Foreign government dividing communities

Page 7

Dear Editor:

The Indian Act has never helped Indian people in Canada. It has systematically destroyed them. The only chance of survival Indian people have left is to return to traditional forms of government that were in existence for millions of years before Europeans transplanted to this land.

The original Indian Act, dreamed up by Duncan Scott, was racist and genocidal. It was intended to eliminate Indian people as a distinct and identifiable group, and it was done very blatantly and openly. One only needs to read the minutes of Privy Council meetings and the Hansard Report of Duncan Scott's time. The intent is clear.

Today, the intent is still clear but there is an added twist. Once we had no say. Now we are being forced to govern our communities under alien legislation, through laws that were never ours to begin with. All of the imposed so-called democratic systems [i.e. Indian Act, Department of Indian Affairs] promote, guarantee and even demand corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability. They keep us divided and fighting among ourselves. And yet, we, the victims of an imposed system, are being blamed for using these systems to rule our communities.

Speaking as an outsider of mainstream Canadian society, I see, and have felt, what it is like to live within the concentration camp system known as Indian reserves, and it is a mirror image of the larger system of Canadian government. Just like Indian people, many other groups and individuals in Canada are angry and dissatisfied. They rail and demonstrate against the insensitivity and corruption of government. They protest the lack of accountability by the Chretian government, the Mulroney government, Bouchard's government, McKenna's government - all government.

Reserve communities have not been given options. All of the things imposed upon the reserves are set down by non-Native government. Royal commission studies, white versions of self government, white versions of employment and economic development, do not reflect the realities of our tradition or our way of life.

The best thing - the only right thing - that Canadian government can do for Indian people after 500 years of its imposed helping hand, is to butt out of our affairs and allow our communities, our families, our people, the time and opportunity to begin to heal. Allow us our own traditional forms of government like the clan system, the grand councils and the Wabanski Confederacy, so we can function and grow and begin to heal our people.

I end with this particular salutation as a sign of respect. I recognize that I do not live as an individual. I am part of all my ancestors who have gone before me, part of all who live today, and part of all those generations yet to come. That is why I must not remain silent.

All my relations,

Dan Ennis

Tobique, N.B.