Prince Charles gets a new Aboriginal name

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One of the highlights of Prince Charles' recent visit to Saskatchewan was his receiving of an Indian name. Gordon Oakes, Elder and past chief of the Nekaneet band, gave the Prince his name in a brief naming ceremony at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, near Saskatoon.

"I had a lot I wanted to say to him. It was a great honor to give him this name and it will be a day to remember," Oakes said.

Oakes also recalled that it was 125 years ago that Queen Victoria sent her officials to western Canada to negotiate for the land and sign treaties with the First Nations' bands living on the prairies.

"I thought Prince Charles should be honored and it was a great honor for me to do this after 125 years. HRH Prince Charles is the Queen's great-great grandson and that made giving him this name so very important to First Nations peoples."

Prince Charles' Indian name came to Oakes during a special sweatlodge ceremony and after many prayers.

"A name isn't given from the mind, but comes from prayer," he said.

"I'm very proud and honored that I am one of the few Elders that can give a name."

Prince Charles' Indian name is Pisimwa Kamiwohkitahpamikohk, which translates to "The sun looks at him in a good way."

Oakes is one the Saskatchewan Elders working with the federal government on the Indian treaties.

"The Treaties are alive today and they remain unfinished business," said Oakes.

Like many elders, Oakes believes that treaty rights of many first Nations' bands are being eroded, and there should be renewed negotiations to restore and finalize them, and in some instances strengthen them.

"These are part of the healing between the new-comers and First Nation's people," Oakes said.

"We only gave up surface rights. The federal government gave the provinces the mineral rights in the 1930, but these were never discussed with the First Nations' people.

"When the Treaties were negotiated, the Queen didn't have enough money to buy the land. That is why the treaties speak in terms 'for as long as the sun shines and the rivers run', to describe the duration of the treaties, Oakes said.

Traditionally, it is recognized the land ceded by the First Nations to Canada was to the depth of a plowshare, with the First Nations' retaining ownership of the land beneath that depth.

"Resources remain an issue to be discussed and resolved. We're rich people in the land and we shouldn't have to live on welfare, but now we're the poorest," Oakes said.

"I'm not ashamed to talk about the treaties because it's the truth," he said.

AFN pushes for education funding

Paul barnsley, Sage Writer, Squamish First Nation B.C.

Chiefs across the country are being urged to write letters to Paul Martin, the minister of Finance, as the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) chiefs committee on education (CCOE) continues to lobby for an increase to the budget for First Nation post-secondary education.

AFN Saskatchewan vice-chief Perry Bellegarde told the Confederacy of Nations on May 9 there are currently 9,000 First Nation students unable to attend university or college because the budget won't allow it.

"Those students are on the waiting list because there's no resources," Bellegarde told the chiefs. "We need $529 million to close the gap. We're lobbying Paul Martin. We need to invest in our youth and our future by putting more resources into that."

The CCOE has also identified a large and growing problem with funding for special education for First Nations people. Bellegarde said First Nations need $359 million in new money for special education and added the chiefs' committee is developing a national policy dealing with that area.

Bellegarde, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations grand chief, reported the chiefs committee has determined that fitting First Nation students into provincially funded high schools is not the ideal situation. He said the federal government would prefer to send students to provincial schools because it's cheaper than building schoolson reserve and designing First Nation-specific curricula for them.

"As First Nations people, we have to start working on our own jurisdiction, jurisdiction, jurisdiction," he said. "And we need to develop our own curriculum. When our students go to provincial schools, there's nothing there for them. No wonder they drop out."

He said the long-established attitude that Native students must adapt to schools with mainstream-oriented curricula is an attitude that needs to be re-examined.

"We should ask them, 'Why don't you integrate your white kids into our system for a while,'" he said.

The CCOE is scheduled to meet to continue looking at these issues on May 30 and 31 in Calgary.