d e o
tape o f t h e
G i t k s a n Wet S u w e t ' e n w i l l b e shown.
*
* * * *
- 8 -
Researching & Writing T r i b a l
Histories
Workshop
The A m e r i c a n I n d i a n I n s t i t u t e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f O k l a h o m a i s
sponsoring
a workshop s p e c i f i c a l l y
designed
to
provide
i n f o r m a t i o n and s k i l l s t o I n d i a n people i n t e r e s t e d i n l e a r n i n g
how t o w r i t e , r e c o r d a n d r e s e a r c h h i s t o r y o f t h e i r t r i b e .
The
dates
f o r these
Session
Session
two s e s s i o n s a r e :
I - May 1 8 - 2 1 , 1 9 8 7
I I - May 25 - 2 8 , 1 9 8 7
The l o c a t i o n i s t h e C h a t e a u G r a n v i l 1 e H o t e l i n V a n c o u v e r a l t h o u g h
the a c t u a l r e s e a r c h i s scheduled
t o t a k e p l a c e a t t h e UBCIC
Resource Centre.
The c o s t f o r t h i s w o r k s h o p i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y
$225.00 p e r p a r t i c i p a n t , w h i c h i n c l u d e s i n s t r u c t i o n ,
resource
m a t e r i a l s and t h e t r a i n i n g manual "Researching a n d W r i t i n g T r i b a l
H i s t o r i e s , " w r i t t e n b y D u a n e K. H a l e , P h . D.
The U B C I C h a s a p p l i c a t i o n
interested.
forms
*
and pamphlets
f o r those
who a r e
* * * *
The
UBCIC v i d e o - t a p e d
t h e '87 C o n s t i t u t i o n a l t a l k s .
Bands
i n t e r e s t e d i n o b t a i n i n g a copy o r borrowing these, c a n c o n t a c t
our
office.
* * * * *
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS UP-DATE
MARCH / APRIL 1987 ISSUE
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Perhaps some of us have breathed a sigh of relief at the
conclusion of the First Minister's Conference on Aboriginal
Rights. We believe that we came out of that process without
losing anying. Did we, indeed, survive unscathed?
As we all know the danger in the constitution amending
formulae is the fact that Indian Peoples do not have a vote in
that process, The provinces had no previous voice in our affairs
but as stated by the Prime Minister, he feels compelied to
involve the provinces due to the constitutional process requiring
provincial involvement. This gave the government of Canada an
Opportunity to embroil the provinces in our affairs and the
matural result is the collapse of the constitution talks. What
we witnessed in fact was the Federal Government caving in to the
provincial governments.
What does this mean to us as Indian Nations in the West?
First of all it means the provincial governments now have a
growing involvement with cur affairs. Their solutions are in the
order of enriched programs and legislative solutions. In an
effort to solidify his position the Premier of B.C. is
contemplating the formulizing of relations with Alberta and
Saskatchewan to address Indian issues.
In my mind this indicates that the Premiers are aware of our
precise position with respect to our Aboriginal Title and Rights
and that they (Premier Vander Zalm included) are making conscious
efforts to plead ignorance of or claim to not understand the
Indian Peoples position. In fact an effort is being made to
discredit the position which was clearly conveyed to the Premier
and the Prime Minister through our submission to them of our
Aboriginal Title and Rights Position Paper.
The constitutional initiative has put us at greater risk to
provincial program and legislative remedy. A real risk of
delegated status as well as subjection to the implementation of
the Nielson Task Force Report recommendations.
Our tasks then must be geared, over the next few months, to
determine counter-actions to these initiatives.
Your ideas along this line are welcome and I hope to have an
Opportunity to discuss with you some of the preliminary actions I
have taken.
Hope to see or hear from you soon,
2nd Floor, 73 Water St., Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1 Tel.: 604-684-0231
COLONIALISM AND INDIAN NATIONS:
We present this excerpt from Bishop Remi de Roo's speech to the
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs 18th Annual General Assembly, because
it points out the dangers that come with discussions or
negotiations with the Federal and/or Provincial Governments. If
you read the Bishop's speech and recall what happened through the
First Minister's Constitution Process on Aboriginal Rights over
the last five years; you will see the dangers involved.
Your comments or observations on these issues are welcome.
"I Know you are conscious of that and listening to you, Mr.
President this morning, I got that note of concern from your talk
and that sharp reminder to everyone that we really have to look a
little deeper beneath the external appearances and get at the
causes and really ascertain what are the power relationships that
condition our reality.
To understand that a little better I want to share with you
briefly some of my own perceptions as to what has been going on
historically and I notice that your President this morning spoke
about the colonial problem without going into any of the detail.
To me it is very important to understand what is lying under that
expression of colonialism.
Colonialism is a result of the growing impression by the
European peoples that somehow they were a superior culture. As a
result they could begin to extend themselves and to dominate the
rest of the world. We saw that historically happening ina
number of countries - India, Africa, Latin America.
Unconsciously, as far as many people are concerned, the same
thing happened here in North America. Maybe slightly more
sophisticated but basically the problem is the same. Underlying
this idea of colonialism there are really several ideologies.
Meaning by ideologies, partial considerations that are taken for
the fullness of truth. I am going to mention to you because it
is important to understand what this beast colonialism, what this
creature is really all about.
What is it that causes this colonial attitude? First of all
it is a whole view of creation. We sometime call it the techno-
industrial creation. It comes out of the renaissance and the
enlightment. That period in history brought us an awful lot of
progress in terms of modern science. It also brought us a lot of
narrowness in terms of our thinking because through the new found
powers of science, people began to look upon nature, upon the
whole of creation as a kind of machine, something you could
manipulate, something you could take apart. The parts of which
you could work with and reassemble. That was a very heady trip
because it gave the impression that we could ultimately control
Mature. For sometime we actually lived with that illusion, that
we had so much power we could actually do what we liked with
nature. It is beginning to backfire now because nature is
starting to re-assert itself in some strange ways. You have all
had the experience of seeing the kind of monstrosities that begin
to appear in nature when we tamper too much with its laws and
think we can re-direct nature.
This came into obvious clash with the more holistic view of
creation which has always been the heritage of the native
peoples. The European people also felt that somehow by
dominating nature, by conquering, by controlling, and if need be
by oppressing those peoples who stood in their way, they could
eventually set themselves upon a path of unlimited progress and
you know that symbol of progress became kind of a guiding light
for the whole European Western Civilization. Nowhere was it
stronger than here in North America because of our tremendous
natural resources and our finances and the idealism and all the
energy of the new peoples who came to this great land, they fell
right into that trap of unlimited progress. The result was that
anyone who stood in the way of so-called progress was just
ruthlessly shunted aside. Because there was a third dimension of
this colonial mentality, it was kind of an intrumental reasoning.
This is very clear in the approach that the developers, the new
peoples who came to North America took to the land. Whereas
native peoples, as you well know, had seen the land as the gift
of the spirit, as a heritage to protect and to transmit as the
matrix, one might say, out of which culture itself would arise.
I remember listening to some of the natives chiefs who presented
briefs or papers to the Berger Commission talking about Mother
Earth and how we are so intimately linked with this source of our
being.
That contrasted with this colonial idea that land was
basically a commodity, something a person could possess,
something that could be used as an instrument and manipulated at
will. Further to that was also an understanding cf civilization
which came out of the European experience. As if the only
Civilization was the Western Industrial Society and consequently
the tendency to look down on any other cultural expression or any
other civilization as less than adequate.
Other cultures, consequently were considered by these people
with a colonial mentality as something to be “modernized,
absorbed or assimilated.” If you want to know why this constant
pressure for assimilation that you have had to fight against for
so long, where does that come from? Tt comes out of that
mentality. It is good to understand where the roots of all this
lie. Because then you will be ina better position to try to
take the unnecessary corrective action.
People with this colonial mentality will look upon culture
and civilization basically as a blending together of a kind of
homogeniety instead of respect for the diversity of cultures.
That is where discrimination and racism will come out of. Anyone
that doesn't fit into that white pattern, that colonial pattern,
is then repressed or efforts are made to try and assimilate
because ultimately and that is the final point in terms of an
assessment in terms of this colonial mentality, the relationships
in a colonial mentality are those af domination and of
dependence.
