West Coast Indigenous Perspective

West Coast Indigenous Perspective

The following is a very interesting and eye-opening documentary film

http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/The_Canary_Effect_Kill_the_Indian_Save_the_Man/

Here is a documentary film which provides a nonfictional version of the long history of persecution, through which the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas have been dragged by a highly inhumane 'Civilized Western Society'; the same society which has been, and continues to be, depicted as the corner-stone of the 'Civilized World.' And the persecution continues today, and will be ongoing into the future, as the electorate of those countries that are involved in this persecution continue to allow their country's Leadership to continue with this social abuse and subjection of the Human Rights and the Indigenmous Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of these countries

West Coast Indigenous Perspective

West Coast Indigenous Perspective

http://www.canada.com/technology/Marpole+Midden+cancels+development+protested+Musqueam+band/7318206/story.html


The late great, 'Canadian Indian Movement,' leader, George Manuel, began a battle against the racially motivated actions and intents of the various governments of Canada. He lead the way toward the present and on-going efforts of the assertion of Indigenous Rights, both here in Canada and around the world. Here, the Musqueam People have made a huge stride in that same direction. This development has been a very long time in coming.




https://www.google.ca/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=brotherhood+to+nationhood&btnG=

Follow this link to find a book that describes the formation of the political career and developments of George Manuel.


http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_fourth_world.html?id=VwMJAQAAIAAJ

Follow this link to find the book that describes the vision of George Manuel.

Haisla Cultural Religion: A Voice of the Northwest Coast

Our Journey; Against Enbridge Gateway Development Plans

Greg Robinson
Posted: Friday, September 28, 2012

We are the Haisla People. Across a very long span of historic time, the journey of our survival has brought us across the width and the breadth of the northwest coast of North America, from the area now known as Washington State, throughout the lands and waters of this coast, to the area now known as Alaska.

The act of harvesting natural resources from within Haisla Traditional Territory is for us, a practice that goes back to our ancestral birth; it goes back to the ancient time of our arrival on this land; to a time long before the intervention  of Western Culture and Politics. Our culturally-based, collective knowledge of food and resource harvesting practices, otherwise known as ,'Hunting and Gathering,' stands as a historic wealth of Cultural, Social and Technical knowledge developed over millennia, as our ancestors increasingly became more attuned to the nature of the resources, and to the demands of the physical environment of Haisla Traditional Territory.

Presently, our practices of harvesting food and other traditional resources ,reconnects us on an annual, seasonal basis, with the time when our cultural identity, and perspective as Indigenous Peoples, here upon our lands and waters, was clear and unobstructed. It is our Indigenous People's Human Right to continue, unobstructed, with our historic practice of harvesting the traditional foods that help us to maintain a level of health to which we have become socially, physically and psychologically accustomed over these past millennia. As this Human Right stands within a 'Protected' status at the highest levels of International Convention, no threat to these Human Rights must be allowed as acceptable by any level of the International Community, including the country and the people of Canada.

As the Haisla People, in this, 'Modern age', our traditional food harvesting and trading activity continues to bring us on many journeys. It brings us physically out onto the lands and the waters of our Traditional Territory. It brings us into contact with the lakes, the rivers, the creeks, the pools, the waterfalls and the marine waterways, where our ancestors based their lives. Where they raised their families, and fought to protect their homes and their freedom and their right to live and to thrive; where they performed ritualistic purification ceremonies; the places where they found their spiritual sustenance. Our harvesting activity brings us to the shores, where we find the rock faces that contain the petroglyphs, which remain as gestures of greeting to us, and that go to signal the continuum of our habitation of these lands; it brings us to those remote parts of our Territory, where the dugout canoes of old were built, and disembarked onto journeys of the historic Haisla lifestyle. We are able to walk the same routes, wade into the same pools, climb the same mountains, to see the same beauty, to feel the same love for the light in the eyes of our children, as they play on the shores, drink of the fresh waters, and eat the foods and the fruits, of the waters and the land, that continue to nourish us. Our harvesting journeys bring us to what remains of the Old-Growth Forest, to the rivers, the valleys and the mountains, that even now, continue to mark the boundaries of our Territorial Lands and Waters; the Territory that has always supplied us with the wide variety of resources upon which we have always depended, for our lives, and for the lives of our children.

The bones of our ancestors are to be found, near and far, in recessed places across our lands. Our journeys across our Territorial Lands bring us to such historically significant sites, where we find remains of the bent-wood boxes that contained the skeletal remains of those same ancestors, and that remain there throughout our lands; their tools can be found on the shores and in the forests; their stories are in the hearts of our elders; their spirit is in the souls of the children who are reborn to us; and their memories live in our dreams.  Those who have gone before us are with us in spirit, and celebrate with us as we revisit, and reconnect with the pristine places that remain of our ancestral homeland. They laugh with us in our times of happiness, and they stand by us in our times of grief. They move with us as we wander over the land and across the waters. They sit with us at the tops of the mountains that we climb; and for those who learn to listen, they speak to us and let us know that they are near.

