Justin meets with "Idle No More" Chief Spence

[valve37]

This could go on for some time yet.

Justin Trudeau meets with hunger striking chief Theresa Spence

OTTAWA — Like many Canadians, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence spent a quiet Christmas morning with her family, opening presents with two of her five daughters.

But far from her home on James Bay, Spence entered the third week of a hunger strike Tuesday, an action she says won’t end until Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnston agree to sit down and talk about Canada’s treaty relationship with First Nations leadership.

She did have a visitor on Boxing Day, however, Liberal Leadership hopeful Justin Trudeau came by to meet with the First Nations leader.

“It was deeply moving to meet [Theresa Spence] today. She is willing to sacrifice everything for her people. She shouldn’t have to,” Trudeau wrote on twitter.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/26/theresa-spence-justin-trudeau/

[hereiam87]

Potato

:^O

]:)

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0EWCqRJ2v8  

[pigdog47]

Should the next food item be Eggplant?

[hereiam87]

Apple,

Potatoe,

These are considered derogatory.

A sell out to the British/Euopean settelers.

No longer (living off), connected to the land

You know, the 'Assimilated'.

I have been called both.

]:)

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

All people 'assimilate' to some degree, especially when they have been over run and controlled by an enemy and their land stolen and their children taken and their traditions outlawed.

However when a 'leader' sells out his people ...........derogatory is actually just another word for the 'truth'.

I hope you have had the time to watch the 4 part video in post 16.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

They always hide. http://www.canada.com/Debate+aboriginal+issues+overshadowed+online+slurs/7754284/story.html

[brandeentertainment]

What is she striking for ..  native Americans land is in Asia and Western Europe .. As shady as our history is when it comes to treaties and fairness but techinically  niether of our culture originate from these parts so what is up with this never ending fight for rights because it was there land .. they descended from from mentioned above and maybe even polynesians which are not from these lands sp they came here just like we did .. Just like men and women i believe equal rights is what is needed ..

They need to be given all the oppurtinity we have but along with it all the disadvantages .. They think they are always getting screwed well so are we welcome to not being a politic

[puckstopshere]

Hunger-striking chief softens stand on meeting with Harper

Native leader Theresa Spence is showing signs of compromise, dropping her bottom-line demand for a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister before she ends her hunger strike.

The chief of Attawapiskat continues to draw support from across Canada for her action launched Dec. 11 to shake up relations between Ottawa and first nations. But faced with an unwavering response from the federal government, Ms. Spence is no longer insisting on meeting with both Stephen Harper and Governor-General David Johnston before putting an end to her diet of broth and tea.

Ms. Spence has said she is not holding out for a private audience with Mr. Harper, and is not insisting on being present when he eventually meets with senior aboriginal leaders on the issues she has raised.

One Saskatchewan native leader said Ms. Spence has achieved her goal of “reawakening” first nations and should start marching alongside other native leaders in the Idle No More movement.

“She has awakened first nations people across Canada, so we say, ‘You can break your fast in a good way,’ and we’ll be holding her up high with honour and dignity,” said Perry Bellegarde, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

In a statement Friday, Ms. Spence watered down one of her key demands, stating she is “hopeful that Prime Minister Stephen Harper or the Governor-General of Canada will accept her request to meet.”

By saying she is open to meeting one or the other, Ms. Spence confirmed she does not insist on having a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister if the government agrees to talks with aboriginal leadership.

“I don’t have to be there, as long as the leaders are there,” Ms. Spence told CTV News Thursday.

Federal officials urged Ms. Spence to meet with Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan instead of trying to force Mr. Harper to bow to her demands.

“I would encourage her to stop and meet with Minister Duncan and that’s the best way to address her issues,” said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, one of two native MPs in the Conservative cabinet.

Ms. Spence had sought a meeting with both the Prime Minister and Governor-General to speak about a treaty signed in the early 20th century that covered a large area of Northern Ontario – including her own reserve west of James Bay. The treaty promised money, education and health care in exchange for sharing the land, commitments Ms. Spence says Canada no longer meets.

She continues to garner support for her actions among first nations, despite concerns over her health.

“She has taken a very courageous and principled stand with respect to the failure of the Harper government to follow through on the commitments it made almost a year ago at the Crown-first nations gathering,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said in reference to a meeting held last January in Ottawa.

Asked whether he would support Ms. Spence even if her health began to fail, Mr. Phillip said he will respect her choice. “It’s her decision,” he said. “She’s lived in the midst of the elephant in the room and that is the national disgrace of poverty in aboriginal communities.”

A group of 16 people arrived by car from Manitoba on Friday to offer their support at a makeshift camp on an island on the Ottawa River, where Ms. Spence is waging her hunger strike. She was sleeping when they arrived, but they promised to return later in the day.

