Wake up, sleeping urban giant

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There is a sleeping giant among us. He lies silent, spread out across this country

in urban centres. He is the thousands of status Indians living in urban centres..

Urban Indians are not a new phenomenon. Their move to the cities probably began in the early 60s. Most of them came to seek a higher standard of living for themselves and their families than what was offered on reserve.

First and second waves of urban Indian migrants found a better life. At that time, the federal government's policy towards enfranchisement and assimilation encouraged the move to the cities. Incentives such as the off-reserve housing program provided grants to individuals towards the purchase of their own homes. School supplies and total health coverage were offered to urban Indian families. Today, the story is much different.

There are no programs specifically for urban Indians by the Department of Indian Affairs, except social services. Half the urban Indian population lives below the poverty line. 54 per cent of Edmonton Native males earn $15,000 or less a year, as do 74 per cent of Edmonton Native females. It is estimated that two-thirds of Edmonton's homeless people are Indian, Inuit or Metis.

Yet their numbers continue Canada.

Urban Indians are a disenfranchised group of people. Most reserve communities do not allow non-resident band members to vote in their band elections. And despite their numbers in the inner city, urban Indians are not represented on city boards or city council.

Largely there has been a move to try to address the problems of the urban Indian through joint committees like the Edmonton Aboriginal Representative Committee. Also, the Assembly of First Nations set aside one of their constitutional conferences to deal with urban Indian concerns. However I think these attempts are not enough.

It's time for the sleeping giant to wake up. It's time to organize, to start participating on city boards, running candidates for school boards, for city council. This should not be too difficult; some of our brightest minds live in urban centres.

In Indian country it's time to find ways to participate in the political decisions that affect all status Indians.

In Alberta, the Indian Association of Alberta allows any status Indian to vote in its elections. New forms of political voices need to be found for the urban Indian. After all, self-government is not defined as applying to only present-day structures. Surely the concept can be applied to other forms of Indian government.