Disband Indian Affairs Department And Give Them A Shot At Self Government...

...with the understanding that the government money tap will be closed in a specific time period and they will have to go to the government for funding in the same way the "white man" does.

First Nations understand that many people have a difficult time grappling with First Nations self-government (After The Act And The Department, What? – July 14). Canadians want definition and precision, whereas First Nations want creativity and flexibility. First Nations are diverse – culturally, historically, geographically and demographically; movement toward self-determination must reflect that reality.

Just as there are differences among provinces and regions, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will work for First Nations.

The discussion of chiefs was to reflect back the voices, energies and progress that is emerging and suggest a way forward that increases the rate and pace of change. The discussion paper, Pursuing First Nation Self-Determination: Realizing Our Rights and Responsibilities, builds on the volumes of previous study and sets out four specific elements and several possible paths on each.

Our job at the AFN is to open doors so First Nations can create the change they need. Unilateral approaches do not and have not worked.
We are asking all Canadians to engage in this dialogue; we invite all to participate in the essential work of delivering lasting change.
Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations

More related to this story More letters

Shawn Atleo calls for the repeal of the Indian Act but, as your editorial points out, he offers no concrete or realistic alternative. Indian reserves exemplify the archaic, wrong-headed and dysfunctional “separate but equal” legal straitjacket that Canada and Canadian Indians have become bound and oppressed by.

The real solution to the problems Mr. Atleo is trying to address is to find the courage and resolve to end the reservation system and race-based special status for Indians. The situation of ordinary Indians in Canada, because of their special, race-based status and the reservation system, is dismal and inferior, and the only way for this situation to improve is by gradually eliminating both these things.

The ancient, pre-contact Indian cultures are extinct. Indians can’t go back to them. Completing the process of assimilation with non-Indian Canadians is the best way forward for them.
Peter Best, Sudbury, Ont.

...now let's hear from those (facetious) who speak with forked tongues

Christie Blatchford in Hobbema: Where does the money go?



When you wade into the shark-infested waters of writing about matters aboriginal, you quickly learn how stupid you are.

Well, that’s my experience. So it was with the Caledonia occupation; and this week again with the shooting death of Ethan Yellowbird on the Samson Cree First Nation, one of four First Nations situated south of Edmonton at a place called Hobbema in English and Maskwacis, Cree for “bear hills,” to natives. Read More »

Rights of aboriginals cannot be denied


Hunter: We're a nation of handwringers, and no more so than over what are referred to so lamely as aboriginal "affairs." The conditions under which our First Nations live on so many reserves are a national shame. They have earned Canada the censure of international bodies set up...