Idle no More

That's BS. There is only one occasion I give a shit about where my family immigrated from; when there's an Irishman to piss off. :england: The rest of the time, who gives a fuck.

Why are you here?

Can we at least all agree with neither the left nor the right has a clue how to handle the native file? None of them have the balls.

Of course we can. All people like Mulcair and Justin do is show up as they know it is free advertising.

Why are you here?

He left when he discovered that England is now pretty much run by the Scots.

Atleo is involved now,so maybe the protests can now be seen as legit.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/2013/01/03/pol-afn-crown-first-nations-gathering.html

Some minor points in this article as well,for those that don't understand why things are the way they are.

Once in a while, I drop in to see if I need to prune or add to my Ignore List. This thread has been very helpful in that respect.

However, ignoring individuals doesn't mean ignoring an entire thread, nor does it excuse letting ignorance or simple-minded right-wing talking points dominate a discussion on NBR. And, since you've got great thinkers like Justin Bieber scoring points for your side with Natives getting "free gas" and all, it's only fair that old Nat weighs in.

First of all, I hope you notice how both the rhetoric and the vitriol is being ramped up in direct proportion to the increased coordination and effectiveness of First Nations protest. Or, holy crap, "The Indian Problem" isn't going away! They're using our tactics against us! They're getting smart and using modern PR and messaging strategies against us! Oh noes!

I would not presume to speak for First Nations, so to be clear, this is my privileged, old, white-male perspective on the Idle No More movement. For me, it begins and ends with the treaty process. Understand, the Indians were never conquered, and that the very creation of Canada as a nation-state was utterly dependent on peaceful negotiations and treaties, with promises to live in peace and "share the wealth of the land." Now, I'm not much on math and stuff, but I'd say that the white, colonial side of these treaties made out a whole lot better, and I would go so far as to say, what with all the small pox blankets, residential schools, bounties, Louis Riel trials and stuff, The Indian Act etc, government and business went out of their way to fuck the First Nations.

So while it might make you feel better to find a couple of aboriginals to support your view of things (like finding a gay Republican or a black Mormon), don't be too pleased because you'll find the number of outliers in the native population to be no more or less different than in any other population or social construct. You can always find a leader or spokesperson who blame themselves or their people for their problems, in the same way that slutty dress is responsible for rape. You won't like it, let alone accept, that Canada simply ripped off the First Nations they made agreements with, and didn't share resources as they promised in the treaties. Not only that, they set up institutions to wipe them out. The effect of this is that most Canadians have made out very well since confederation, and First Nations have ended up on the bottom rung of every social and economic ladder there is. Lifespan, health, education, employment etc. I'll put it another way: the Canadian government takes in money from resources, and _deliberately_doesn't put a fair share of that back into First Nations. That is how you end up with an Attawapiskat, not because a couple of elders won't make their salaries public and well, "they" get free gas and stuff and don't have to pay tax. And bingo. Or whatever. When your population and identity has been attacked since contact, you don't just HTFU and walk it off.

The federal government of Canada, in whatever left/right form it's taken, still has The Indian Act as law, and really, the intent of this recent round of legislation is to get rid of the "Indian" problem once and for all. Harper is just more direct about it, and it's funny how all the legislation debated around "unlocking" of First Nation territory, and "integration" into Canadian society for the "maximized benefit" of "all Canadians" didn't include any Indians in the discussion. None. No wonder they're pissed off. Still treating them like ignorant savages, who need the paternalistic care of a kind guardian. Kind of reminds me of all the white male US right wing theocrats discussing women's reproduction issues, and "the rape thing." You can't take care or mandate something you know NOTHING about.

Idle No More is scary because it's just like Occupy. Who is the leader? Where is this being directed from? It's coming from the ground up, the grass-roots, and that is why you find it frightening. Look at the funding cuts (remember, share the wealth) being made to First Nation political organizations. The motive for that is to shut them up. So a hunger strike represents a slow escalation, and a constant reminder of how fucked up the process of ignoring The Indian Problem is. It's not a blockade, which pisses people off. It's not an armed stand-off like Oka. Nope, it represents someone slowly dying, right in your news-face. It's a powerful and effective protest and reminder that Canada is slowly killing it's indigenous people.

Harper needs to meet with Spence. Get the treaty process back on track, and stop treating Indians like children who can't take care of themselves. FFS, we do back flips over accommodating immigrant cultures into the Canadian mosaic, and yet we can't even lift a finger to at least honour the agreements we once made as immigrants ourselves.

OCM,
Nat

Nat, I agree with you for the most part but how does one "Get the treaty process back on track"? It is easy to say, it rolls right off the tongue, but it is almost impossible to make happen. It is like reparations to a man falsely imprisoned for 20 years. The government gives him a few million and absolves all responsibility, but does it give him back 20 years? Of course not. In the case of the treaties, the natives bands are well within their rights legally to demand much much more, they don't have to take what the government gives them like the falsely accused man, but how much are Canadians willing to give, even compassionate white men such as yourself? My guess is it is a lot less than what they are asking.

Problems lie in perspective. The way we see the problem IS the problem most of the time

OCM,
Nat

I see what you did there.

Thanks for the input "Nat".

A very articulate and well worded post.

Bill C-45 came in dressed as a budget, was fast tracked through parliment, aboriginal leaders were barred from the house during this process. This is how I understand it, from the limited information I have found…
A couple years ago I heard a native person on TV saying it was her peoples duty to be stewards of the land (that we all share). At the time I thought it was somewhat of a presumptuous statement, yet as time passes it seems to be true.

A couple years ago I heard a native person on TV saying it was her peoples duty to be stewards of the land (that we all share). At the time I thought it was somewhat of a presumptuous statement, yet as time passes it seems to be true.

Yup that's how it has played up here, royal dutch shell thrown out by the Thaltan

You will see harper fast track the northern gateway and it will be tied up in court by the Haisla [HTML_REMOVED] Wetsuetin nations

and the 1st nations have elected all NDP up here in the north west both federaly and provincialy

Meeting is scheduled for January 11th.

Meeting is scheduled for January 11th.

Yep….I predict a day or two of lip service and nothing being accomplished leading to more protests ans civil disobedience.

I'd put money on it being a long,hot summer……

There was a protest here in Tofino yesterday. Till that point I thought Idle no More was about the anti-idle by law in town (don't leave your truck running). I should pay more attention I guess.

it is almost impossible to make happen.

Why?