Where do the letters go?

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At the Swan River First Nation, a 54-year-old man has walked more than 100 km. At the Fort McMurray First Nation #468, a woman has organized petitions and written letters to newspapers. In Morley, a man started up a grassroots coalition of Aboriginal people. Each of these actions are protests of a sort. Protests, the people involved say, came about because the government isn't doing anything to answer the questions and concerns they have.

Countless letters sent by these people to the government have been ignored. E.J. Cheecham, of the Fort McMurray First Nation #468, said she has been trying for years to get Indian Affairs to deal with a problem that began when the government allowed another First Nation group onto her reserve in the mid-1970s. It's been more than 20 years now, and the two groups are still on the same reserve. Cheecham said it's not what the original people want. Letters and petitions have been sent to Indian Affairs.

"We sent the petition to Indian Affairs in Ottawa . . . [and] nothing," she said, adding that some letter have come back, but the answers aren't good enough. "All they told me is talk to the chief and council."

Gerald Giroux has experienced the same frustrations. He took to the streets, literally. The Swan River Elder walked 20 km each day for a week in protest of poor social issues and band mismanagement.

"I walked for my human rights," he said.

Giroux wanted to attract attention because his letter writing campaign fell on deaf ears.

"They weren't responding to my letters," he said of the Swan River Band and Indian Affairs.

Giroux isn't even sure if his letters were received. That's where the problem is, said DIAND spokesperson Lynn Boyer.

"We get volumes of correspondence," she said.

Letters of concern, questions about Native culture, education, land claims, and letters of general interest from other countries, all go to the 15 staff in the correspondence unit of the Indian Affairs office in Ottawa.

In 1995, 10,343 pieces of information were sent to the department. Last year the total was 9,155 pieces of correspondence. So far this year, more than 7,000 letters have been received. Not all of it gets to the right people, admitted Boyer, and some get lost, but the vast majority is dealt with and returned to the person making the inquiry, she assured.

"The objective is to provide a 15-day turn around time," she said. "Others require urgent attention, so the turn around is faster. Others are delayed."

Common causes of delays are improperly addressed letters. Boyer said the common mistake is to address the letter to a specific person who may no longer be in the same position. Address any letter to a regional director general, the minister's, or deputy minister's office or the communications department.

For the Stoney Reserve's Greg Twoyoungmen, the founder of CAIN - Concerned About Injustice to Natives- a national group assisting Native people who are having troubles with their band administrations, hand-delivered mail is the only way to guarantee a letter gets t0 where it should. Twoyoungmen has enlisted the support of area MP Myron Thompson to deliver letters directly to the government.

If you feel that attention has not been given a letter you sent to Ottawa, contact Boyer directly.