South Island Aboriginal and First Nations issues and discussion

Interestingly, right beside the old Molson site, which was sold to Concord Pacific back in 2016.

 

Which is the in the regional industrial reserve, so building housing on it will be very difficult if not impossible.

The property exists outside of zoning restrictions and there is no requirement for a development permit. They'll negotiate with the City on connecting to and upgrading infrastructure, but that's about it really. Vancouver Council will have very limited involvement, and will have a very hard time putting up resistance to 3,000 housing units, most of which will be rentals.

 

The City though is under no obligation to connection them to City services on FN terms though right?

 

I am not saying that this won't get built, just that claims appearing in the MSM that the FN can build whatever they want and there is no recourse are not entirely correct. I note that since this story broke in the MSM yesterday, the narrative has changed from we can do whatever we want to we are owed this for reconciliation.

The woman’s letter said she found the remains on rock piles that were all over the place and that she “would try to get them a couple of skulls, so they can have them in their house for fashion as well,” Hinkley said.

Those rock piles were actually burial cairns, and the pilfering is one of the many reasons why Hinkley has found Cowichan artifacts and remains from Russia to the U.K. and from Israel to South Africa.

That search has been helped with a repatriation grant from the Royal B.C. Museum, which recently changed its policies to no longer collect or study ancestral remains.

The museum has also announced that anything it acquired from Indigenous Peoples during the anti-potlatch years, from 1885 to 1951, will be considered eligible for repatriation because it was obtained at a time of duress.

During those years, the federal government banned potlatch ceremonies, which were important social events where valuable gifts were given to show generosity and status over rivals.

The government saw the events as anti-Christian and a waste of personal property.

Lou-Ann Neel, the repatriation specialists for the Royal B.C. Museum, said that by the time the ban was lifted, much Indigenous wealth had been lost.

“Our regalia was gone, our masks were gone. Some of them were burnt by missionaries, some of them were just taken and confiscated. So you can’t hold a potlatch without these treasures,” said Neel, who is part of the Mamalilikulla and Kwagiulth people in Alert Bay.

Neel said the loss of their belongings started with the colonial belief that Indigenous people were endangered and dying out. “That really sparked a collecting frenzy that sent out people: anthropologists, military, adventurers or self-proclaimed pioneers. [They] just felt like they had permission because the general sense across Canada and the U.S. was that ‘Indians’ would soon been gone.”

https://www.timescol...ains-1.23828271

222 aboriginal chiefs and counselors from First Nations communities across Canada earn more money than their provincial premiers, and 82 make more than the prime minister.

That was in 2010. So I’d say at least 222 bands are corrupt.

I can't speak for every band, but I know one FN community who found a chief who was 1/16 native (or something like that), a CEO of a large corporation and they paid him heavily to come and run the band for them.  His salary was largely based on the income he brought in and quickly turned the reserve into a money making machine so much so they built a $10+ million community centre without any government assistance

 

I would say that chief deserves more money that a Premier or Prime Minister

Great story:

 

Michael Wellman posts this 1971 photo on the Old Victoria BC Facebook page:

 

 

It is seen by the grandson of one of the pole's creators:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing!

Two Indigenous poles that have long stood at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria are being returned to the communities that inspired their creation.

The replica Haida and Kwakwaka'wakw poles have been part of the museum's Thunderbird Park for decades.

But a recent seismic and structural assessment found they had suffered internal damage due to exposure to the elements and were at high risk of falling on visitors.

The museum has worked with First Nations groups to ensure the poles are taken down in a culturally proper manner.

"We are going to undertake a process where the poles will return to the earth as they would have in traditional times," said Lou-ann Neel, a repatriation specialist with the museum.

"We don't keep putting them back together so they can keep standing. When their lifetime is done they are laid to rest, just as any of our ancestors would be."

*snip*

It plans to work with Indigenous experts to develop recommended protocols that can serve as a template for other museums with poles in their custody.

The ceremony to remove the Kwakwaka'wakw house post will be held on Friday, May 31 at approximately 9 a.m., and the public is welcome.

