Energetic youth support traditional governance

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The 28 communities in Treaty 3, encompassing an area of 55,000 square miles, held an assembly early this year that confirms for their grand chief that they are well on the way to re-instituting traditional governance outside of the Indian Act.

The Jan. 23 to 25 assembly adopted an Anishinaabe nation childcare policy and endorsed continued movement towards a tradition-based government structure rather than an Indian Affairs-dictated one.

For the first time in their modern history, it was the people who endorsed an important national policy, not the chiefs alone.

This is the result of a three-year drive to reclaim Anishinaabe governance models.

On Feb. 14, Grand Chief Leon Jourdain spoke about the process that has brought them to this point. He said they traveled all over Canada and the United States to compare constitutional models before finding their own.

It got its impetus after years of negotiations, lobbying efforts and changes of government that did little to remove either the causes or effects of poverty from the lives of Treaty 3 citizens.

The idea, Jourdain said, is to blend governance by consensus in their own language with an educated citizenry and all the modern tools at their disposal to create economic development opportunities that will eventually make them independent of Ottawa.

What's new, according to the grand chief, is they are amassing the support of non-Native communities within their territory that are also interested in bypassing Ottawa to get their people a better share of their own resource-based pie. Their mutual concerns are northern ones. Each group, according to Jourdain, is tired of being ignored by southern Ontario and having their development initiatives strangled in federal red tape. Relations between First Nations and the local municipalities, that used to founder on race-based incidents, are evolving into mutual co-operation as both are recognizing they can effect change faster if they work together.

Jourdain said the cities and towns in their territory 'have treaty rights as well.'

"Over the course of going on three years we have been doing some pretty serious consultations with (Anishinaabe) people at the grass roots . . . and the whole idea is to rebuild the nation (as it was) prior to contact," said Jourdain. "This process cannot even be regarded as treaty implementation; it's nation rebuilding. It's the element of the nation politically, administratively, socially and spiritually that was there prior to contact."

The Elders and historians were consulted. That led to Treaty 3 developing its own constitution.

"But the difficulty comes in whether we write it or not. . . . The spiritual symbols of our constitution, the symbolic symbols of our constitution are the painted rocks, the pipes and feathers, drums and all those various ceremonial activities that we've always participated in, but to write it becomes very difficult, because we would minimize one interpretation of the constitution.

Jourdain said their constitution will be borne by the nation: "no Indian Act, no external delegation. Because anything short of that is delegation and it's about assimilation, and ultimately termination."

Once the nation is rebuilt, 'the resources come into play.

"We would generate revenues out of the resources. You've heard that so many times, I suppose," said Jourdain. "But nobody's ever put the vehicle in place that would actually have the international capacity to ensure that these things are carried through."

He feels that once the systems the nation owned prior to contact are 'reinvigorated,' they will have political leverage with the Canadian government.

"It's happening here, it's happening now, where the government's coming to our table."

The reason, Jourdain explained, is international, legal and political leverage, as other governments recognize that nations that signed treaties did not give up their nationhood.

Getting into partnershi with First Nations is increasingly seen as "the way to go, if they're going to have any life in the businesses that they're in. I'm talking about the corporate world now."

Jourdain, who met with 17 mayors and reeves within the Treaty 3 area for the first time "a couple of months ago," said "I was really surprised that they all showed up." But discussions revealed they have "more common ground than we have differences."

Initially, he said, when they extended an invitation to the provincial and federal governments to attend the meeting, they were "too busy." But when they learned the mayors were attending, he added, "they were there pretty fast."

They will hold another joint meeting April 1.

"If you take northwestern Ontario and the resources that are being extracted . . . who benefits from that? This is not solely an Indian issue."

Jourdain said resources are extracted from the North with "no benefit to the Anishinaabe or the non-Aboriginal. But yet we signed a treaty, we shook hands in 1873 and we agreed that we would feed our families and earn a living by way of our resources."

Northerners are fed up with seeing the revenue flow south.

"It's from that premise that we must ally ourselves. The government keeps driving these wedges between us. So we must focus on what we agreed to in 1873. But now the mayors, the chiefs and myself are meeting, and we're going to continue to meet, and we're going to take these wedges off."

The grand chief said whether it is an Indian reserve or a town, people have common needs that must be met, such as infrastructure, housing, employment and social development.

"If the needs are the same, it only makes sense that we go together, and co-exist.

"I have also aligned myself with the northwestern Ontario Chamber [of Commerce]. They're also on side to help build a nation and ultimately implement the treaty. With the position that this is a northwestern Ontario citizen's responsibility or duty to the environment adto the resource."

Jourdain said neighboring Nishnaabe-Aski Nation is " coming on board" with what Treaty 3 is doing and has been discussing doing similar things.

All this underlay the tone of the more recent Treaty 3 assembly.

The grand chief said the hall was full at the assembly.

The vote on the child care policy was done in a traditional way, said Jourdain.

"It cannot be raising of hands . . . it couldn't be secret ballots, because they're all contemporary and European in nature . . . so we have to reclaim the systems that were there in our terms of how a decision was made.

"So what it is, I will take the Eagle staff that is the flag of the nation, that represents all people. I will go to the east, where an Elder will take the eagle staff, and he will say something to the effect in our language that that law that is in front of you today is a law that you believe will benefit the collective well being of our children. Do you agree with that?" The people if they agree, say so in their own language. The process is repeated for the remaining three directions.

"When he gets back to the east, if there is no opposition, he will be clear this is the decision of the nation. There's no resolution under our national law in our national assembly.

"But I'll tell you, when that national childcare law, when the Elder raised the staff and said, "This is now a national law," the people jumped to their feet screaming and yelling. I have been a chief for many years in my own community. I have been to many, many assemblies. I have never seen this energy."

Jourdain said they still have a lot of work to do and he anticipates growing pains on the way to reasserting themselves as a nation.

He said the youth are interested in learning their language, "because once the systems of the nation that were there prior to contact come back, it's almost like you have to revisit yourself. Because there are certain laws that go with that. The ceremonies that have to coe back. The teachings that have to come back.

"You have to live something to have spiritual impact. So as this thing proceeds . . . you will force people, out of wanting to find out who they are."

"Probably 70 per cent of our nation are 30 and under," he said, adding he hopes Canada recognizes that "what is happening here is a solution."

"If there is no meaningful system in place to deal with the Anishinaabe people, it is just going to worsen. People are going to get hurt."

Jourdain sees no conflict between reclaiming culture and traditions and using what works from today's world to advance their people. He said they will harmonize Anishinaabe laws, where appropriate, with those of the dominant society.

For example, "There's a law under child care being developed right now. But the technical people, the people that have the masters degrees in social services, they're all part of this team across the territory. And there's certain places where you have to bridge . . . [Native and non-Native] laws will sit parallel to each other."

But he cited another instance where in his community he refused to make a law under the Indian Act to deal with a significant drug dealing problem.

He took his authority from the Anishinaabe constitution instead.

In Jourdain's community, if someone is caught using or selling drugs, they are banished for 10 days the first time, 30 days the second time. For a third offence, "you would be banished indefinitely and you would have to give up your Indian status card."