People with a colonial mentality arrive in a country and the
consider themselves the BOSS. The people who can order cther
people around. They consider themselves the owners. The result
of it is that even in relationships and negotiations you have
constantly a unilateral definition of the terms of relationship
and those of you who have struggled with governments know what I
mean by that. You are always in a losing race where the other
party is always redefining the terms according to their own self
understanding.
It is important to have a grasp on that and to realize the
depth of that pressure and that mentality so that when you have
to deal with it you don't let yourself be mislead by superficial
appearances of changes of attitude or of mentality. It really
runs very deep.
Because our Canadian government is still in many ways caught
up in this colonial mentality we are going to have to constantly
take that into riccount.
For instance, the selective dealings with the unilateral
setting of terms for negotiations, the claims that the government
knows best. The constant bringing back of technical expertise
and the setting aside the experience of people as if that
experience is not in itself a greater and possibly a sounder
expertise. The tendency to divide and conquer, to limit
information so that you have to negotiate knowing only part of
what the other party has in hand - always with a stacked deck of
cards against you as it were, The attempt to set up partial
treaties and then claim on the basis of some rather pressurized
solution to a local problem that a general solution has been
found for all the wider issues. All these tendencies come out of
that mentality and it is good to know where they come from."
ke kek k ke
= § =
The following article entitled "The Federal Government's Position
on Aboriginal Title and Rights" is an edited version of a paper
done by Chief Bernard Charles, articling student with the Union
of B.c. Chiefs. If you wish to pursue discussion on this item I
am certain that Bernard would be happy to discuss the matter.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POSITION ON ABORIGINAL TITLE AND RIGHTS"
Indian peoples have argued for decades for the recognition
of the concepts of Aboriginal Title and Rights which are commonly
referred to as the "land question" within British Columbia. In
contrast, the federal government has its own concept of these
issues which we might call "the other Indian land question."
This Federal concept is a direct denial of the "trust"
responsibility for Indian people and is aimed at termination of
"special status" for Indians in modern Canada.
As an example, the Federal government has constantly tried
to reduce the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to a mere "land
management scheme."
The rationale of the federal government position appears
derived from their interpretation of the intent of colonial
authorities. Legal advisors in the Federal Justice Department
argue that the Proclamation merely fulfilled the Crown's need to
establish its title to land, provide control over allocations of
land to settlers, and develop a system for a taxation scheme.
The scheme was developed to protect the Crown's interest
from the risk of surrender of lands by Indians to other
governments or private parties but there were few mechanisms to
ensure that Indian rights were protected when land was
Surrendered to the Crown. In the opinion of the Federal
Government, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and subsequent
treaties made in Canada and the USA, were merely early real
estate transactions and nothing more. They argue that the scheme
provided very little in the way of protecting Indian rights.
The early interpretations and provisions of the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 were carried forward to the BNA Act. The
basic concept being a need for a centralized control of land.
The BNA Act allocated responsibility for "Indians and Lands
reserved for the Indians" to the Federal government under S. 91
(24). Today, the Federal government continues to argue that its
primary "trust" responsibility under that section is primarily to
administer “Indian lands," with less emphasis on Indian peoples.
For example, the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in
the Guerin case held that there was a fiduciary obligation
placed on the Federal government to protect the Indian interest
in land surrendered for lease purposes.
Also an analysis of their Indian Acts and policy
development indicate clearly that both the constitution and
legislative initiatives are based on the goals of assimilation.
Historical analysis shows that the concept of special “group
rights" contradicts individuals rights. Viewed, in this light,
one can readily see why the Federal government has tried, and
continues to try, to remove itself from the "Indian" business,
They view the differences as irreconcilable to their system.
Claims settlements, as proposed by the Federal Government,
are aimed at ensuring Crown control over resources rather than
control for protection and use by Indian Peoples. In most
instances, outside economic interests receive priority over
Indian needs and objectives. Control over resource management
are more important to government than the needs of the Indian
people.
- &
If the "termination" goal of the Federal authorities is not
achieved constitutionally, they have another fork in their two-
track policy that has been designed to operate concurrently.
This involves developing the concept of a municipal-form of
government delegated from the Federal authority to Indian
communities, with corresponding Provincial legislative iniatives.
An example of this is the Sechelt model. This model falls far
short of the distinct order of government advocated by Indian
people.
The Sechelt Bill provides for a fee simple land designation
for existing reserve lands. This has been provided to
facilitate economic financing and borrowing power. The lands
remain under Section 91 (24) maintaining the Federal "trust"
responsibility for Indian lands. It if lett. for £ature
determination whether or not the "freedom" interepretation placed
upon the Bill can stand beside a "trust" obligation for the
Indian People of Sechelt. It may be interpreted that the Sechelt
Bill has the effect of transferring the Sechelt people and their
lands from S 91 (24) to S 35 of the Constitution Act 1982.
In the court cases involving the Gitksan, Meares Island and
CN, the Federal and/or Provincial Crown have been added as
defendants. If there was any doubt about the Federal position it
has been disspelled by their involvement in these cases. If the
Federal government recognized a true "trust" responsibility, you
would expect that they would support the Indian positions in
these casés or at least remain neutral. It is maddening to
Indian Peoples that the Federal Government is taking a co-
Operative approach by their acceptance of the Provincial position
and if the Province of B.C. succeeds in these cases, the Federal
position on outstanding comprehensive claims will be amended to
take this into account.
The Indian View of Federal/Indian Relations - What Strategies Can
Be Marshalled
It is generally known that the Indian/Canada relationship is
not acceptable to Indians in B.C. The agendas are out of our
control and if Indian people are to succeed we must develop
strategies to achieve control.
Formal agreements or approaches to counter the governmental
positions must be explored. This could be achieved through the
development and implementation of the Treaty/Accord process
approved at the Union of B.C. Indian Chief's Annual General
Assembly. This process offers a mechanism whereby Indian Nations
would formalize agreements on areas or issues that they could
mutually support, thus eliminating the fractionalization that
tends to hinder Indian people. In this process the mutual
agreements would not threaten the autonomy of each nation but
would give more strength or impact to overall positions,
The reasons behind the need to marshall a concerted effort
are easily understood but the practicality of achieving this goal
has so far eluded us. Whether the fight be legal, political or
economic, the need for concerted, co-operative action remains.
The limited fiscal and human resources available in each Nation
indicate the need to reach agreements that will facilitate
effective use of limited resources. For those present at the
founding conference of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the theme
"United We Stand, Divided We Perish" will spring to mind.
Perhaps in today's world of fast-pace change these words have
added meaning.
x kK ke kek *
J oOsB OPPGCRTUNITIES
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is presently accepting
applications to fill the positions of Health Consultation Co-
ordinator and Health Liaison Officer. A strong background, both
in terms of formal training and previous experience, is
preferred. Equally important, is that these individuals must
possess a thorough understanding of the concept of self-
government as it relates to the well-being, and the health and
environmental concerns of our communities, along with the ability
to communicate these concerns orally and written.
We are also compiling a resource list of Native Indian People who
are interested and available to do project and/or contract work
in the area of Health. Again we encourage individuals with the
equivalent of a certificate in Community Health, a Bachelor of
Science degree or better, or other related formal training, to
forward their resume along with a sample of your writing.
For additional information and/or a full job description on
either of the above position write ta:
Administrator
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
Suite 200, 73 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B I1AI1
ek e &* & *
WATER RIGHTS MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April 21, 1987
Experiencing difficulties with the Federal or Provincial
Government's water agencies? If so you are welcome to attend the
meeting to be held at our boardroom on Tuesday, April 21; 1987
beginning at 10:00 am. Water for domestic, agricultural and
industrial use are welcome for discussion. If you are interested
please call our office, 684-0231, to indicate or confirm your
attendance.
k& ke k * *
CHIEFS' COUNCIL MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April 22, 23, 24, 1987
Agenda items will revolve around programs and services policies,
legislative protections and/or initiatives, and post Section 37
Constitution discussion.
