Westerners planning treaty organization

Page 2

In spite of the relative silence over the last few weeks, plans for an organization

to represent eastern treaty nations at the national level are alive and well, says leaders of provincial organizations.

But what form the organizations will take and what will be its members is still up in the air.

"It's not clear yet so we are going to see what happened in that discussion," said Phil Fontaine, head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, referred to a treaty chief's meeting scheduled for January in Calgary.

"The idea that's alive is an (organization) that's more focused on treaty rights."

Talk of forming a new organization for treaty nations picked up steam after Alberta chiefs voted to disassociate themselves from the Charlottetown constitutional process. Chiefs in that province were concerned the accord's self-government provisions could undermine existing treaty rights and first nation sovereignty.

Strong opposition to the accord started coming out of Manitoba in the fall after

a series of chief's meetings. It was strengthened in October when former MLA Elijah Harper said he could not support the deal and urged Native communities to boycott the referendum.

Who will become members of the fledgling organization and the decision of whether to work inside or outside the Assembly of First Nations will be decided at the Calgary meeting, said Regena Crowchild, president of the Indian Association of Alberta.

"It's mostly Alberta and Saskatchewan, but there are some (communities) from Saskatchewan that are interested," Crowchild said, describing who will likely comprise

the group's basic membership.