Along the pathways of our journey, we find the 'Cedar plank trees,' that were left by the hands of our ancestors, and which stand as part of a large body of internationally recognized, legal Archaeological evidence, as to our true place in this country, and in this world.

The act of drinking of the fresh waters of our Traditional Territories is one of many forms of traditional prayer. Each individual is free to choose and to develop their own particular form of prayer. The act of sitting at the edge of the waters of a lake, a river or at the marine tide line, to simply enjoy and appreciate the intrinsic, solemn and immaculate beauty of unadulterated nature, this is for me personally, an act of deep and intense expression of gratitude; of Northwest Coast style prayer. To live each day with a deep appreciation for the wholeness and the purity; the sanctity of nature, this is the language and the voice of our Traditional Culture, and as well, another form of prayer. This is the realm, and the practice, and the voice of our Traditional Spirituality; in essence this is the nature and the way of our religion. In this way, we continue to practice the religion of our ancestry.

At this point in our history, we the Haisla People find ourselves facing the ultimate threat to our place in this world, namely the potential destruction of the precious and irreplaceable ecological integrity of our Traditional Homeland environment; the demolition of our social, cultural, religious, and Spiritual base; the emaciation and the destitution of the ecological heart of our Homeland Territory.

Long after 'Big Oil' and its money is gone from our Homeland Territory, what will be left of our home? What will be left of our lives; our families; our friends? What will be left for our children and future generations? What will become of the remains of our Traditional Culture? The answer is, destruction, destitution and death.

If my ability to hunt, and to gather, and to engage in related traditional practice were lost or compromised, it would affect me in the following ways:

A.    Economic / Health:  I depend heavily upon the natural food resources of Haisla Territory, to sustain myself and my family. Meats and sea foods that are harvested from our Territorial lands and waters, are free of chemical additives, hormonal additives, and preservatives, and continue to provide us with greatly increased levels of health, vitality and quality of life. The medicines that we gather from the lands, and from the waters, are also a great source of health benefits, as we continue to take up old remedies, and to discover new medicinal remedies to be found and derived from plants and trees of our Territory. If my ability to hunt, gather and to fish were lost or compromised due to industrial destruction of habitat, I myself, as well as my family, would suffer greatly as a result of a severe decline in the quality of our diet.  Haisla elders and others in the community who share the fruits of their own such harvesting activities, would also suffer the same loss. The loss of this resource would be a social and an economic catastrophe for many Haisla People. 

B.   Socially:  Our harvesting and sharing of traditional food resources of Haisla Territory is truly a social event. It brings us together as we find ourselves out on the lands and on the waters, in the acts of harvesting the foods and other resources. At these times we learn from one another, and teach the young, the lessons that we have learned about the harvest, about self determination, and about leadership. We cement old friendships and develop new ones. These interactions effectively become events of social and cultural development and assertion, where we hear each other's renditions of old stories, and of past personal experiences, on the waters and on the land.

This is effectively a recording of our living history, as well as the re-establishment and the reinforcement of cultural norms. For us, as The Haisla, it is ultimately a community building process. It is through such social activity that the Haisla Culture continues to find its basis.

The loss of harvesting practices, due to the loss or the destruction of our natural resources, would mean the loss of this social activity that is crucial to the continuation of Haisla Cultural identity, and the longevity of Traditional Haisla Cultural Practices and Society. This would truly be a tremendous loss of quality of life, at many levels , for myself, for my family and friends,  as well as for  the local and extended Haisla Community.

C.          If I were to lose either my access to, or my ability to enjoy the vibrant nature of my homeland due to destruction by industry, my quality of life would be incredibly diminished; and the quality of life for my family and friends would, without question, also be incredibly diminished.  Our spirit would suffer greatly. I believe that the resultant suffering would cause tremendous heart break, and that the issue of such loss among our people would be immeasurable, and for many, insurmountable. I believe that as a direct result of associated social degradation, and cultural shock, and a general sense of loss, the youth of my community would suffer greatly, and the incidence of alcoholism and drug abuse would increase steeply, and the suicide rate within my community would escalate beyond any historic milestone.

Greg Robinson, Haisla

After a long beautiful night travelling with a full moon through Gardner Canal, a spectacular dawn spilled across the waters. I've heard people, who have travelled all over the world, say that Haisla Territory is some of the most beautiful of all the places they've been. I believe it.

The thing about photos is that they can help us to get an idea of what was there in front of the camera, but they can never bring us the true depth and breadth of the beauty in the landscape, seascape etc. This land contains an amazing bounty in terms of the aura that serves to invite a raw spiritual connection to all things natural, the essence of which makes up a large part of our humanity.

The humanity of Indigenous Peoples has been under assault for centuries. We must draw a line at this point in history and, in the interest of protecting our future, reverse this process of assault; and these words are my first effort in that direction.

The truth of this matter is that, now, it is not only Indigenous Peoples who are under the gun here, it is all humanity.

We cannot allow an oil corporation, and/or a money-blind federal government, to destroy the natural world in the interests of their personal and collective financial and political gain.