A luncheon, organized by the UBCIC staff, is scheduled for
Wednesday, April 22nd at which time the video tape of the
Gitksan Wet Suwet'’en will be shown.
k* &£ ke ek *
Researching & Writing Tribal Histories Workshop
The American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma is
sponsoring a workshop specifically designed to provide
information and skills to Indian people interested in learning
how to write, record and research history of their tribe.
The dates for these two sessions are:
Session I +~ May 18 - 21, 1987
Session II - May 25 - 28, 1987
The location is the Chateau Granville Hotel in Vancouver although
the actual research is scheduled to take place at the UBCIC
Resource Centre. The cost for this workshop is approximately
$225.00 per participant, which includes instruction, resource
materials and the training manual "Researching and Writing Tribal
Histories," written by Duane K. Hale, Ph. D.
The UBCIC has application forms and pamphlets for those who are
interested.
k k ke ko *
The UBCIC video-taped the '87 Constitutional talks. Bands
interested in obtaining a copy or borrowing these, can contact
our office.
kt ke k kk
-
U N I O N O F B.C. I N D I A N CHIEFS U P - D A T E
MARCH / APRIL
1987
ISSUE
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
P e r h a p s some o f u s h a v e b r e a t h e d a s i g h o f r e l i e f a t t h e
c o n c l u s i o n o f t h e F i r s t M i n i s t e r ' s C o n f e r e n c e on A b o r i g i n a l
Rights.
We b e l i e v e t h a t we came o u t o f t h a t p r o c e s s w i t h o u t
losing anying.
D i d we, i n d e e d , s u r v i v e u n s c a t h e d ?
As we a l l know t h e d a n g e r i n t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a m e n d i n g
f o r m u l a e i s t h e f a c t t h a t I n d i a n P e o p l e s do n o t h a v e a v o t e i n
that process.
The p r o v i n c e s had no p r e v i o u s v o i c e i n o u r a f f a i r s
b u t a s s t a t e d by t h e Prime M i n i s t e r , he f e e l s c o m p e l l e d t o
i n v o l v e t h e p r o v i n c e s due t o t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l p r o c e s s r e q u i r i n g
p r o v i n c i a l involvement.
T h i s g a v e t h e government o f Canada an
o p p o r t u n i t y t o e m b r o i l t h e p r o v i n c e s i n o u r a f f a i r s and t h e
natural r e s u l t i s the c o l l a p s e of the constitution t a l k s .
What
we w i t n e s s e d i n f a c t was t h e F e d e r a l Government c a v i n g i n t o the
p r o v i n c i a l governments.
What d o e s t h i s mean t o u s a s I n d i a n N a t i o n s i n t h e W e s t ?
F i r s t o f a l l i t means t h e p r o v i n c i a l g o v e r n m e n t s now h a v e a
growing i n v o l v e m e n t with our a f f a i r s .
T h e i r s o l u t i o n s a r e i n the
o r d e r o f e n r i c h e d programs and l e g i s l a t i v e s o l u t i o n s .
In an
effort
to s o l i d i f y h i s p o s i t i o n the Premier
o f B.C. i s
c o n t e m p l a t i n g t h e f o r m u l i z i n g o f r e l a t i o n s w i t h A l b e r t a and
Saskatchewan t o a d d r e s s I n d i a n i s s u e s .
I n my m i n d t h i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e P r e m i e r s a r e a w a r e o f o u r
p r e c i s e p o s i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o o u r A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s
and t h a t t h e y ( P r e m i e r V a n d e r Zalm i n c l u d e d ) a r e making c o n s c i o u s
efforts to plead ignorance of or c l a i m to not understand the
Indian Peoples position.
I n f a c t a n e f f o r t i s b e i n g made t o
d i s c r e d i t t h e p o s i t i o n w h i c h was c l e a r l y c o n v e y e d
to the Premier
and t h e Prime M i n i s t e r t h r o u g h o u r s u b m i s s i o n t o them o f o u r
A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s P o s i t i o n
Paper.
The c o n s t i t u t i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e h a s p u t u s a t g r e a t e r r i s k t o
p r o v i n c i a l p r o g r a m a n d l e g i s l a t i v e remedy.
A r e a l risk of
d e l e g a t e d s t a t u s as w e l l as s u b j e c t i o n t o the implementation o f
t h e N i e l s o n T a s k F o r c e R e p o r t recommendations.
Our t a s k s t h e n must be g e a r e d , o v e r t h e n e x t
determine c o u n t e r - a c t i o n s to these i n i t i a t i v e s .
few m o n t h s , t o
Your i d e a s a l o n g t h i s l i n e a r e welcome and I hope to have an
o p p o r t u n i t y t o d i s c u s s w i t h y o u some o f t h e p r e l i m i n a r y a c t i o n s I
have t a k e n .
Hope
2nd
to s e e o r hear
from you soon.
F l o o r , 73 Water S t . , Vancouver, BC
V6B 1A1
T e l . : 604-684-0231
-
COLONIALISM AND
2
-
INDIAN NATIONS:
We
present
this excerpt
f r o m B i s h o p R e m i de R o o ' s s p e e c h t o
the
U n i o n o f B.C.
Indian Chiefs 1 8 t h Annual G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y ,
because
i t
points
out
the
dangers
that
come w i t h
discussions
or
n e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h the F e d e r a l and/or P r o v i n c i a l Governments.
If
you
r e a d t h e B i s h o p ' s s p e e c h and r e c a l l what h a p p e n e d t h r o u g h
the
First
M i n i s t e r ' s C o n s t i t u t i o n P r o c e s s on A b o r i g i n a l R i g h t s
over
t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s ; you w i l l see t h e d a n g e r s
involved.
Your
comments
or
observations
on
these
issues
are
welcome.
"I k n o w y o u a r e c o n s c i o u s o f t h a t and l i s t e n i n g t o you,
Mr.
P r e s i d e n t t h i s morning, I got that note of concern from your t a l k
and
t h a t s h a r p r e m i n d e r t o e v e r y o n e t h a t we r e a l l y h a v e t o l o o k a
l i t t l e
d e e p e r b e n e a t h the e x t e r n a l a p p e a r a n c e s and
get at
the
c a u s e s and r e a l l y a s c e r t a i n what a r e t h e power r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t
c o n d i t i o n our
reality.
To u n d e r s t a n d t h a t a l i t t l e b e t t e r I want t o
b r i e f l y s o m e o f my own
perceptions
as t o what has
h i s t o r i c a l l y and
I n o t i c e that your President t h i s
a b o u t the c o l o n i a l p r o b l e m w i t h o u t g o i n g i n t o any
T o me i t i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d w h a t i s l y
expression
of c o l o n i a l i s m .
share with
you
been going
on
morning spoke
of the
detail.
i n g under that
C o l o n i a l i s m i s a r e s u l t o f t h e g r o w i n g irupres3ior. by
the
E u r o p e a n p e o p l e s t h a t somehow t h e y w e r e a s u p e r i o r c u l t u r e .
As a
r e s u l t t h e y c o u l d b e g i n t o e x t e n d t h e m s e l v e s and t o d o m i n a t e t h e
rest
of the world.
We
saw
that h i s t o r i c a l l y happening in a
number
of
c o u n t r i e s
India,
A f r i c a ,
L a t i n
America.
U n c o n s c i o u s l y , as f a r as many p e o p l e a r e c o n c e r n e d , t h e
same
thing
happened here
i n North America.
Maybe s l i g h t l y
more
s o p h i s t i c a t e d b u t b a s i c a l l y t h e p r o b l e m i s t h e same.
Underlying
t h i s idea of c o l o n i a l i s m there are r e a l l y s e v e r a l
ideologies.
M e a n i n g by i d e o l o g i e s , p a r t i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s t h a t a r e t a k e n f o r
the f u l l n e s s of t r u t h .
I am g o i n g t o m e n t i o n t o y o u b e c a u s e i t
i s i m p o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d what t h i s b e a s t c o l o n i a l i s m , what t h i s
c r e a t u r e i s r e a l l y a l l about.
