New grand chief recommends reform

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Dear Editor:

On Sept. 20, the people of the Atikamekw First Nation, situated in central Quebec, elected their first Kitchi Okima-grand chief-since the election of Kawaisekeck (Jean-Baptiste Boucher) in July 1887. In doing so, the Atikamekw Nation, composed of three communities, Manawan, Wemotaci, and Opitciwan, made an important step in re-establishing a national government (Atikamekw Kice Okimaw).

The responsibilities of the grand chief were determined in a formal political agreement signed by the three chiefs and councils and the president of the Council of the Atikamekw Nation prior to the election.

The Atikamekw grand chief is not the only grand chief in Canada elected through universal suffrage. However, such a grand chief is immediately confronted with the issue of representation with the Assembly of First Nations, at national and regional levels.

Grand chiefs have no effective voice within the AFN. The problem, stemming from the constitution of the organization, is that the only persons who have a right to vote on issues presented at meetings of the AFN are chiefs from the 600 or so First Nations communities. (Some communities are represented by grand chiefs, such as the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, but community grand chiefs have the same rights within the AFN as community chiefs.)

In other words, the AFN, in the year 2002, seems to be mirroring the attitude of the Department of Indian Affairs, and that is to ignore the essential fact that grand chiefs are part of the political landscape in Aboriginal Canada.

Is the AFN so influenced by the nefarious spirit of the Indian Act, so designed as to divide First Nations by recognizing individual communities out of their national context?

I have submitted the issue to the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador this past summer. The chiefs were ready to consider the issue, however, the problem resides with the AFN and its constitution.

There are about 70 First Nations in Canada, not all of them are represented by grand chiefs, but in those cases where Nations have elected or nominated grand chiefs, they should not be kept out of sight.

Grand chiefs,representing First Nations through tribal councils-or Grand Councils-are important elements in the development of First Nations governance and autonomy. The offices of grand chiefs are often crucial in lobbying governments on behalf of the Nation or of communities, in defending treaty rights, in promoting language and culture, in acting as ambassadors of Aboriginal rights at the international level, in conducting or in assisting in negotiations for economic and social rights of their people, in studying Indian Affairs policies and those of other federal departments, in inter-acting with provincial and territorial governments, and in negotiating financial agreements, among other things. In other words, grand chiefs have contributed to the strengthening of First Nations in the face of efforts by Indian Affairs to undermine First Nations and communities.

I therefore propose that the status of grand chiefs be revised in such a way that they can better contribute their energy and efforts within the AFN, and to obtain, among other things, the right to vote on issues brought forward at meetings of the Assembly of First Nations.

Integrating grand chiefs in the political process of the AFN can only improve the legitimacy of the organization. The AFN can not remain in the shadow of the spirit of the Indian Act, which does not, and will not, recognize tribal councils or grand councils.

Ernest Awashish

Grand Chief, Atikamekw

First Nation