Oil Spill on the Douglas Channel

Supreme Court Decision re: Nuu chah nulth Fishing Rights

In regards to the recent Supreme Court Decision(Headline: Court of Appeal upholds Native Fishing Rights) regarding the Nuu chah nulth(Indigenous Nation on the West coast of Vancouver Island) people's, harvesting and sale of 'Indian Food Fish'(A term taken from Canadian Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans[DFO] terminology).
As has always been the case, we the Indigenous People of this land simply wish to improve our lot in this world. At this point in our historic interaction with the country of Canada, we find ourselves still playing the same old game of, 'catch-up', to so-called, 'mainstream' folks. For Coastal Indigenous People generally, seafood has always been, and continues to be our mainstay as a primary nutritional food source, and as a trade item; in our history, seafood provided the basis of our wealth. But in recent times, the Federal Government of Canada has been consistent, and persistent, in the practice of its use of 'Canadian Law,' as both a weapon of subjection, and as a social and psychological deterrent, to prevent Indigenous People of this land from accessing our resources, including seafood, and as a result, from prospering in this world, as we rightfully wish to do.
My sense of the situation is that this landmark case has come none too soon. Each time that I see or hear of a case of The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, interfering with the rightful harvesting practices of Indigenous Peoples of this land, I automatically recall the image of the DFO craft being willfully and intentionally directed by a DFO officer, at high speed, over top of a Indigenous owned fishing craft, and I see the Indigenous fishermen jumping from their boat into the sea, to save their lives. This to me, is the position that DFO has always held in relation to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. DFO has always been the action tool of a country and a populace, that has no clear, accurate, and reality-based vision of where it truly stands, in the context of lawful reality, in relation to the Indigenous Peoples of this land. This Nuu Chah Nulth Fishing Rights case will serve as a door way, a portal into reality, through which Canada, and Canadians will be compelled to pass.

Greg Robinson, Haisla Fisherman.

List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Here is a link to a list of Indigenous writers of The Americas. This link will connect you to a source where you may find The True Voice of the Experience of the Indigenous Peoples of The Americas. Connect to this site and touch our common earth.


Greg Robinson

Be a Witness

Be a Witness

Background
On February 27, 2007, the Assembly of First Nations [AFN], a political organization representing all First Nations in Canada, and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada [FNCFCS], a national non-profit organization providing services to First Nations child welfare organizations, took the historic step of holding Canada accountable before the Canadian Human Rights Commission for its current treatment of First Nations children. The complaint alleges that the Government of Canada had a longstanding pattern of providing less government funding for child welfare services to First Nations children on reserves than is provided to non-Aboriginal children.

The inequalities in First Nations child welfare funding are longstanding and well documented (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples [RCAP], 1996; McDonald & Ladd, 2000; Loxley et. al., 2005; Amnesty International, 2006; Assembly of First Nations, 2007; Auditor General of Canada, 2008; Standing Committee on Public Accounts, 2009) as are the tragic consequences of First Nations children going into child welfare care due, in part, to the unavailability of equitable family support services (McDonald & Ladd, 2000; Blackstock and Trocme, 2005; Amnesty International, 2006; Clarke, 2007; Auditor General of Canada, 2008; National Council on Welfare, 2008). This inequity is further amplified for First Nations children by shortfalls in education funding, housing and publically funded voluntary sector supports (Blackstock, 2008).

In October of 2008, the Canadian Human Rights Commission ordered a tribunal to determine whether or not discrimination had occurred pursuant to the Canadian Human Rights Act. The tribunal is similar to a court process with all evidence taken under oath. The AFN and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society will present the case supporting our allegation that the Canadian Government is discriminating against First Nations children and then the federal government will respond. The Tribunal will then decide if discrimination happened or not. If it did happen, then the Tribunal can order a remedy to the discrimination. The tribunal is open to the public.

Click here to learn more about the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal process.


Interview with Cindy Blackstock, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

Lisa Abel interviews Cindy Blackstock on the First Nations Child Welfare Tribunal, September 17, 2009

Sign up now to be a witness
Learn more about the importance of this case

Human Rights? Canada?-- A submission to Mosaic Institute http://www.mosaicinstitute.ca/contactUs/

In terms of the United Nations involvement in dealing with Human Rights Violations in countries around the world, Canada is a perpetrator with a secret. It is, however, a secret that is really no secret at all. The wealth of the country of Canada, was built upon the human rights violations against the Indigenous
Peoples of the land base, and the Territories collectively known as Canada. Beginning with the first, 'Settlements', throughout the lands of the east coast, to the present urban and industrial developments being planned and initiated in British Columbia on Canada's the West coast.
At the present time, The Human Rights Coalition of the America's(North and South America), is in the process of assessment of the question of Institutionalised Human Rights violations perpetrated by the Federal Government of Canada, against Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia. These violations involve the abuse of Federal Authority in dealings with, and concerning the use of, and the illegal distribution of, the Land base belonging to the Indigenous Peoples of the various Tribal Groups, and Subgroups, who have inhabited these lands since time immemorial, and whose Rights and Title to these lands, are recognised and protected by the constitution of Canada, 1982.
These activities of the Federal Government of Canada, include the removal of these Indigenous Peoples from their home land Territories, and placement of these people upon miniscule, and generally non-productive areas of land, known as Indian Reserves. In order to sever the ties between these people and their traditional lands, and each other, the Federal Government removed the children from these communities at an early age, and placed them into 'Indian Residential Schools'. The object of these schools was to suppress, and to kill, the Indigenous Culture, which was seen as the substantial connection between these people and their land base.
Canada's removal of Indigenous People's title to these Lands and Territories in question, has directly affected the ability of these Indigenous Peoples, to rightfully benefit from the of ownership of these properties.