What i s i t t h a t c a u s e s t h i s c o l o n i a l a t t i t u d e ?
F i r s t of a l l
i t i s a whole view of c r e a t i o n .
We s o m e t i m e c a l l i t t h e
technoindustrial creation.
I t comes out of the r e n a i s s a n c e
and
the
enlightment.
T h a t p e r i o d i n h i s t o r y b r o u g h t us an a w f u l l o t o f
p r o g r e s s i n terms o f modern s c i e n c e . I t a l s o b r o u g h t us a l o t of
n a r r o w n e s s i n t e r m s o f o u r t h i n k i n g b e c a u s e t h r o u g h t h e new
found
powers of science,
p e o p l e began to l o o k upon n a t u r e , upon
the
w h o l e o f c r e a t i o n as
a k i n d of machine, something you
could
- 3 -
m a n i p u l a t e , something you c o u l d take a p a r t .
The p a r t s o f w h i c h
you c o u l d work w i t h and r e a s s e m b l e .
T h a t was a v e r y h e a d y t r i p
b e c a u s e i t g a v e t h e i m p r e s s i o n t h a t we c o u l d u l t i m a t e l y c o n t r o l
nature.
F o r s o m e t i m e we a c t u a l l y l i v e d w i t h t h a t i l l u s i o n ,
that
we h a d s o m u c h p o w e r we c o u l d a c t u a l l y d o w h a t we l i k e d
with
nature.
I t i s beginning
t o b a c k f i r e now b e c a u s e n a t u r e i s
s t a r t i n g t o r e - a s s e r t i t s e l f i n some s t r a n g e w a y s .
You h a v e a l l
had t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f s e e i n g t h e k i n d o f m o n s t r o s i t i e s t h a t b e g i n
t o a p p e a r i n n a t u r e w h e n we t a m p e r t o o m u c h w i t h i t s l a w s a n d
t h i n k we c a n r e - d i r e c t n a t u r e .
T h i s came i n t o o b v i o u s c l a s h w i t h t h e m o r e h o l i s t i c v i e w o f
c r e a t i o n which has a l w a y s been t h e h e r i t a g e o f the n a t i v e
peoples.
The E u r o p e a n p e o p l e a l s o f e l t t h a t somehow by
dominating
n a t u r e , by c o n q u e r i n g , by c o n t r o l l i n g , and i f need be
b y o p p r e s s i n g t h o s e p e o p l e s who s t o o d i n t h e i r w a y , t h e y c o u l d
e v e n t u a l l y s e t t h e m s e l v e s upon a path o f u n l i m i t e d p r o g r e s s and
you know t h a t s y m b o l o f p r o g r e s s became k i n d o f a g u i d i n g l i g h t
for the whole European Western C i v i l i z a t i o n .
N o w h e r e was i t
s t r o n g e r than here i n North America because of our tremendous
n a t u r a l resources and o u r f i n a n c e s and t h e i d e a l i s m and a l l t h e
e n e r g y o f t h e new p e o p l e s who came t o t h i s g r e a t l a n d , t h e y
fell
r i g h t into that trap of u n l i m i t e d progress.
T h e r e s u l t was t h a t
a n y o n e who s t o o d
i n t h e way o f s o - c a l l e d p r o g r e s s
was
just
r u t h l e s s l y shunted a s i d e .
B e c a u s e t h e r e was a t h i r d d i m e n s i o n o f
t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y , i t was k i n d o f a n i n t r u m e n t a l
reasoning.
T h i s i s v e r y c l e a r i n t h e a p p r o a c h t h a t t h e d e v e l o p e r s , t h e new
p e o p l e s who c a m e t o N o r t h A m e r i c a t o o k t o t h e l a n d .
Whereas
n a t i v e p e o p l e s , as you w e l l know, had seen t h e l a n d as t h e g i f t
o f t h e s p i r i t , as a h e r i t a g e t o p r o t e c t and t o t r a n s m i t as t h e
m a t r i x , one m i g h t s a y , o u t o f w h i c h c u l t u r e i t s e l f w o u l d a r i s e .
I r e m e m b e r l i s t e n i n g t o some o f t h e n a t i v e s c h i e f s who
presented
b r i e f s or papers to t h e Berger Commission t a l k i n g about Mother
E a r t h a n d how we a r e s o i n t i m a t e l y l i n k e d w i t h t h i s s o u r c e o f o u r
being.
That contrasted with t h i s c o l o n i a l
i d e a t h a t l a n d was
b a s i c a l l y a commodity, something a person c o u l d
possess,
s o m e t h i n g t h a t c o u l d be used as an i n s t r u m e n t and m a n i p u l a t e d a t
will.
F u r t h e r t o t h a t was a l s o a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g
of civilization
w h i c h came o u t o f t h e E u r o p e a n e x p e r i e n c e .
As i f t h e o n l y
c i v i l i z a t i o n was t h e W e s t e r n I n d u s t r i a l S o c i e t y a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y
t h e t e n d e n c y t o l o o k down o n a n y o t h e r c u l t u r a l e x p r e s s i o n o r a n y
o t h e r c i v i l i z a t i o n as l e s s than adequate.
O t h e r c u l t u r e s , c o n s e q u e n t l y were c o n s i d e r e d by t h e s e p e o p l e
with a colonial
m e n t a l i t y as s o m e t h i n g t o be
"modernized,
absorbed o r a s s i m i l a t e d . "
I f y o u w a n t t o k n o w why t h i s
constant
pressure f o r a s s i m i l a t i o n that you have had t o f i g h t a g a i n s t f o r
so
l o n g , w h e r e d o e s t h a t come f r o m ?
I t comes o u t o f t h a t
mentality.
I t i s good t o u n d e r s t a n d w h e r e t h e r o o t s o f a l l t h i s
lie.
Because then y o u w i l l be i n a b e t t e r p o s i t i o n to t r y to
take the unnecessary c o r r e c t i v e a c t i o n .
-
4
-
P e o p l e w i t h t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y w i l l l o o k upon c u l t u r e
and c i v i l i z a t i o n b a s i c a l l y as a b l e n d i n g t o g e t h e r o f a k i n d o f
homogeniety instead of respect f o r the d i v e r s i t y of c u l t u r e s .
T h a t i s w h e r e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a n d r a c i s m w i l 1 come o u t o f . A n y o n e
that doesn't f i t i n t o t h a t w h i t e p a t t e r n , t h a t c o l o n i a l p a t t e r n ,
is then repressed
o r e f f o r t s a r e made t o t r y a n d a s s i m i l a t e
b e c a u s e u l t i m a t e l y a n d t h a t i s t h e f i n a l p o i n t i n t e r m s o f an
assessment i n terms o f t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y , t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s
in
a c o l o n i a l
mentality
a r e those o f d o m i n a t i o n and o f
dependence.
P e o p l e w i t h a c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y a r r i v e i n a c o u n t r y and t h e
c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t h e BOSS.
T h e p e o p l e who c a n o r d e r
other
p e o p l e around.
They c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t h e owners.
The r e s u l t
of i t i s t h a t e v e n i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s and n e g o t i a t i o n s you h a v e
c o n s t a n t l y a u n i l a t e r a l d e f i n i t i o n o f the terms o f r e l a t i o n s h i p
and t h o s e o f y o u who h a v e s t r u g g l e d w i t h g o v e r n m e n t s k n o w w h a t I
mean b y t h a t .
You a r e a l w a y s i n a l o s i n g race where t h e o t h e r
p a r t y i s a l w a y s r e d e f i n i n g t h e t e r m s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r own s e l f
understanding.
I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o h a v e a g r a s p on t h a t a n d t o r e a l i z e t h e
d e p t h o f t h a t p r e s s u r e and t h a t m e n t a l i t y so t h a t when y o u h a v e
t o d e a l w i t h i t y o u don't l e t y o u r s e l f be m i s l e a d by s u p e r f i c i a l
appearances of changes of a t t i t u d e or of m e n t a l i t y .
It really
r u n s v e r y deep.
B e c a u s e o u r C a n a d i a n g o v e r n m e n t i s s t i l l i n many w a y s c a u g h t
up i n t h i s c o l o n i a l m e n t a l i t y we a r e g o i n g t o h a v e t o c o n s t a n t l y
take that i n t o
account.
