Chiefs meet to plan fight on governance initiative

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An estimated 500 people, including about 200 chiefs and five Assembly of First Nations (AFN) vice chiefs, spent two days in Winnipeg in early March talking about how to stop the federal government's proposed First Nations governance act.

AFN National Chief Matthew Coon Come was a no-show on both days, despite having confirmed a time to speak on day one.

"It's important for us that we revitalize our discussions of nationhood, of sovereignty, " said Dennis White Bird, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in his welcome to the delegates to the National Protection of Treaty and Inherent Rights Gathering.

"We are the representatives of our citizens. We are the representatives of the governments of First Nations. I've always stated that we are not bands and we are not band members. The government of Canada must be told. If there's anything that they want to change, they should give us the recognition of nationhood."

White Bird talked about "fighting" for rights. Several other speakers invoked similar imagery as the first day, March 11, progressed.

Ontario Assembly of First Nations Vice Chief Charles Fox said, "We have to fight with every fibre of our beings. " He later added, "For all intents and purposes, we're at war."

Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, prefaced his remarks by saying, "We do not have the luxury of time to simply fritter this conference away and then go home. "

Phillip reminded his colleagues that organized protests and aggressive lobbying succeeded in defeating the 1969 White Paper and helped ensure that Aboriginal rights would be enshrined in the Constitution in 1982.

"The federal government is trying to trick our people into believing that they want to help build 'vibrant communities and economies,' when in fact the intent is to continue to ignore and accelerate the extinguishment of our constitutionally-protected and judicially recognized title and rights," he said. "From the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs perspective, the time for talking is over. We must mobilize our community members, to stop or challenge the federal government's First Nations governance act."

Newly elected Six Nations Chief Roberta Jamieson, the first Native woman to become a lawyer and a former Ombudsman in the province of Ontario, arrived on the national political scene with a bang, delivering a speech that was very well received.

She and Phillip appeared to be the central figures in the meetings that developed a resolution for action that the chiefs eventually approved.

"My question to you is not about how we are going to react to all this noise from Ottawa. There will be court actions and marches and protests and confrontations, if recent history is any guide," she said. "There will be angry speeches and letters. But all of that is in reaction to Ottawa. I've been there myself, and I'm willing to go there again if need be."

Then she chided the chiefs for reacting to crises rather than acting.

"What was-and is-our vision? What are the things we should be doing now, regardless of what the government does?" she asked.

"Surely we don't want government to develop our own vision, to suggest our own agenda. But I'm not so sure we're addressing it ourselves. In fact, I ask you to think over this proposition-that we aren't much ahead of the government when it comes to having consensus on a coherent agenda for action, to know what it is that we're doing. We might be able to stop them, but then where do we go? Surely we can't blame government for our own policy vacuum-we have to accept that responsibility for ourselves."

She urged the chiefs to get ready to attack the legislation if it didn't meet their needs.

"In 1969, the White Paper went to committee at first reading-and we know what happened then," she said.

The chiefs appointed a seven-member implementation committee to take their work to Ottawa and present it to a special AFN chiefs' assembly that begin May 21.

The committee includes: Algonquins of Barriere Lake Grand Chief Carol McBride, Fox, AFN vice Chief Perry Bellegarde, White Bird, Phillip, Jamieson and Treaty 6 technician Eric Tootoosis. They will meet at least once before the Ottawa assembly to work out the details of their presentation.

The chiefs' resolution called for an aggressive lobby and communications plan that did not rule out direct action.

Nine specific areas of activity are mentioned, including forming an international lobbying strategy, finding a way to get First Nations members to offer input on what they think should be in the act, drafting band council resolutions regarding the act that all First Nations could send to Ottawa, coming up with a media and public awareness strategy, calling a national day of protest for the day the act is tabled, planning to get involved and have an effect on the bill as it goes through the legislative process, looking at legal action based on violation of treaty and inherent rights, calling attention to human rights violations alleged against Canada, and sending a petition across the country and sending the signatures to Ottawa.