At the present time, The Federal Government of Canada stands as one of three member-states of the United Nations that refuse to recognise the Human Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the world.
The integrity and the viability of any organization concerned with the propagation, and protection of human Rights anywhere in the world, remains entirely dependent upon the integrity of all members and associates of such an organization.
The fact of Canadian Government participation in any such organization, under the present circumstances where there is a standing, on-going investigation, by an international Human Rights organization, into Canadian Government activity, presents a question of the credibility, and of the viability, of that organization

Greg Robinson

Flame On!

Flame On

The totemic figure here is a black and white photographic image recorded by Bill Mclennon, Photographer at UBC Museum of Archaeology. The totem had fallen, and was lying on the ground. The photo depicted the totem in its natural condition of degradation by age.
In this Image,'Flame on', I have repositioned the photographic image to display the totem in an upright position, and present the original photographic framing of the totemic figure at an unnatural angle. This brings the viewer closer to the time of origin of this particular totem. It brings us to an iconic representation of the Indigenous Culture of the West Coast of what is now Canada. The culture that had evolved over thousands of years. The culture that is essentially an extension of the homelands of the Indigenous People of this region. The culture that included the political, spiritual, social and physical essence of West Coast Indigenous Peoples. Contrary to the objectives and efforts of Historic Canadian Government initiatives, we have not vanished into the forests of time. At present, we strive to right the river of wrongs that have deposited our people into a state of disrepair.
The flames in this image represent the many forms of trespass that have been directed upon and against the humanity of The Indigenous Peoples of the North West Coast. These trespasses have in fact, been propagated against the entire Indigenous Community of Canada. They are degradations that have been brought against us throughout the time of the occupation of our Homelands.

These degradations continue to be brought to bear against the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, by the Federal Government and other institutions of this land. Where the Federal Government is not directly involved in such activities of degradation, it is indirectly involved in them by remaining silent and unmoving in terms of correcting such wrongs, as they have occurred historically, and as they continue to occur. There has been some fleeting attention paid to these issues, but many of these apparent efforts amount to gloss.
It is difficult for many Indigenous People to bring forward in calm fashion, the words necessary, to provide an accurate description, of the human impact, of these historic and on-going
incidences of subjection and persecution. The difficulty lays in large part, in the struggle to refrain from resorting to an outright and seething violence, in response to these wrongs.
The potential for a contemporary violent reaction to these wrongs, is indeed, not only very real, it does in fact occur on an on-going basis. To comprehend the nature of this violence, one need only recall, that reports have been made by reputable researchers; reports that have  emphatically stated such fact as, seventy five percent of the inmate population within the penal system of Canada, is made up by Indigenous people. This is a point that becomes a stark social statement, as well as a condemnation of the worth of Canadian Social Conscience, when one considers that the portion of the population of Canada that is occupied by Indigenous people, stands at approximately one point five percent. What this tells us, is that the amount of violence propagated by Indigenous individuals, and that comes to the attention of the courts, is at least fifty times the level of violence occurring in the non-Indigenous general population of Canada. This does not take into account, the violence that does not end with conviction. Such a consideration would swell the picture of violence to a greater and still more incredible scope.
This violence that continues to manifest among Indigenous Peoples, may be interpreted as a ineffective,  introverted response to the intent, and the impact, of the social injustices that have been, and that continue to be, directed toward, and brought to bear, upon the Indigenous Peoples of this land. This violence may be interpreted as a misdirected, or an inappropriate response to, and struggle against, the social injustices that Indigenous Peoples of Canada have lived through, suffered and died through. It is nevertheless, a segment of the response that has taken shape, and developed, and that continues to develop, within the state of a severely subjected and oppressed Canadian Indigenous Society. This is a society that continues to suffer through social injustices at every level across this land. They are injustices against which we now strive to find our footing, and to stand above, and to move beyond.

Greg Robinson, March 27, 2010

I am reposting ths article here as per previous
Received: Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 1:12 PM


Dear Margarita:


Thank you for your observations. I agree Canada does not fully recognize its past, at least on the ground. We have been struggling to contend with our situation, especially in British Columbia since European settlement, but the federal and provincial governments have been ignoring us.


In Canada when the Canadian Constitution was being made Canadian in 1980 Indigenous peoples fought to have that not happen until our land rights and treaty rights were dealt with. We just did not trust Canada would do this. We had a Constitution Express train from Vancouver to Ottawa in 1980 and we lobbied the House of Commons and House of Lords in London, England in 1981. The result is that the Canadian government had to put in the Canadian Constitution 1982 that the "federal and provincial government would recognize and affirm all existing Aboriginal and Treaty Rights."


