UN comes to Hobbema

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Delegates from as far away as New Zealand, Africa and Latin America met in Hobbema, Alta. Nov. 14 to 17 to discuss processes for making treaties with Indigenous peoples. It was the first United Nations seminar of its kind held outside of a UN venue and the first on treaty land.

The UN Expert Seminar on Treaties, Agreements and Other Constructive Arrangements between States and Indigenous Peoples, held at Samson Cree Nation, was the second in a series of three such meetings arranged by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

"Basically, we're meeting to keep momentum going regarding work that's been done on the recommendations made in the 1999 report by United Nations Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur Miguel Alfonso Martinez," explained Ron Lameman, bilateral process worker for the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, which hosted the conference. "We checked the report card regarding what nation states have done with the recommendations regarding the implementation of treaties, international agreements and human rights legislation. Unfortunately, they failed miserably."

International delegates, many from countries that have treaty arrangements with the state that are similar to Canada's, shared information on their people's treaty experiences. Hone Harawira, a member of the Maori Party, and first representative of his people to sit in New Zealand's House of Parliament, said his people face "rampant acquisition of Maori lands and resources."

"At meetings like this we need to build a new international nation to take a common stand against the threat to our lands. We must teach that the land is a treasure, not a commodity," he said. "We teach our children to understand they are part of a global community. Their stake in protecting the land as Indigenous people is critical to every world citizen, or we won't have a world."

Lameman said the seminar served to emphasize that treaties are not just historical papers but are legitimate legal documents. It also allowed the public the opportunity to witness the kind of proceedings that take place at the United Nations level.

Since Canada voted against the United Nations draft declaration on Indigenous rights last August, Lameman said the call for such meetings has intensified.

"After working on this draft declaration for 16 or so years, with the co-operation of Canada, our government's negative vote is indeed a step back."