Stop the rumors and stick to fact

Page 5

Dear Editor:

In his recent column, Dan David wrote that "Under David Ahenakew, AFN's first years were rife with cronyism, nepotism and rumors of shady finances. Eventually, the RCMP investigated. The next national chief, Georges Erasmus, promised to clean house, which he did. However, this was also the time when the AFN lost its moral credibility."

I am writing to respond to this statement about cronyism, nepotism and rumors of shady finances.

It seems to me that this smacks of the very kind of sloppy journalism of which this item earlier complained. The so-called "rumors of shady finances" culminated in charges being brought against Ahenakew and six other First Nations leaders, as well as John Munro, the former minister of Indian Affairs. These charges were laid by the RCMP after then-Sgt. Kennedy spent so long digging through the files at the AFN that he was made the Santa Claus at the AFN Christmas party. Nonetheless, the evidence on which these charges proceeded was so ill-founded that Judge Nadel dismissed all the charges after the Crown had completed several months of testimony without hearing from the defence.

If these rumors had so little substance that there was no need for the defence even to reply to them, perhaps it is time that folks who claim to have First Nations' interest at the heart of their journalism stop resurrecting these ill-founded rumors. Indeed, it was widely reported at that time that these charges were laid at the urging of Brian Mulroney and his minister of Justice, Raymond Hnatyshyn, in reprisal for prosecution of various Tories.

Lastly, the National Indian Brotherhood (NIB) served a noble purpose. I had the privilege of working with both George Manuel, its second president, and Noel Starblanket, its third president. Precisely out of loyalty to those noble purposes it is worth recalling that Starblanket laid the foundation for the move from an organization dominated by the provincial and territorial organizations to one controlled by an assembly of chiefs.

By 1978, not only Starblanket, who was then president of the NIB, but much of the rest of the leadership of that day, recognized that each of the words in the name "National", "Indian", "Brotherhood" carried with them problems that called out for something more representative.

The AFN may well be beset by difficulties and problems.

Going back to the NIB structure is hardly a solution. Perhaps it is time to go forward toward the goal of an organization that is genuinely representative of the chiefs-in-assembly and to finally free the organization from domination by provincial organizations.

In any case, one might do well to take note that it was the NIB leadership of the 1978-80 period that saw the need to lay the foundation for a more representative organization.

It was the RCMP who brought a malicious and ill-founded prosecution against Ahenakew and others. Perpetuating the rumors spread by the RCMP and their political masters may not be the surest way to build a better First Nations political organization.

Michael (Mickey) Posluns