In 1997 the Supreme Court of Canada in Delgamuukw case recognized that all of British Columbia was not covered by treaty and that consequently we own British Columbia under Aboriginal Title, which is an Aboriginal Right as protected under the Canadian Constitution 1982. We just need to prove we were here since 1846. The Canadian and British Columbia government recognize that Aboriginal Title does exist in BC but we need to prove it in the courts, every square inch before Aboriginal Title can be recognized on the ground.


No community has a declaration from the court of Aboriginal Title in BC. Indigenous Peoples are not inhibited by this imposed legal strategy of Canada and BC. That is why there are slogans in BC saying, "No 2010 Winter Olympics on Stolen Indigenous Land". The Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade (INET) the group I am spokesman had an Amicus Curaie brief accepted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in the Canada-USA softwood lumber dispute establishing that, "Canada's policy of not recognizing Aboriginal and Treaty Rights was a subsidy to Canada's forest industry".


I think no one can argue that the WTO is the highest trade tribunal in the world and the NAFTA is the highest trade tribunal in North America. Therefor - in capitalist terms - indigenous peoples are subsidizing two of the richest countries in the world by not having our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights recognized. Therefore, that couple you saw in Edmonton, as financially poor as they looked were probably the most generous of people you ever met because all those sky scrapers and wealth in Edmonton is being subsidized by their poverty.


Indigenous peoples have systemically been impoverished by Canada's Indian Act and the Department of Indian Affairs. The poverty of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents was the direct result of Canada's policy to NOT recognize our territorial land rights and force us to live our lives on our tiny little Indian reserves. The impoverishment we experienced will continue to my children, grandchildren and all future generations if Canada has its way.


Canada needs "us" poor in order to justify that they can exclusively control and benefit from our land. Canada can say how can we allow the Indigenous Peoples to control and benefit from their land, look at them they are just poor and uneducated peoples. Canada directly benefits from our systemically imposed poverty.


According to the United Nations Human Development Index, Canada was at level 1 for three years and is always at amongst the top five countries in the world, but when they apply the same criterion to Indigenous Peoples in Canada we are at level 47. The divergence between Canada's level and our level is the measurement of Canada's violation of our human rights as Indigenous Peoples. Canada knows this, that is why they are being really deceptive at the 2010 Winter Olympics.


Canada established the so called Four Host First Nations by using money. I heard they were investing about $10 - 12 million dollars to fund this group to support the 2010 Winter Olympics. These for Indian Bands are going to get a few extras like a brand new gymnasium and band office but not much more out of this money. But this money actually means more to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Canada because it will make it appear that Indigenous Peoples in Canada fully support the 2010 Winter Olympics. They will use the Four Host First Nations at the Opening Ceremony to make it look like all Indigenous Peoples support the IOC and Canada.


That money is just an investment in advertisement for the IOC and Canada. The IOC and Canada actually sell the Olympic advertisement right to Coca Cola, Royal Bank of Canada, CTV and other big companies for a lot more than the small amount they are giving to the Four Host First Nations and especially to Indigenous Peoples of Canada. In fact the money Canada invests in the Four Host First Nations allows Canada NOT to address 500 hundred murdered and missing woman, high suicide rate amongst young indigenous peoples, homelessness, mass poverty, high unemployment and the fact that Canada did not adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.


The money that the IOC and Canada use to invest in advertisement regarding Indigenous Peoples is like the money athletes use to buy drugs to win Olympic Gold. The little advertisement money that the IOC and Canada invest in deceiving the world community about Indigenous Peoples in Canada and is wrongful advertisement in a very hurtful, cruel and ugly way. The IOC really undermines the high standard and goals established by the Olympics when they get involved with Canada economically self-serving strategies. The facts with regard to Canada's human rights record at the United Nations is public record and the IOC should be aware of this and put pressure on countries like Canada to improve their human rights record and not be deceptive.


Canadians should be ashamed that Canada did not adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In fact only four countries in the world did not adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and they were Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand. Actually Australia has reversed their decision and New Zealand and the USA are reconsidering their position It is only Canada that is not giving it any reconsideration.


In fact out of all the countries that are participating at the 2010 Winter Olympics it is only Canada that I protest attending because all the other countries in the world adopted the Declaration or are reconsidering it. Canadians should be ashamed that out of all the countries in the world they are the most "red neck" country when it comes to Indigenous Peoples. Yes, I can kind of agree that in Canada, we are an invisible peoples, but that is primarily due to the fact that it is Canada's position to ignore our Aboriginal Title and Treaty Rights and want to assimilate us into their settler culture.