For instance, the s e l e c t i v e d e a l i n g s with the u n i l a t e r a l
s e t t i n g o f terms f o r n e g o t i a t i o n s , the c l a i m s that the government
knows b e s t .
The c o n s t a n t b r i n g i n g back o f t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i s e
and
the s e t t i n g aside the experience
of people as i f that
experience
i s n o t i n i t s e l f a g r e a t e r and p o s s i b l y a sounder
expertise.
The t e n d e n c y t o d i v i d e and c o n q u e r , t o l i m i t
i n f o r m a t i o n so t h a t y o u h a v e t o n e g o t i a t e k n o w i n g o n l y p a r t o f
what t h e o t h e r p a r t y h a s i n h a n d - a l w a y s w i t h a s t a c k e d d e c k o f
c a r d s a g a i n s t you as i twere.
The a t t e m p t t o s e t up p a r t i a l
t r e a t i e s a n d t h e n c l a i m o n t h e b a s i s o f some r a t h e r p r e s s u r i z e d
s o l u t i o n t o a l o c a l p r o b l e m t h a t a g e n e r a l s o l u t i o n h a s been
found f o r a l l the wider i s s u e s .
A l l these tendencies
come o u t o f
t h a t m e n t a l i t y a n d i t i s g o o d t o know w h e r e t h e y come from."
* * * * *
- 5 The f o l l o w i n g a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d "The F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t ' s P o s i t i o n
on A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e a n d R i g h t s " i s an e d i t e d v e r s i o n o f a p a p e r
done by C h i e f B e r n a r d C h a r l e s , a r t i c l i n g s t u d e n t w i t h t h e Union
o f B.C. C h i e f s .
I f y o u w i s h t o p u r s u e d i s c u s s i o n on t h i s i t e m I
am c e r t a i n t h a t B e r n a r d w o u l d b e h a p p y t o d i s c u s s t h e m a t t e r .
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POSITION ON ABORIGINAL T I T L E AND RIGHTS"
Indian p e o p l e s have argued f o rdecades f o r t h e r e c o g n i t i o n
o f t h e c o n c e p t s o f A b o r i g i n a l T i t l e and R i g h t s w h i c h a r e commonly
r e f e r r e d t o as t h e " l a n d q u e s t i o n " w i t h i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . I n
c o n t r a s t , t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s i t s own c o n c e p t o f t h e s e
i s s u e s w h i c h we m i g h t c a l l " t h e o t h e r I n d i a n l a n d
question."
This
Federal
concept
i s a direct
denial o f t h e "trust"
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r Indian people and i saimed a t t e r m i n a t i o n o f
" s p e c i a l s t a t u s " f o r I n d i a n s i n modern Canada.
As a n e x a m p l e , t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s c o n s t a n t l y t r i e d
to
reduce t h eRoyal
Proclamation
o f 1763 t o a mere " l a n d
management s c h e m e . "
The r a t i o n a l e o f t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t p o s i t i o n a p p e a r s
d e r i v e d from t h e i r i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e i n t e n t o f c o l o n i a l
authorities.
L e g a l a d v i s o r s i nthe F e d e r a l J u s t i c e Department
a r g u e t h a t t h e P r o c l a m a t i o n m e r e l y f u l f i l l e d t h e Crown's n e e d t o
e s t a b l i s h i t s t i t l e to land, provide c o n t r o l over a l l o c a t i o n s of
l a n d t o s e t t l e r s , a n d d e v e l o p a s y s t e m f o r a t a x a t i o n scheme.
The scheme was d e v e l o p e d t o p r o t e c t t h e C r o w n ' s i n t e r e s t
from t h e r i s k o f surrender
o f lands by Indians t o other
governments o r p r i v a t e p a r t i e s b u t t h e r e were few mechanisms t o
ensure that
Indian
rights
were p r o t e c t e d
when l a n d was
surrendered
t o t h e Crown.
In theopinion o f the Federal
Government,
t h e Royal
Proclamation
o f 1763 and subsequent
t r e a t i e s made i n C a n a d a a n d t h e USA, w e r e m e r e l y e a r l y r e a l
e s t a t e t r a n s a c t i o n s a n d n o t h i n g more.
They a r g u e t h a t t h e s c h e m e
p r o v i d e d v e r y l i t t l e i n t h e way o f p r o t e c t i n g I n d i a n r i g h t s .
The
e a r l y i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s and p r o v i s i o n s o f the Royal
P r o c l a m a t i o n o f 1763 w e r e c a r r i e d f o r w a r d t o t h e BNA A c t . T h e
b a s i c concept being a need f o r a c e n t r a l i z e d c o n t r o l o f l a n d .
The
BNA A c t a l l o c a t e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r " I n d i a n s a n d L a n d s
r e s e r v e d f o r t h e I n d i a n s " t o t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t u n d e r S. 9 1
(24).
Today, t h e F e d e r a l government c o n t i n u e s t o a r g u e t h a t i t s
primary " t r u s t " r e s p o n s i b i l i t y under that s e c t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y t o
administer
" I n d i a n l a n d s , " w i t h l e s s emphasis on I n d i a n
peoples.
F o r e x a m p l e , t h e r e c e n t Supreme C o u r t o f C a n a d a d e c i s i o n i n
the G u e r i n c a s e h e l d t h a t t h e r e was a f i d u c i a r y
obligation
p l a c e d on t h e Federal government t o p r o t e c t t h e Indian i n t e r e s t
in land surrendered
f o rl e a s e purposes.
Also
an a n a l y s i s o f t h e i r
Indian
Acts
and policy
development i n d i c a t e c l e a r l y that both t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n and
l e g i s l a t i v e i n i t i a t i v e s a r e based on t h eg o a l s o f a s s i m i l a t i o n .
H i s t o r i c a l a n a l y s i s shows t h a t t h ec o n c e p t o f s p e c i a l "group
rights" contradicts individuals rights.
Viewed, i n t h i s
light,
one c a n r e a d i l y s e e why t h e F e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s t r i e d , a n d
c o n t i n u e s t o t r y , t o remove i t s e l f from t h e " I n d i a n " b u s i n e s s .
They v i e w t h e d i f f e r e n c e s as i r r e c o n c i l a b l e t o t h e i r system.
C l a i m s s e t t l e m e n t s , a s proposed by t h e F e d e r a l
Government,
are aimed a t e n s u r i n g Crown c o n t r o l o v e r r e s o u r c e s r a t h e r than
c o n t r o l f o rp r o t e c t i o n and use by Indian Peoples.
I n most
instances,
o u t s i d e economic i n t e r e s t s r e c e i v e p r i o r i t y
over
I n d i a n needs and o b j e c t i v e s .
Control over resource
management
a r e more i m p o r t a n t t o g o v e r n m e n t t h a n t h e needs o f t h e I n d i a n
people.
-
6
-
If the "termination" goal o f the Federal authorities i snot
a c h i e v e d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l y , they have another f o r k i n t h e i r twot r a c k p o l i c y t h a t has been designed
to operate
concurrently.
This i n v o l v e s developing the concept of a municipa1-form of
government delegated
from the F e d e r a l
authority to Indian
communities, with corresponding P r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a t i v e i n i a t i v e s .
An e x a m p l e o f t h i s i s t h e S e c h e l t m o d e l .
This model f a l l s f a r
s h o r t o f t h e d i s t i n c t o r d e r o f g o v e r n m e n t a d v o c a t e d by I n d i a n
people.
The S e c h e l t B i l l p r o v i d e s f o r a f e e s i m p l e l a n d d e s i g n a t i o n
for
existing reserve
lands.
This has been p r o v i d e d t o
facilitate
e c o n o m i c f i n a n c i n g and b o r r o w i n g power.
The l a n d s
r e m a i n u n d e r S e c t i o n 91 (24) m a i n t a i n i n g t h e F e d e r a l
"trust"
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r Indian lands.
