Bingo, a moment of clarity

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Regarding your May 2001 article, "Remember the People"...I was sitting on the throne reading it when it occurred to me... I know this may sound "Aboriginally incorrect", but...umm...BINGO! My apologies to the left-wing-nuts and sociology majors.

Yes the AFN has correctly identified and publicized, via Chief Pierre's remarks, that there is indeed a certain shade under which the chiefs are cowering. To quote Mel Brooks from the movie Blazing Saddles: "...We gotta protect our phony-baloney jobs, gentlemen!" It is perhaps a poignant paraphrase of Chief Pierre's self-corrective statement.

Never in my 34 short years (the last 15 years playing for the C31s...kind of like a farm team for Indians) have I had such a moment of clarity when I heard that the AFN would be opposing, somehow, the new governance legislation.

No big surprise there.... They only represent the current administrators of band funding, and not the actual voters. They are an astounding and shockingly clear representation of what Windspeaker has portrayed through numerous writers and articles as the Indian industry, an appropriate term.

Such individuals are the reason we need to do away with their cash cow (the Indian Act) which allows them to reap financial benefits and attend the odd "conference" which, coincidentally, always ends up at or adjacent to a casino or similar facility.

Not only is there the usual nepotistic benefit-shovelling that occurs, but the voters and potential leaders are discouraged from pursuing personal goals when funding magically disappears, or is disallowed completely whether through a band council resolution or an outright refusal to sign a cheque.

What a great way to keep your voters silent...keep 'em poor and powerless...you know, South Africa was successful at this...until...well, maybe our Mandela is lurking out there somewhere, just not at AFN.

I gotta stay away from the chili.

Rob Whitford.