I think getting the news out that Canada is not that good country when it comes to Indigenous Peoples is really important. I like your question and I think you should let Mexico know that Canada, when it told Mexico that Indigenous Rights could not be recognized vis-a-vis the North America Free Trade Agreement was not true because in Canada, Canada does have very clear recognition of our rights both constitutionally and judicially. Canada must be embarrassed to recognize our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights on the ground and abandon the Colonial Doctrines of Discovery. They must be told to quit the policy of extinguishment and assimilation and adopt a policy of recognition and coexistence with Indigenous Peoples They must be told to quit being a cowboy and Indian state and mature and recognize the human rights of all Indigenous Peoples around the world.


Arthur


p.s I sent this to a lot of my friends,

KVC/Rio Tinto Alcan Inc 2010 Negotiations

KVC/Rio Tinto Proposal and Continued Negotiations 2010

On the Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., web page is the bold statement, 'The global leader in the aluminum industry'. Underneath this heading is the statement, 'Rio Tinto Alcan is one of the five groups operated by Rio Tinto, a leading international mining group.'
Mineral extraction groups have a historically-based reputation for discounting, and brushing aside, the concerns and interests of Indigenous People. Although in the case of Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., this reputation may well be a non-event, either way, we The Haisla have yet to experience the truth of this matter. Time and our own diligence will provide us with the answer to this question.
In the early 1950's, The Kitamaat Village Council (KVC), which continues to represent the interests of The Haisla People, of Kitamaat Village, BC., entered into a contractual agreement with Alcan Aluminum Company of Canada Ltd. (Alcan). This agreement would thereafter be referred to by the Haisla as 'The Alcan Agreement'. According to the agreement, Alcan would occupy, and obstruct, a large portion of Haisla Traditional Territory. In return for this imposition, the Haisla received a miniscule financial lump sum, along with largely empty promises.
The Haisla leadership of the day suffered a serious lack of expertise in matters of international corporate economics and ethics. Nor did they have any effective means with which to seek proper counsel in such matters. This left The Haisla at a highly disadvantaged level of awareness as to the true value of the agreement that they were signing into at that time. In their efforts to build into the Alcan Agreement, the best terms for their membership, The Haisla Leadership were at the mercy of the executives of Alcan to provide a contract that was valid in terms of fairness. At this challenge, Alcan failed miserably. The contract that they were in the process of making would be a long-term, lawful and binding agreement. In arranging the terms of that agreement, Alcan took full advantage of the weakness of the Haisla People. As had been the case in instances of interactions between Indigenous Peoples , Industry and government, up to that point in the history of Canada, The Haisla were to find themselves economically trodden by the Corporate Leadership of Alcan Aluminum.
At that point in time, Alcan began to make huge profits from its occupation, and use, of our territorial lands and Resources. Over the course of its occupation of Haisla Traditional Territorial Lands, these profits have amounted to the billions of dollars. At present,the profits from the Alcan Kitimat Operation continue to roll in. However,this agreement has left the Haisla Community to languish in a perpetual state of financial destitution, and total dependence upon Federal Government hand-outs.
From our experience in this position, we know that this is not a productive position to be in. This is a situation that basically places the Haisla at the mercy of the generosity, or the reluctance, of the Federal Government of Canada. The same government that took part in the conceptualization, and execution, of the legally documented, and binding, Alcan Agreement. The same Agreement that excluded the best interests of The Haisla People.
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., has since assumed successive ownership of Alcan Aluminum Company of Canada's, Kitimat Operations', resources and obligations. Rio Tinto continues to make considerable profits from its use of Haisla Lands and Resources. Based on the fact that aluminum is a highly valuable commodity in the world of the present day, and future industrial market place, Rio Tinto's profits from its aluminum sales will continue well into the future. Although the market itself may fluctuate, Rio Tinto's place in the aluminum sales market is secure.

At this point in our history, we are attempting to reach an on-going and mutually acceptable agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. We must seek a fair return for our investment of allowing Rio Tinto to continue to operate upon our lands. In order for us to allow any such agreement to occur, the terms of that agreement must be based upon a percentage of Rio Tinto profits connected to its operations upon our lands. These profits must include its sales of Hydro Electric Power generated by its Kemano facility. The percentage is simply what we must require from Rio Tinto, in order for us to allow them to continue to make their share of the total profits that are presently being generated from their operations upon our lands.

Greg Robinson, February 8, 2010

Haisla Tradition: Past/Present/Future--Who Are You?

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Haisla Tradition: Past/Present/Future---Who Are You?