I t i s l e f t
f o r future
d e t e r m i n a t i o n whether or not t h e "freedom" i n t e r e p r e t a t i o n p l a c e d
upon t h e B i l l
can stand beside a "trust" o b l i g a t i o n f o rthe
Indian People o f Sechelt.
I t may be i n t e r p r e t e d t h a t t h e S e c h e l t
B i l l h a s t h e e f f e c t o f t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e S e c h e l t p e o p l e and t h e i r
l a n d s f r o m S 9 1 ( 2 4 ) t o S 35 o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n A c t 1 9 8 2 .
In t h e c o u r t c a s e s
i n v o l v i n g t h e G i t k s a n , Meares I s l a n d and
CN,
t h e F e d e r a l and/or P r o v i n c i a l Crown have been added as
defendants.
I f t h e r e was a n y d o u b t a b o u t t h e F e d e r a l p o s i t i o n i t
has been d i s s p e l l e d by t h e i r i n v o l v e m e n t
i n these cases.
Ifthe
F e d e r a l government recognized a t r u e " t r u s t " r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , you
would expect that they would support the Indian p o s i t i o n s i n
these cases or a t l e a s t remain n e u t r a l .
I t i s maddening to
Indian Peoples
t h a t the Federal Government i s t a k i n g a coo p e r a t i v e a p p r o a c h by t h e i r a c c e p t a n c e o f t h e P r o v i n c i a l p o s i t i o n
and i f t h e P r o v i n c e
o f B.C. s u c c e e d s i n t h e s e c a s e s , t h e F e d e r a l
p o s i t i o n o n o u t s t a n d i n g c o m p r e h e n s i v e c l a i m s w i l l b e amended t o
take t h i s into
account.
The I n d i a n View
Be M a r s h a l l e d
of Federal/Indian
Relations
- What S t r a t e g i e s
Can
I t i s g e n e r a l l y known t h a t t h e I n d i a n / C a n a d a r e l a t i o n s h i p i s
n o t a c c e p t a b l e t o I n d i a n s i n B.C.
The a g e n d a s a r e o u t o f o u r
c o n t r o l a n d i f I n d i a n p e o p l e a r e t o s u c c e e d we m u s t
develop
s t r a t e g i e s to achieve
control.
Formal agreements o r approaches t o counter the governmental
p o s i t i o n s must be e x p l o r e d .
This c o u l d be achieved through t h e
development and implementation
of the Treaty/Accord
process
a p p r o v e d a t t h e U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n C h i e f ' s A n n u a l
General
Assembly.
T h i s p r o c e s s o f f e r s a mechanism whereby I n d i a n N a t i o n s
w o u l d f o r m a l i z e a g r e e m e n t s on a r e a s o r i s s u e s t h a t t h e y c o u l d
m u t u a l l y support, thus e l i m i n a t i n g the f r a c t i o n a 1 i z a t i o n that
tends to hinder Indian people.
In this process
the mutual
agreements w o u l d n o t t h r e a t e n t h e autonomy of each n a t i o n but
w o u l d g i v e more s t r e n g t h o r i m p a c t t o o v e r a l l p o s i t i o n s .
The r e a s o n s b e h i n d t h e n e e d t o m a r s h a l 1 a c o n c e r t e d
effort
are e a s i l y understood but the p r a c t i c a l i t y of a c h i e v i n g t h i s g o a l
h a s so f a r e l u d e d u s . W h e t h e r t h e f i g h t be l e g a l , p o l i t i c a l o r
economic, t h e need f o r c o n c e r t e d , c o - o p e r a t i v e a c t i o n r e m a i n s .
The
l i m i t e d f i s c a l a n d human r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e i n e a c h N a t i o n
i n d i c a t e t h e need t o reach agreements t h a t w i l l
facilitate
e f f e c t i v e use of l i m i t e d resources.
F o r those present a t the
f o u n d i n g c o n f e r e n c e o f t h e U n i o n o f BC I n d i a n C h i e f s ,
t h e theme
" U n i t e d We S t a n d ,
D i v i d e d We P e r i s h " w i l l
s p r i n g t o mind.
Perhaps i n today's w o r l d o f f a s t - p a c e change these words have
added meaning.
*
* * * *
-
J O B
7-
O P P O R T U N I T I E S
The
U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n
Chiefs
i s presently
accepting
a p p l i c a t i o n s t o f i l l t h e p o s i t i o n s o f H e a l t h C o n s u l t a t i o n Coordinator and Health L i a i s o n Officer.
A s t r o n g background, both
in
terms o f formal
t r a i n i n g and previous
experience, i s
preferred.
E q u a l l y i m p o r t a n t , i st h a t these i n d i v i d u a l s must
possess a thorough understanding
o f t h econcept o f s e l f government as i t r e l a t e s t o t h ew e l l - b e i n g , a n d t h e h e a l t h and
environmental
concerns o f our communities, along with the a b i l i t y
to communicate these c o n c e r n s o r a l l y and w r i t t e n .
We a r e a l s o c o m p i l i n g a r e s o u r c e l i s t o f N a t i v e I n d i a n P e o p l e who
a r e i n t e r e s t e d and a v a i l a b l e t o do p r o j e c t and/or c o n t r a c t work
in the area o f H e a l t h .
A g a i n we e n c o u r a g e i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h t h e
e q u i v a l e n t o f a c e r t i f i c a t e i nCommunity H e a l t h , a B a c h e l o r o f
Science degree o r b e t t e r , o r other r e l a t e d formal t r a i n i n g , t o
f o r w a r d t h e i r resume a l o n g w i t h a sample o f y o u r w r i t i n g .
For a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n and/or a f u l l
e i t h e r o f t h e above p o s i t i o n w r i t e t o :
j o b d e s c r i p t i o n on
Administrator
U n i o n o f B.C. I n d i a n C h i e f s
S u i t e 200, 73 Water S t r e e t
Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1
*
* * * *
WATER RIGHTS MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April
21, 1987
Experiencing d i f f i c u l t i e s with t h e Federal o r P r o v i n c i a l
Government's water a g e n c i e s ?
I f so y o u a r e welcome t o a t t e n d t h e
m e e t i n g t o be h e l d a t o u r b o a r d r o o m o n T u e s d a y , A p r i l 21; 1987
b e g i n n i n g a t 1 0 : 0 0 am. W a t e r f o r d o m e s t i c , a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d
i n d u s t r i a l u s e a r e welcome f o r d i s c u s s i o n .
I fyou are i n t e r e s t e d
p l e a s e c a l l o u ro f f i c e , 684-0231, t o i n d i c a t e o r c o n f i r m your
attendance.
*
* * * *
CHIEFS' COUNCIL MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April
22, 23, 24, 1987
Agenda items w i l l r e v o l v e around programs and s e r v i c e s p o l i c i e s ,
l e g i s l a t i v e p r o t e c t i o n s and/or i n i t i a t i v e s ,
a n d p o s t S e c t i o n 37
Constitution discussion.
A luncheon,
o r g a n i z e d b y t h e UBCIC s t a f f ,
i sscheduled f o r
Wednesday, A p r i l
22nd a t w h i c h time t h e v i d e o
tape o f t h e
G i t k s a n Wet S u w e t ' e n w i l l b e shown.
*
* * * *
- 8 -
Researching & Writing T r i b a l
Histories
Workshop
The A m e r i c a n I n d i a n I n s t i t u t e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f O k l a h o m a i s
sponsoring
a workshop s p e c i f i c a l l y
designed
to
provide
i n f o r m a t i o n and s k i l l s t o I n d i a n people i n t e r e s t e d i n l e a r n i n g
how t o w r i t e , r e c o r d a n d r e s e a r c h h i s t o r y o f t h e i r t r i b e .
The
dates
f o r these
Session
Session
two s e s s i o n s a r e :
I - May 1 8 - 2 1 , 1 9 8 7
I I - May 25 - 2 8 , 1 9 8 7
The l o c a t i o n i s t h e C h a t e a u G r a n v i l 1 e H o t e l i n V a n c o u v e r a l t h o u g h
the a c t u a l r e s e a r c h i s scheduled
t o t a k e p l a c e a t t h e UBCIC
Resource Centre.
