(The following article is from the August 1-31, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)
By C.E. Carr, Winnipeg
At the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in Winnipeg there is a development called "The Forks." It is a national heritage site, historically significant as a meeting place where the communities of St. Boniface and Winnipeg were established. For thousands of years the people have been meeting here for trade, ceremonies and socializing.
On this site the powers that be have constructed a mall and some fun places to hang out. They did this without consulting the Aboriginal people, whose meeting place and history was usurped. When there was protest, they did what our governments often do: stuck some extras on at the end to mollify the Indians.
This is why on the June 29 Day of Action we found ourselves at the Odena, Tyndall stones shaped in a rough circle to look like ancient ruins. Whose ruins we don't know, because the Aboriginal people did not have structures like this, and no one knows what Odena means, because it isn't one of our words.
So the Aboriginal population may use this place but it is totally wrong for the job. The ground is paved with brick which is too hard and uneven for moccasined dancing feet. There is no shade. We cannot erect an arbor - a shaded ring of grasses that protects dancers from the sun at outdoor powwows. The Odena is off to the side of the site, and if you were at the Forks to shop you would never notice anything going on over there.
The Day of Action on First Nations Treaty Rights was proposed by a Manitoba Chief, Terrance Nelson, through a resolution at the December 2006 meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. Chief Nelson proposed to "get between the White Man and his money" by actions of resistance such as road and rail blockades. While the Chiefs agreed to this proposal, they by and large preferred to "protest" politely with parade permits and site bookings.
This is why 500 of us showed up at the Forks. For months the mainstream and Aboriginal press had been covering the story, in a frenzy to denounce any agitators and derail any real protest before it could happen.
For people who voted to have a day to take action, the Chiefs sure were quiet. By their calls for moderation in the media and the lack of outreach to their own people, you'd wonder whose side they were on. I had joined a couple of groups who were making plans for the day and contacted several organizations of Aboriginal people to find out what was planned. Many of the First Nations people I contacted did not know there was a day of Action and had not been asked to participate. The non-Treaty people I spoke to were either not aware or said they did not feel welcome. Many people seemed to feel it wasn't their issue.
When I got to the site I found many people I knew. I had been told I could not give out People's Voice until the Grand Chief gave permission. Many people asked me for the paper and I told them I could not give them one. Every one of them laughed and said "f... that, it's a day of resistance" and grabbed a paper.
Women lined up at the foot of the stage area. As I went by they grabbed me. "We're going to get the Chiefs to let us speak. You come and make a statement." I brought some students over and introduced them. "They should speak, too. There's no one representing the youth."
An official paper had been handed out with the day's speakers and performers on it. It was a jam-packed three hours which stretched much longer. But women and youth were missing from the list. The women remained lined up for a couple of hours. They were told they would be put on the agenda, but many had to leave before that could happen. Only Phil Fontaine's granddaughter was recognized, and she introduced women who had walked from The Pas with the message that people needed help to survive. Women leaders, women's groups and students were not included. Several men on the program did speak of the "beautiful Aboriginal women" and how important they are to the culture. Not important enough to speak for themselves.
Dancers from 2 to 70 years-old, over-dressed in their beautiful regalia, waited patiently in the heat to dance on the bricks. Likewise "Shingoose" Curtis Johnnie also waited to perform Treaty Rights, a song he wrote near the beginning of his career 30 years ago. Nothing has changed in all those years. They only performed when most of the audience and the politicians had gone.
Politicians had chairs in front of the stage and were spoken of as great friends of the Aboriginal people. Many were there as invited speakers. The message was loud and clear: "We're doing great things for the people, and given a little more time everything should be great. Don't trust the Conservatives."
Except of course for MP Steven Fletcher, personally invited by Grand Chief Ron Evans, who helped rescue him from the car crash that left him paralyzed. As Fletcher put it "Aboriginal people saved my life and now I am in a position to help them." Fletcher did not, however, say that he actually would help them or what form that help might take. Much was made of NDP MP Pat Martin getting an eagle feather and an Indian name. NDP Premier Gary Doer at one point shouted a response to the speaker who was complimenting him: "get them to vote for me."
Nearing the end of the day, Gail Asper was invited to speak about the Human Rights Museum. Her father, the late Izzy Asper, had envisioned a Holocaust Museum at the Forks, but was reminded that indigenous peoples had suffered a holocaust on our native soil, and thus it was transformed into the fabulous Canadian Human Rights Museum complete with federal funding. Asper commented how happy she was to be outside with us as her office air conditioning was like the Arctic. Not noticing the crowd response, she went on to outline the whole museum concept, including how Louis Riel would welcome the visitor into the Canadian experience, something I am sure he would have trouble doing even if he were alive, considering the treatment of the Métis people by Canadians over the last 136 years. But we may have misunderstood her. After many hours in the hot sun, we were getting visions of our own. She ended by telling the now sparse crowd who came to protest dire living conditions and lack of jobs to "send money as we need your donations." And then she went straight back to her office.
It was not until the dignitaries went home that Ovide Mercredi rose to speak. He was not so complimentary, not so kind as the others. He spoke of how as a young man he had been among the protesters for Aboriginal rights. He gave an excellent overview of the treaties and the rights they covered. One student approached him afterward and said he explained in a few minutes what her prof had trouble doing in eight months. The treaties are an agreement to share the land between autonomous people. The Aboriginal People have always kept their side of the bargain. The payments to Aboriginal people are due to them because of the treaty. Education, housing, health are all guaranteed. If you rent a house and decide you don't want to pay the landlord you can't just stop, there's a lease.
Mercedi was eloquent, and the few who stayed to listen were inspired. Memories of Martin Luther King Jr. arose when he said: "I have a dream that when a Grand Chief calls and asks the people to come out in support (of Aboriginal rights), that all the people will come out of their homes, their offices, their government offices and say to one another: `I want the treaties honoured.' When they come out in their thousands and thousands and thousands, then the government will have to listen."
He is right. Yet the Chiefs did not make alliances among non-Status Indians, Métis and Inuit. They did not ask the people who are most affected by the lack of funding to speak. They gave voice to those who should have come to listen, and they praised people who have better things to do than stick around.
Next time why not put out the call without apologizing in advance? Hold the action on a day when people are not at work. Why not hold the protest in a public place where everyone can see it? Bring in bus loads from the reserves? Get the unions, the churches, the immigrant associations, women's groups, students, and activists? Next time skip the politicos and the opportunists and let Ovide Mercredi speak to a packed house. Set up a real place for dancers and give the people shade. Next time, let's go with Ovide's dream.
(C.E. Carr is a member of the Aboriginal Peoples' Commission of the Communist Party of Canada.)