The Haida mortuary pole replica will be taken down during the week of June 3, pending final confirmation from the communities involved, the museum said.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ation-1.5156168

^Yes, I heard that story on the radio this morning around the same time--I thought it was very interesting that the groups had opposite views on preservation vs. traditional deterioration.

 

Because our Mungo Martin pole was commissioned by the museum specifically as a replica display piece I thought that it would be a candidate for preservation. 

RCMP says 7 of 10 female aboriginal homicides committed by aboriginal offenders

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...nders-1.3028150

 

nearly $10 m spent on the mmiw inquiry and they missed that fact.  

 

'Genocide' Has Been Committed Against Indigenous Women And Girls, Canadian Panel Says

 

 

https://www.npr.org/...nadian-panel-sa

 

they call it a genocide but usually when it's a genocide 70% of the killing is not done by the same ethnic group on themselves.

 

also indigenous people are the fastest-growing ethnic population in the country.  it's a pretty poor genocide if that is happening.

When the inquiry started many of us commented here that it was not going to address that the #1 killer of FN women which was FN men. We were not disappointed. 

Edited by spanky123, 04 June 2019 - 07:18 AM.

they call it a genocide but usually when it's a genocide 70% of the killing is not done by the same ethnic group on themselves.

 

I'd say the genocide charge comes in when we try to explain why FN men are killing FN women at a higher rate than other populations (assuming that is the case). Are you going to suggest that high suicide rates among FN are NOT a part of the "genocide" because they are killing themselves?

 

The deaths are in large part caused by the situation FN find themselves in today. The lingering effects of the deliberate policies of the past are still causing problems and are part of a historical genocide. Doesn't necessarily  mean that anyone alive today is actively trying to commit genocide.

I wish people would stop conflating personal and societal responsibility.

 

I bear no responsibility as an individual for the situation FN find themselves in today.

The society of which I am a part bears all the responsibility for the situation FN find themselves in today.
 

Why is that distinction so hard for people?

I'd say the genocide charge comes in when we try to explain why FN men are killing FN women at a higher rate than other populations (assuming that is the case). Are you going to suggest that high suicide rates among FN are NOT a part of the "genocide" because they are killing themselves?

The deaths are in large part caused by the situation FN find themselves in today. The lingering effects of the deliberate policies of the past are still causing problems and are part of a historical genocide. Doesn't necessarily mean that anyone alive today is actively trying to commit genocide.

I wish people would stop conflating personal and societal responsibility.

I bear no responsibility as an individual for the situation FN find themselves in today.

The society of which I am a part bears all the responsibility for the situation FN find themselves in today.

Why is that distinction so hard for people?

you simply step out of “society” when it’s convenient for you? if you are part of society at any time like when you vote you are at least somewhat responsible.

 

Why is that distinction so hard for people?

 

Because we are personally being asked to continually pay for the mess. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars has the Government paid up for each on-reserve FN member over the past few years and yet most still live in squalor and the problems of the past continue? Until we get an accounting of what is happening to that money then paying more will accomplish nothing.

First Nations were engaged in extremely violent, brutal and destructive warmongering long before Europeans began settling this continent. I've read up extensively on this subject and on accounts of First Nation battles in our waterways, and the carnage that followed them, including enslavement.

 

In fact, Mount Tzouhalem in Duncan is named for a chief widely regarded by First Nations up and down the coast as a fierce warrior and a cannibal.

 

Violence towards women cannot be brushed away as a token of colonialism, tedward. The way you describe the situation makes it seem like the indigenous men who murdered indigenous women were incapable of knowing right from wrong, and while I know that you're trying to say its colonial society that lead to the 1,001 events which lead to the murders, its coming across in a condescending way and I don't think that's your intent.

you simply step out of “society” when it’s convenient for you? if you are part of society at any time like when you vote you are at least somewhat responsible.

 

Not what I am saying at all.

People are reacting as if they personally are being accused of something. They are getting angry at the accusation they feel is being made against them personally rather than getting angry at the lack of action to reconcile.
 

I keep seeing more anger at words (often taken out of context) than at the fact so many First Nations do not have safe drinking water in this country.

Not what I am saying at all.

People are reacting as if they personally are being accused of something. They are getting angry at the accusation they feel is being made against them personally rather than getting angry at the lack of action to reconcile.