The c o s t f o r t h i s w o r k s h o p i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y
$225.00 p e r p a r t i c i p a n t , w h i c h i n c l u d e s i n s t r u c t i o n ,
resource
m a t e r i a l s and t h e t r a i n i n g manual "Researching a n d W r i t i n g T r i b a l
H i s t o r i e s , " w r i t t e n b y D u a n e K. H a l e , P h . D.
The U B C I C h a s a p p l i c a t i o n
interested.
forms
*
and pamphlets
f o r those
who a r e
* * * *
The
UBCIC v i d e o - t a p e d
t h e '87 C o n s t i t u t i o n a l t a l k s .
Bands
i n t e r e s t e d i n o b t a i n i n g a copy o r borrowing these, c a n c o n t a c t
our
office.
* * * * *
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS UP-DATE
MARCH / APRIL 1987 ISSUE
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Perhaps some of us have breathed a sigh of relief at the
conclusion of the First Minister's Conference on Aboriginal
Rights. We believe that we came out of that process without
losing anying. Did we, indeed, survive unscathed?
As we all know the danger in the constitution amending
formulae is the fact that Indian Peoples do not have a vote in
that process, The provinces had no previous voice in our affairs
but as stated by the Prime Minister, he feels compelied to
involve the provinces due to the constitutional process requiring
provincial involvement. This gave the government of Canada an
Opportunity to embroil the provinces in our affairs and the
matural result is the collapse of the constitution talks. What
we witnessed in fact was the Federal Government caving in to the
provincial governments.
What does this mean to us as Indian Nations in the West?
First of all it means the provincial governments now have a
growing involvement with cur affairs. Their solutions are in the
order of enriched programs and legislative solutions. In an
effort to solidify his position the Premier of B.C. is
contemplating the formulizing of relations with Alberta and
Saskatchewan to address Indian issues.
In my mind this indicates that the Premiers are aware of our
precise position with respect to our Aboriginal Title and Rights
and that they (Premier Vander Zalm included) are making conscious
efforts to plead ignorance of or claim to not understand the
Indian Peoples position. In fact an effort is being made to
discredit the position which was clearly conveyed to the Premier
and the Prime Minister through our submission to them of our
Aboriginal Title and Rights Position Paper.
The constitutional initiative has put us at greater risk to
provincial program and legislative remedy. A real risk of
delegated status as well as subjection to the implementation of
the Nielson Task Force Report recommendations.
Our tasks then must be geared, over the next few months, to
determine counter-actions to these initiatives.
Your ideas along this line are welcome and I hope to have an
Opportunity to discuss with you some of the preliminary actions I
have taken.
Hope to see or hear from you soon,
2nd Floor, 73 Water St., Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1 Tel.: 604-684-0231
COLONIALISM AND INDIAN NATIONS:
We present this excerpt from Bishop Remi de Roo's speech to the
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs 18th Annual General Assembly, because
it points out the dangers that come with discussions or
negotiations with the Federal and/or Provincial Governments. If
you read the Bishop's speech and recall what happened through the
First Minister's Constitution Process on Aboriginal Rights over
the last five years; you will see the dangers involved.
Your comments or observations on these issues are welcome.
"I Know you are conscious of that and listening to you, Mr.
President this morning, I got that note of concern from your talk
and that sharp reminder to everyone that we really have to look a
little deeper beneath the external appearances and get at the
causes and really ascertain what are the power relationships that
condition our reality.
To understand that a little better I want to share with you
briefly some of my own perceptions as to what has been going on
historically and I notice that your President this morning spoke
about the colonial problem without going into any of the detail.
To me it is very important to understand what is lying under that
expression of colonialism.
Colonialism is a result of the growing impression by the
European peoples that somehow they were a superior culture. As a
result they could begin to extend themselves and to dominate the
rest of the world. We saw that historically happening ina
number of countries - India, Africa, Latin America.
Unconsciously, as far as many people are concerned, the same
thing happened here in North America. Maybe slightly more
sophisticated but basically the problem is the same. Underlying
this idea of colonialism there are really several ideologies.
Meaning by ideologies, partial considerations that are taken for
the fullness of truth. I am going to mention to you because it
is important to understand what this beast colonialism, what this
creature is really all about.
What is it that causes this colonial attitude? First of all
it is a whole view of creation. We sometime call it the techno-
industrial creation. It comes out of the renaissance and the
enlightment. That period in history brought us an awful lot of
progress in terms of modern science. It also brought us a lot of
narrowness in terms of our thinking because through the new found
powers of science, people began to look upon nature, upon the
whole of creation as a kind of machine, something you could
manipulate, something you could take apart. The parts of which
you could work with and reassemble. That was a very heady trip
because it gave the impression that we could ultimately control
Mature. For sometime we actually lived with that illusion, that
we had so much power we could actually do what we liked with
nature. It is beginning to backfire now because nature is
starting to re-assert itself in some strange ways. You have all
had the experience of seeing the kind of monstrosities that begin
to appear in nature when we tamper too much with its laws and
think we can re-direct nature.
This came into obvious clash with the more holistic view of
creation which has always been the heritage of the native
peoples. The European people also felt that somehow by
dominating nature, by conquering, by controlling, and if need be
by oppressing those peoples who stood in their way, they could
eventually set themselves upon a path of unlimited progress and
you know that symbol of progress became kind of a guiding light
for the whole European Western Civilization. Nowhere was it
stronger than here in North America because of our tremendous
natural resources and our finances and the idealism and all the
energy of the new peoples who came to this great land, they fell
right into that trap of unlimited progress. The result was that
anyone who stood in the way of so-called progress was just
ruthlessly shunted aside. Because there was a third dimension of
this colonial mentality, it was kind of an intrumental reasoning.
This is very clear in the approach that the developers, the new
peoples who came to North America took to the land. Whereas
native peoples, as you well know, had seen the land as the gift
of the spirit, as a heritage to protect and to transmit as the
matrix, one might say, out of which culture itself would arise.
I remember listening to some of the natives chiefs who presented
briefs or papers to the Berger Commission talking about Mother
Earth and how we are so intimately linked with this source of our
being.
That contrasted with this colonial idea that land was
basically a commodity, something a person could possess,
something that could be used as an instrument and manipulated at
will. Further to that was also an understanding cf civilization
which came out of the European experience. As if the only
Civilization was the Western Industrial Society and consequently
the tendency to look down on any other cultural expression or any
other civilization as less than adequate.
Other cultures, consequently were considered by these people
with a colonial mentality as something to be “modernized,
absorbed or assimilated.” If you want to know why this constant
pressure for assimilation that you have had to fight against for
so long, where does that come from? Tt comes out of that
mentality. It is good to understand where the roots of all this
lie. Because then you will be ina better position to try to
take the unnecessary corrective action.
People with this colonial mentality will look upon culture
and civilization basically as a blending together of a kind of
homogeniety instead of respect for the diversity of cultures.
That is where discrimination and racism will come out of. Anyone
that doesn't fit into that white pattern, that colonial pattern,
is then repressed or efforts are made to try and assimilate
because ultimately and that is the final point in terms of an
assessment in terms of this colonial mentality, the relationships
in a colonial mentality are those af domination and of
dependence.
People with a colonial mentality arrive in a country and the
consider themselves the BOSS. The people who can order cther
people around. They consider themselves the owners. The result
of it is that even in relationships and negotiations you have
constantly a unilateral definition of the terms of relationship
and those of you who have struggled with governments know what I
mean by that. You are always in a losing race where the other
party is always redefining the terms according to their own self
understanding.
It is important to have a grasp on that and to realize the
depth of that pressure and that mentality so that when you have
to deal with it you don't let yourself be mislead by superficial
appearances of changes of attitude or of mentality. It really
runs very deep.
Because our Canadian government is still in many ways caught
up in this colonial mentality we are going to have to constantly
take that into riccount.
