Some prairie chiefs boycott FMC

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Native chiefs from Alberta and Saskatchewan in a prepared statement have announced that they will not participate in the First Minister's Conference (FMC) scheduled for March.

In the statement, the chiefs said at the last two ministers' conference, the United Indian First Nations of Treaty 6 held demonstrations out side the conference, something they have agreed not to do next month. The chiefs say that a demonstration at the FMC would lend credibility to the government's capability to deal with Indian treaty nation issues.

The decision were reached at a conference on the Ahtahkapoop (Starblanket) Reserve in Saskatchewan attended by the chiefs.

The chiefs also do not want the Prairie Treaty Nations Alliance, the Assembly of First Nations and the Indian Association of Alberta to represent their treaty concerns at the First Ministers' Conference.

Their reasons for not participating at the upcoming FMC are:

- Canada has consistently denied treaty Indian nations rights to land and self-government.

- Canada has tried to extinguish the internationally recognized rights of the Indian people to self-determination by manipulating Native organizations funded by the federal government.

- Canada has consistently refused to deal with disputes arising from a narrow unilateral interpretation of Treaty 6.

- The federal government plans to allow, through a constitutional amendment, provincial control over Indian reserve governments.

The chiefs say to deal with the federal government's lack of responsibilities towards the Indian people, a meeting of their own will be held on the Red Pheasant Reserve in Saskatchewan, March 25-27.

Saddle Lake Chief Eugene Houle was elected at a meeting to represent them at

the United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting this month in Geneva, after they decided to continue lobbying internationally.

In 1981, in the United Kingdom High Court, Treaty 6 chiefs questioned the right of the Crown to transfer Indian treaties in Canada.

The court rules that Treaty 6 Indian nations have a right to self-government based on customary Indian law and that Canada was responsible for treaty implementation. In 1876, Treaty 6 was signed between the Crown and Cree nations. Many Stoney and Chipewyan nations also signed the Treaty 6 agreement.