Ominayak takes land fight to UN

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Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak is taking his 50-year-old land claim to a United Nations subcommittee on Native rights.

Ominayak flew to Geneva this week to tell the Working Group on Indigenous Populations that the Canadian government is using subversive tactics to undermine his efforts to build a

future for his people.

Ominayak told Edmonton reporters Wednesday that the department of Indian and Northern Affairs has resorted to enticing rebellion within his band.

He views federal recognition of the Woodland Cree as a "divide and conquer" technique and a way of illuminate compensation for his 400-member band.

"We want an adequate settlement to help our people build a future," he said.

Indian Affairs Minister Pierre Cadieux recently announced he will officially recognize the Woodland Cree as the 593rd Indian band in Canada.

Ominayak charges that the federal government will use the new band to discredit the Lubicon people of Little Buffalo, located 470 km northwest of Edmonton.

He said the Canadian government has left him no other choice but to take his plea to the world organization once again.

In 1984 Ominayak filed a complaint against Canada with the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Last May Lubicon councillor Larry Ominayak attended an international consultation meeting on Aboriginal rights sponsored by the World Council of Churches in Australia.

The meetings were attended delegates from Fiji, Guam, Thailand, Tasmania and the Philippines.

Ominayak called for an international lobbying effort by countries to put pressure on Canada to honor Indian treaties and negotiate land claims in good faith.

The UN subcommittee on Aboriginal rights makes its recommendations to the meetings in New York city.