The elected body that is Kitamaat Village Council(KVC) is responsible to do the bidding of the Haisla, The Gyukxw-lute(The People).
It is responsible for the planning and the follow-through of those plans that protect the best interests of the past, present and the future generations of Haisla People. It is in place to preserve, protect, and to develop the Social Essence and the Direction of the Haisla Community, as is deemed desirable or necessary by the Body of the Haisla Community. It is there to seek out, develop, and to provide options to these ends.
At the present time we, 'The Haisla People', find ourselves struggling through a difficult time. Within ourselves, we have deep and long ranging questions as to the nature of our present, and our future practise of our social and cultural Heritage . We have questions as to the nature and the validity of the 'Dual system' of Leadership and Values, that has brought us to this point in our history. This 'Dual System' is the Community governing system that includes both the elected body and the Traditional Chieftainship, functioning at the same time. These questions set a broad path of concern before the entire Haisla Community.
While presenting us with this broad path of concern, these questions also present us with a broad field of possibility for our future. Our Community can make progress based on this field of possibility only if we each become active and make our ideas and our wishes known. Our future will be defined by our level of participation in present events.
The strength of The Haisla Culture depends on the participation of each one of us, The Gyukxw-lute.
If our Traditional Cultural Practise is to maintain any of its meaning for us as 'The Haisla', we must now stand and make our wishes known.
We are at a point within our Traditional History where we are finding that we must closely examine the realities that presently exist for us. And that govern the present nature of, and the actual practise of our cultural traditions. Where have we been? Where are we at the present time? Where do we wish to go from here? What must we do in order to get there?
The recent, on-going drama that is presently unfolding here in our midst may be seen as a mirror of our cultural selves.
This is who we are at the present time.
What is the reflection that we wish to build into our future? Are we each willing to stand and ensure that we make the necessary changes that will ensure the developments that we want to see happen here in our Community?
What are your wishes?
Make your wishes known to your family, to your friends, to your leaders.
Stand and be heard.
Greg Robinson, December 1, 2009. New Westminster, BC.

CBC News - British Columbia - B.C. First Nation approves private property rights

Implementation of Nishga'a Land Transfer Deal

CBC News - British Columbia - B.C. First Nation approves private property rights

Leonard Peltier Case Facts

Leonard Peltier Case Facts.

Leonard Peltier Case Facts

Extradition - Friends of Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier Lives!

Leonard Peltier is a man of Indigenous, North American background and Sioux Tribal Family Lineage. As a result of his efforts to bring about positive social change for his tribal community, he was victimized, fraudulently tried and incarcerated by the American political power structure.

As of February 16th, 2010, Mr. Peltier has been incarcerated for thirty four years. The plight of this Indigenous North American man, represents a historic travesty of both American and International Justice, and international Human Rights.

At the present time, although numerous American Presidents have had the opportunity to correct this travesty of American Law and Dignity, by acknowledging the injustices that have been wrongfully bestowed upon Mr. Peltier, Leonard Peltier continues to live within the dark and dingy shadows of American Jurisprudence.

Greg Robinson, 2010.

Extradition - Friends of Leonard Peltier

They want to break free - The Globe and Mail

As Indigenous People of the Northwest Coast, we face so many commonalities. Why not face these issues together, and find common solutions?

They want to break free - The Globe and Mail

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Facebook | Greg Robinson Hemaas Tj'assee Stone Moving Feast

The Stone Moving Feast for the 'Hemaas Tj'assee' title, that is apparently scheduled for next week by my late father's brother, Sam Robinson, is a step away from presently accepted, Name-Taking protocol, and a naked showing of unbridled disrespect.
Not only protocol, but simple common respect requires that the one year term of grace be recognised by those who seek the title. This period of grace is a period of time given as a respectful tribute to the memory of the late Hemaas, and what he stood for.
It is a display of respect not only toward family members, but also toward Clan Chiefs, Clan Members, and toward the entire community. It is a time given to allow for the healthful grieving of our loss of a beloved family and Community member. Our father has died. Our mother's husband has died. Our children's Grandfather has died. The Haisla Nation has lost its Hemaas.
This period of grace is a time given for the Clan Chiefs, and their Clan members, so that they can also grieve in a healthy way and adjust to the new realities. It is a time that is allowed for the healing of the many emotional wounds that we as individuals, as families, and we as the Haisla have suffered over the past days, months, and years of our lives.
It is through this commonly recognised individual and collective grieving process that we as a community maintain our balance and our continuity. It is how we work as a community, toward ensuring a positive environment for our children and our grandchildren. It is in fact how we teach the very meaning of the word respect to our children. This is the basis of our Traditional Culture.
As the son of the late Chief Tjassee, and as a member of the Haisla Community, I am Galastaax, and I call upon the Haisla Clan members and the Haisla Clan Chiefs, to maintain the traditional practise of Respect. I call upon you to ensure the recognition of this protocol, and to enact the one year period of Respectful Grace between the time of my late father's death and the time of the 'Stone Moving Feast'. I ask this in the name of those who have gone before us, in the struggle for the survival of Haisla Traditional Culture, and the values that have maintained our Community throughout our history .

Respectfully, Galastaax,(Greg Robinson).

Modern Wilderness


Let It Rain


Homelessness, is a hard thing to witness, how hard is it to live?