For instance, the selective dealings with the unilateral
setting of terms for negotiations, the claims that the government
knows best. The constant bringing back of technical expertise
and the setting aside the experience of people as if that
experience is not in itself a greater and possibly a sounder
expertise. The tendency to divide and conquer, to limit
information so that you have to negotiate knowing only part of
what the other party has in hand - always with a stacked deck of
cards against you as it were, The attempt to set up partial
treaties and then claim on the basis of some rather pressurized
solution to a local problem that a general solution has been
found for all the wider issues. All these tendencies come out of
that mentality and it is good to know where they come from."
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= § =
The following article entitled "The Federal Government's Position
on Aboriginal Title and Rights" is an edited version of a paper
done by Chief Bernard Charles, articling student with the Union
of B.c. Chiefs. If you wish to pursue discussion on this item I
am certain that Bernard would be happy to discuss the matter.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S POSITION ON ABORIGINAL TITLE AND RIGHTS"
Indian peoples have argued for decades for the recognition
of the concepts of Aboriginal Title and Rights which are commonly
referred to as the "land question" within British Columbia. In
contrast, the federal government has its own concept of these
issues which we might call "the other Indian land question."
This Federal concept is a direct denial of the "trust"
responsibility for Indian people and is aimed at termination of
"special status" for Indians in modern Canada.
As an example, the Federal government has constantly tried
to reduce the Royal Proclamation of 1763 to a mere "land
management scheme."
The rationale of the federal government position appears
derived from their interpretation of the intent of colonial
authorities. Legal advisors in the Federal Justice Department
argue that the Proclamation merely fulfilled the Crown's need to
establish its title to land, provide control over allocations of
land to settlers, and develop a system for a taxation scheme.
The scheme was developed to protect the Crown's interest
from the risk of surrender of lands by Indians to other
governments or private parties but there were few mechanisms to
ensure that Indian rights were protected when land was
Surrendered to the Crown. In the opinion of the Federal
Government, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and subsequent
treaties made in Canada and the USA, were merely early real
estate transactions and nothing more. They argue that the scheme
provided very little in the way of protecting Indian rights.
The early interpretations and provisions of the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 were carried forward to the BNA Act. The
basic concept being a need for a centralized control of land.
The BNA Act allocated responsibility for "Indians and Lands
reserved for the Indians" to the Federal government under S. 91
(24). Today, the Federal government continues to argue that its
primary "trust" responsibility under that section is primarily to
administer “Indian lands," with less emphasis on Indian peoples.
For example, the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in
the Guerin case held that there was a fiduciary obligation
placed on the Federal government to protect the Indian interest
in land surrendered for lease purposes.
Also an analysis of their Indian Acts and policy
development indicate clearly that both the constitution and
legislative initiatives are based on the goals of assimilation.
Historical analysis shows that the concept of special “group
rights" contradicts individuals rights. Viewed, in this light,
one can readily see why the Federal government has tried, and
continues to try, to remove itself from the "Indian" business,
They view the differences as irreconcilable to their system.
Claims settlements, as proposed by the Federal Government,
are aimed at ensuring Crown control over resources rather than
control for protection and use by Indian Peoples. In most
instances, outside economic interests receive priority over
Indian needs and objectives. Control over resource management
are more important to government than the needs of the Indian
people.
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If the "termination" goal of the Federal authorities is not
achieved constitutionally, they have another fork in their two-
track policy that has been designed to operate concurrently.
This involves developing the concept of a municipal-form of
government delegated from the Federal authority to Indian
communities, with corresponding Provincial legislative iniatives.
An example of this is the Sechelt model. This model falls far
short of the distinct order of government advocated by Indian
people.
The Sechelt Bill provides for a fee simple land designation
for existing reserve lands. This has been provided to
facilitate economic financing and borrowing power. The lands
remain under Section 91 (24) maintaining the Federal "trust"
responsibility for Indian lands. It if lett. for £ature
determination whether or not the "freedom" interepretation placed
upon the Bill can stand beside a "trust" obligation for the
Indian People of Sechelt. It may be interpreted that the Sechelt
Bill has the effect of transferring the Sechelt people and their
lands from S 91 (24) to S 35 of the Constitution Act 1982.
In the court cases involving the Gitksan, Meares Island and
CN, the Federal and/or Provincial Crown have been added as
defendants. If there was any doubt about the Federal position it
has been disspelled by their involvement in these cases. If the
Federal government recognized a true "trust" responsibility, you
would expect that they would support the Indian positions in
these casés or at least remain neutral. It is maddening to
Indian Peoples that the Federal Government is taking a co-
Operative approach by their acceptance of the Provincial position
and if the Province of B.C. succeeds in these cases, the Federal
position on outstanding comprehensive claims will be amended to
take this into account.
The Indian View of Federal/Indian Relations - What Strategies Can
Be Marshalled
It is generally known that the Indian/Canada relationship is
not acceptable to Indians in B.C. The agendas are out of our
control and if Indian people are to succeed we must develop
strategies to achieve control.
Formal agreements or approaches to counter the governmental
positions must be explored. This could be achieved through the
development and implementation of the Treaty/Accord process
approved at the Union of B.C. Indian Chief's Annual General
Assembly. This process offers a mechanism whereby Indian Nations
would formalize agreements on areas or issues that they could
mutually support, thus eliminating the fractionalization that
tends to hinder Indian people. In this process the mutual
agreements would not threaten the autonomy of each nation but
would give more strength or impact to overall positions,
The reasons behind the need to marshall a concerted effort
are easily understood but the practicality of achieving this goal
has so far eluded us. Whether the fight be legal, political or
economic, the need for concerted, co-operative action remains.
The limited fiscal and human resources available in each Nation
indicate the need to reach agreements that will facilitate
effective use of limited resources. For those present at the
founding conference of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the theme
"United We Stand, Divided We Perish" will spring to mind.
Perhaps in today's world of fast-pace change these words have
added meaning.
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J oOsB OPPGCRTUNITIES
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is presently accepting
applications to fill the positions of Health Consultation Co-
ordinator and Health Liaison Officer. A strong background, both
in terms of formal training and previous experience, is
preferred. Equally important, is that these individuals must
possess a thorough understanding of the concept of self-
government as it relates to the well-being, and the health and
environmental concerns of our communities, along with the ability
to communicate these concerns orally and written.
We are also compiling a resource list of Native Indian People who
are interested and available to do project and/or contract work
in the area of Health. Again we encourage individuals with the
equivalent of a certificate in Community Health, a Bachelor of
Science degree or better, or other related formal training, to
forward their resume along with a sample of your writing.
For additional information and/or a full job description on
either of the above position write ta:
Administrator
Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
Suite 200, 73 Water Street
Vancouver, BC V6B I1AI1
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WATER RIGHTS MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April 21, 1987
Experiencing difficulties with the Federal or Provincial
Government's water agencies? If so you are welcome to attend the
meeting to be held at our boardroom on Tuesday, April 21; 1987
beginning at 10:00 am. Water for domestic, agricultural and
industrial use are welcome for discussion. If you are interested
please call our office, 684-0231, to indicate or confirm your
attendance.
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CHIEFS' COUNCIL MEETING
UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS' BOARDROOM
April 22, 23, 24, 1987
Agenda items will revolve around programs and services policies,
legislative protections and/or initiatives, and post Section 37
Constitution discussion.
A luncheon, organized by the UBCIC staff, is scheduled for
Wednesday, April 22nd at which time the video tape of the
Gitksan Wet Suwet'’en will be shown.
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Researching & Writing Tribal Histories Workshop
The American Indian Institute at the University of Oklahoma is
sponsoring a workshop specifically designed to provide
information and skills to Indian people interested in learning
how to write, record and research history of their tribe.
The dates for these two sessions are:
Session I +~ May 18 - 21, 1987
Session II - May 25 - 28, 1987
The location is the Chateau Granville Hotel in Vancouver although
the actual research is scheduled to take place at the UBCIC
Resource Centre. The cost for this workshop is approximately
$225.00 per participant, which includes instruction, resource
materials and the training manual "Researching and Writing Tribal
Histories," written by Duane K. Hale, Ph. D.
The UBCIC has application forms and pamphlets for those who are
interested.
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The UBCIC video-taped the '87 Constitutional talks. Bands
interested in obtaining a copy or borrowing these, can contact
our office.
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Part of Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Up-Date (March/April 1987)