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Pikiskwe

Almost 50 years ago have passed since Canada was last involved in a major war. The young people who fought in those wars are now elders or have since passed on. Of the ones who remain, they are reluctant to talk about their wartime experiences, but one need only look into their eyes every Nov. 11 to recognize its effect.

For the young people of today, those wars were over a long time ago and sometimes we do not recognize the contribution our Indian veterans made to Canada

and to our communities.

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Pikiskwe

Almost 50 years ago have passed since Canada was last involved in a major war. The young people who fought in those wars are now elders or have since passed on. Of the ones who remain, they are reluctant to talk about their wartime experiences, but one need only look into their eyes every Nov. 11 to recognize its effect.

For the young people of today, those wars were over a long time ago and sometimes we do not recognize the contribution our Indian veterans made to Canada

and to our communities.

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Even when it fails, the constitutional process in Canada manages to educate the general public about the hopes and desires of first nations.

When Red Sucker MLA Elijah Harper uttered his quiet No in the Manitoba legislature and sent the Meech Lake accord into a tailspin, he sent a strong message to

the Canadian public.

That message was: First nations aren't joking around here. Something must be done to address the historic inequalities and racist policies that have governed aboriginal communities since white settlers first came to this land.

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The defeat of the Charlottetown accord is not the end of self-government, it

just means the process will be delayed, said Roland Crowe, chief of the Federation

of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

His organization recommended that people both participate in the process and

vote yes.

"I found it difficult that our own people abstained or voted no," he said.

It was defeated for a number of reasons, including the fact that westerners were disappointed at the powers the package granted to Quebec, Crowe said.

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The defeat of the Charlottetown accord met with an angry reaction from B.C. Native leaders associated with the Assembly of First Nations.

But as with other provinces, the demise of the package that would have entrenched self-government in the Canadian constitution was greeted with relief and calls for continued efforts to press for Native rights.

"What they've managed to do is perpetuate class domination over the aboriginal people of this country," Squamish Chief Joe Mathias told reporters on referendum night.

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The Charlottetown accord was soundly defeated on Alberta's reserves where light voter turnouts added up to a simple rejection. But the final results held few surprises. Treaty chiefs across the province had long since abandoned the constitutional process, fearing it undermined the "nation-to-nation" relationship with Canada.

"Our people were not in favor of the accord because it did not reflect our understanding of the treaty relationship," said Indian Association of Alberta president Regena Crowchild.

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Ovide Mercredi looked mad. Shifting uncomfortably on his chair he stared into the live television camera and gave his stark assessment of the NO tidal wave that swept the Charlottetown accord away.

"We blew it," the embittered Assembly of First Nations chief told millions of Canadians tuned into live coverage of the referendum vote.

"We had a chance here to do something different; to respect each other on a different level. And we didn't do that. Instead we allowed our prejudices, our biases

to dominate."

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The RCMP officer accused of lying under oath at a special inquiry into the Wilson Nepoose murder conviction has been acquitted.

Justice Allan Wachowich rejected defence claims that Red Deer RCMP sergeant Don Zazaluk was suffering a temporary mental disturbance brought on by the stress of the Nepoose investigation.

But Wachowich ruled that since the officer did not intend to mislead the inquiry because he admitted he lied.

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The RCMP officer accused of lying under oath at a special inquiry into the Wilson Nepoose murder conviction has been acquitted.

Justice Allan Wachowich rejected defence claims that Red Deer RCMP sergeant Don Zazaluk was suffering a temporary mental disturbance brought on by the stress of the Nepoose investigation.

But Wachowich ruled that since the officer did not intend to mislead the inquiry because he admitted he lied.

Page 2

The RCMP officer accused of lying under oath at a special inquiry into the Wilson Nepoose murder conviction has been acquitted.

Justice Allan Wachowich rejected defence claims that Red Deer RCMP sergeant Don Zazaluk was suffering a temporary mental disturbance brought on by the stress of the Nepoose investigation.

But Wachowich ruled that since the officer did not intend to mislead the inquiry because he admitted he lied.