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TChilah(X)koons Lives

The Legend of TChilah(X)koons lives and walks among us. The frog dances beneath chairs of leadership.The chant...the dirge...grows louder in the forest, flows in through doors left ajar, in through questioning windows to reverberate off stoic walls, down along convoluted corridors, into our midst. The people wail in dreams of turmoil. Fires smoulder in shadows of recess. Winds of winter, the whisperings of a cold journey, follow, as we meander along by ways of modern cultural reality. We watch as scrolls of history unfold, billow across our skies; a brush of uncertainty. The leader is gone. Hail to the question mark. Hail to distance. The brush driven by a fragile hand of imitation power. Greg Robinson,May 29, 2009

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Visitor

This work refers to the haunting nature of a large portion of present day first nations spirituality as it relates to the present state of our traditional language, the essence of our historic identity. As a result of noxious lessons learned during their internment within the confines of the now notorious, federal ‘Indian Residential Schools’ of Canada, many first nations people do not speak their mother tongue. Although they may have heard the language being spoken by older people in their communities, in many cases, they themselves were not personally addressed, or expected to verbally respond, in the language. As a result they did not get the verbal practice required to become a fluent speaker of the language.
Directly associated to natural socially imbued fluency in the language, is the culturally turned perspective that is inescapably linked to the language. A perspective that is intrinsic to understanding the community and the traditional mode of conscious and unconscious communication, i.e. intonation, inference and verve that ‘is’ much of the language. Such nuances set any one language apart from another, and lend vivid presentation of the uniqueness of the culture that gave birth to that language.
Those of us who have spent enough time around our community members, listening as they spoke the language but did not part take in speaking the language ourselves, to varying extents, came to possess a limited, though intuitive, insight and grasp of the psycho-textural nature of our culture, and the traditionally acclimatized perspective of our people. So that while we are not able to verbalize our personal expressions through use of our traditional language, we are never the less, haunted by the desire to vocalize such deeply rooted, traditionally styled personal expression.
As a result, when I find myself in the midst of discussion by members of my community, people who are fluent in the Haisla language, I feel like a visitor among my own people.

We AreThe Land

We AreThe Land

This picture consists of a background photo with an overlay. The background picture is a view of the area of the northern Douglas Channel, directly south of Kitamaat Village, looking in a westerly direction. The overlay is a photo of the late Haisla Elder, Esther Gray.
Esther was a member of the multi-generational Indigenous grouping that presently inhabits the social landscape spanning the 'pre-contact' era and the future era where Indigenous Peoples will stand and be recognized as equals with all Peoples of the world, including Canadians, and in particular, British Columbians.
As Indigenous Peoples, we have historically, and continue to have, a connection to the land that conflicts with the mind-set of so-called 'Western Rationale'. Rather, the mind-set of 'Western Thinking' conflicts with ' norms' of West Coast Indigenous Peoples; 'Norms' that have been developed through an ongoing social, political, and spiritual process over a period of more than ten thousand years.
In one sense, our connection to this land is of a highly practical nature. The laws of genetics connect us directly to this land. Throughout the thousands of years that our people have inhabited this land, we have 'lived off the land'. We have consumed the foodstuffs provided to us by our efforts at hunting and gathering across the width and the breadth of this land. As such, we have assumed the genetic 'mass', provided to us through our diet, from this land. The lifestyle of our forbearers included the heavy physical effort necessary for survival on this land. That effort determined the nature of the development of the physical bodies of our ancestors. After living out their lives on this land, the bodies of our ancestors went back to the land through their burial process. This process ultimately involved the body 'Going back to' nature and the land.
You might say that, essentially, we are the land.

Murdered and Missing Women of Canada

Missing Sisters

As the Indigenous Peoples of this land,--- I hesitate to say, 'of Canada', because as Indigenous People, we have never truly experienced inclusion within Canada--- we suffer collectively. That is to say that we suffer collective and common truths. We suffer in ways that we cannot always describe.
However, those of us who have women, murdered or missing without a trace, from our families, and from our communities, have begun to describe this form of suffering both for ourselves and for the world. Our voices spill out across a land that is peopled by a society that has, in large part, replied with a cool reticence to become involved in this issue.

Although there has been some police action around this issue, there is obviously not enough being done to find the truth and solution to this lingering tragedy that we live with. And as Indigenous People, we do live infused with the socially dynamic realities of this issue. This is an issue that haunts each of us as we go through our daily lives. It has created tensions within our lives that we may not always be aware of. These tensions come to bare upon us within our lives over the long term. As such they affect the dynamics of our families, the way we think, and our general day to day comfort level. In some ways it affects who we are and how we relate to the world around us.
This is an issue that occurs in, and that is relevant to, Indigenous communities, both rural and urban, all across Canada. By extension it is an issue that is relevent to Indiegenous People at the international level. History has proven repeatedly that ,'types of abuse', perpetrated against Indigenous People around the world, have common roots found in the interest of the subjection and the relegation of Indigenous People away from the realm of humanity.

The extent and the longevity of this issue make it an issue that stands as an assault against the humanity of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, and of the world. Although it may not as yet have been perceived as such, this is an issue that diminishes the level of humanity to be attached to the concept of 'Canadian Society.'
In the interest of maintaining our personal humanity as Indigenous Peoples, and the humanity of our memories of our missing loved ones, it is our responsibility to ourselves as individuals, and to each other, to move this issue beyond these lingering shadows of history. We must place this issue, and keep it, front and center on the stage of the Canadian Consciousness. It is up to each of us to pursue efforts of, and within our Leadership, at all levels across this land, to ensure that this issue be given no rest until we are satisfied with the results.

Greg Robinson, (Haisla Nation)