Lummi Nation also hosts Treaty of the Indigenous Nations
July 31st, 2007
A historic meeting between U.S. tribes and Canadian First Nations is taking place today, July 31-August 2 at the Lummi Nation near Bellingham Washington. The groups are meeting to consider entering a Treaty of the Indigenous Nations for economic activity between indigenous groups from around the world. Maori groups from New Zealand have already been consulted on the issue.
August 1st, 2007 12:39
Hey Robert. I don’t want to be the bringer of bad news, but unfortunately this is not what it appears to be.
With respect, it is a big concern to see the AFN involved in this, because the AFN, also known as the Indian Brotherhood, is a Canadian non-governmental organization. And as someone else pointed out to me recently, they’re also a political lobby group who acts as a liaison on behalf of Canada and Canadian Interests. They’re the flip-side of INAC. And don’t have any genuine representative authority.
To top it off, AFN-membership (Band Council members) routinely act against the wishes of the people, choosing choose profit-making and personal benefit over the needs of the People.
Band Councils themselves, have no real authority either. I mean, they were created by the Federal Government, when—using force, manipulation, intimidation, and coercion— Canada ‘compelled’ all Indigenous Nations (with one exception being the Six Nations) to forfeit their sovereignty and abandon all traditional forms of Governance.
From that point on (the mid 1940′s) , all Indigenous Nations in Canada became Canadian municipalities (with special status because of treaties) which became governed through proxy (the Band Councils) by Canada.
Regarding all this, more and more indigenous people in Canada are coming to terms with it and are respectively calling for abolition of the AFN and the removal of the Band Councils (atleast the Band Council system) — at the same time as they call for the restoration of Traditional Governance so the Respective Nation can once again be Truly Sovereign and Self-governing.
As for the Ngati Awa, I’ve been told by someone from NZ that they’re no different than Band Councils in Canada—the leadership all do very good for themselves, while doing nothing for the People.
Well, that’s about all I have to say about that. I’m sure you can see why this is such a concern.
Something as important as what they’re attempting to accomplish should not be entrenched in Colonial Politics and Economics, or headed by those who have proven time and again to be either incapable or unwilling to serve the best interests of the people.
Instead, something such as this (perhaps, not a league but a Confederacy) must be based in Tradition, and come from the People.