I keep seeing more anger at words (often taken out of context) than at the fact so many First Nations do not have safe drinking water in this country.

I don't have a problem with a genuine effort to reconcile or with ensuring clean drinking water infrastructure. The problem is the FN activist industry and academia have zero interest in actual reconciliation and also don't give a **** about drinking water or jobs or reducing crime or doing anything real. They just want endless studies about how white people are evil

I keep seeing more anger at words (often taken out of context) than at the fact so many First Nations do not have safe drinking water in this country.

 

The anger is more-so related at the billions Canadians have invested into First Nations causes and reconciliation efforts, while many First Nations continue to not have clean drinking water.

 

Far too much political effort is focused on photo-op First Nations-related politics, and the public is starting to notice the lack of actual change despite decades of effort.

I don’t pretend to know much about the subject but admit so. I also am not going to give up my own property to make amends for the atrocities of my ancestors. However, I think their society was far from savage. To dismiss it as such doesn’t help move any resolution forward. This might give some perspective on how little we all know.
“In the 12th Century, five tribes in what is now the northeastern U.S. were constantly at war: the Mohawks, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Cayugas. The wars were vicious and, according to tribal history, included cannibalism.
One day, a canoe made of white stone carried a man, born of a virgin, across Onondaga Lake to announce The Good News of Peace had come and the killing and violence would end.
He traveled from tribe to tribe over the course of years, preaching peace because peace was the desire of the Creator. Oral tribal history says it may have taken him 40 years to reach everyone and get agreement from all five tribes.
This man became known as The Peacemaker.
Eventually, the five tribes agreed to the Great Law of Peace and became known collectively as the Haudenosaunee, which means People of the Long House. Outsiders refer to them as Iroquois.... In 1987, the United States Senate acknowledged that the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Nations served as a model for the Constitution of the United States. (U.S. S. Con. Res. 76, 2 Dec. 1987).“
https://www.mollylar...reat-law-peace/
https://www.congress...t-resolution/76

Edited by dasmo, 05 June 2019 - 12:13 PM.

I don’t pretend to know much about the subject but admit so. I also am not going to give up my own property to make amends for the atrocities of my ancestors. However, I think their society was far from savage. To dismiss it as such doesn’t help move any resolution forward. This might give some perspective on how little we all know.
“In the 12th Century, five tribes in what is now the northeastern U.S. were constantly at war: the Mohawks, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Cayugas. The wars were vicious and, according to tribal history, included cannibalism.
One day, a canoe made of white stone carried a man, born of a virgin, across Onondaga Lake to announce The Good News of Peace had come and the killing and violence would end.
He traveled from tribe to tribe over the course of years, preaching peace because peace was the desire of the Creator. Oral tribal history says it may have taken him 40 years to reach everyone and get agreement from all five tribes.
This man became known as The Peacemaker.
Eventually, the five tribes agreed to the Great Law of Peace and became known collectively as the Haudenosaunee, which means People of the Long House. Outsiders refer to them as Iroquois.... In 1987, the United States Senate acknowledged that the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Nations served as a model for the Constitution of the United States. (U.S. S. Con. Res. 76, 2 Dec. 1987).“
https://www.mollylar...reat-law-peace/
https://www.congress...t-resolution/76

That is fascinating and interesting parallel to Jesus

That is fascinating and interesting parallel to Jesus

I thought that was very interesting indeed. To save everyone the read this is what was in the Law of Peace:

 

The Great Law of Peace includes:

freedom of speech,
freedom of religion,
the right of women to participate in government,
separation of powers,
checks and balances within government.
a government “of the people, by the people and for the people,”
three branches of government: two houses and a grand counsel,
A Women’s Council, which is the Iroquois equivalent of our Supreme Court –settling disputes and judging legal violations.

 

What got left out of the U.S. Constitution
 

The Seventh Generation principle: The Constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy states that chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on seven generations into the future.
The role of women: Clan mothers choose candidates [who are male] as sachems [political leaders]. The women maintain ownership of land and homes, and exercise veto power over any council action that may result in war. The women can also impeach and expel any leader who conducts himself improperly or loses the confidence of the electorate; then the women choose a new leader.