“She is putting her life on the line for her people,” said Wilfred Buck, a 58-year-old educator from Winnipeg.

He added that through her actions, Ms. Spence is “giving life back to our young people, the pride to stand up for who they are.” Mr. Buck said that the Prime Minister’s refusal to meet with Ms. Spence is “insulting.”

About 200 First Nations members in Nova Scotia, including many in their teens and twenties, are planning a four-day hunger strike beginning this weekend to support Ms. Spence, said Morley Googoo, regional chief for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland with the Assembly of First Nations.

“As much as I am concerned for her health, like most people are, I have to admire and respect her goals and her wishes,” said Mr. Googoo.

Mr. Googoo dismissed the notion that Ms. Spence should stand down from her request for a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister and meet with a government delegate instead.

“A compromise to the minister is a lose-lose [proposition] for us – because that’s basically what everyone’s been dealing with,” Mr. Googoo said, adding that the legislative changes to which Ms. Spence is objecting appear to be coming from the Prime Minister’s Office. “If there’s going to be direction on first nations, then the Prime Minister has to step up and take the lead.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/hunger-striking-chief-softens-stand-on-meeting-with-har...

[hereiam87]

'prior',

    Thank you for posting the links, very enlightening.

Has anyone heard of Fort Mckay (ma-ky) Google it

Unless this is the Canada you want to live in, everyone, yes everyone needs to stand up to the big corporations, big Government, and simply state.

 THIS LAND, BELONGS TO ALL OF US,

 AND NO, THEY ARE NOT FOR SALE.

Question: If our resources were the last to be exploited in this world, would that be such a bad thing?

'brandeentertainment'

   The only person getting 'screwed' here is anyone who has a stake in the land, you do have a stake, just not as defined as an indigenous person is, you see, we are taught from an early age, we do not own it, we are it's caretakers, (and by existentialism, steward the land for your Grandchildren.)

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

[puckstopshere]

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Theft and misuse of taxpayer money by the Harper government = Priceless

[hereiam87]

The problem is not that simple 'puck'.

The problem is that First Nations have been third rate citizens for far too long, and the systemic annihilation of our fundamental right of due process...eroding in the house of parliament...By parliamentarians that are supposed to have their constituents best interests at heart...Do you feel well represented? Funny no one from my Reserve ran in the last federal election, too remote?, nah, How can you/I  believe in an organization, that doesn't live up to it's obligations (Treaties), I for one cannot.

P.S. A house/shack is a wonderful thing, but you can't eat it.

]:)

[pigdog47]

I think you bring an perspective and balanced perspective to this discussion, hereiam.  I don't think a policy of confrontation (Chief Spence) will be ultimately productive in the long term.  Alienating a government  may be like trying to catch flies with vinegar.  On the other hand, negotiations with governments could drag on at a glacial pace for several more centuries.  No easy answers, but I think public support is essential to expedite a process

[hereiam87]

I have to ask,

Did you watch the videos 'prior' posted in post 16?

Follow the rabbit,

extremely intelligent.

]:)

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Here in my view is the Native situation, Readers Digest version:

-  Invaders come into N. America and if you look at history for the most part they were welcomed by the Natives.

-  Then the invaders looked at the land and the water and the resources and greed took over. So they either just took the land or they bought it for next to nothing because the Native people had no idea of it’s worth based on European standards.

-  But then when the land was being continually just stolen, the Natives fought back because they had had enough and that’s when they were murdered (by assorted methods) or forced into camps.

-  When the invaders finally got the upper hand they had to decide what to do with the remaining Natives and at the same time laws were coming into effect which disallowed governments and individuals to treat the Native people as they were once treated.

-  At that point as has been done through history in other countries the invaders decided to slowly eradicate the Native people by absorption. First of all make life miserable on the Reserves so that the people left their land out of frustration and then the future generations of invaders would take the land. Secondly make laws so restrictive that the Native people had few options in life. Thirdly destroy their language and culture and this is best done by taking the children and moulding them as the white man seen fit.

-  So as time and decades passed the government and the white man found that some Natives just would not surrender who they were. But now a new problem arouse and that was the white man’s increased need for resources on Native land…..lumber, water, oil, gas, minerals. They didn’t want to wait for the resources because time is money so they wanted it…………… NOW!

-  The first plan was to take some Native people and some leaders and do a lot of back patting. Make them feel like ‘one of the boys’! Show them how good Capitalism is. Teach them that the forests and the streams and the wildlife and everything else is not as important as ………..money! And from this came the fruit of the apple tree which was planted and fertilized to grow specifically as wanted by the white man. It was like the old use of whiskey….. but without the hangover.

-  But…..many Natives now knew the white man and his games and the Natives acquired something the invaders didn’t count on……education. The same as the people in other countries that went through the same thing when they were invaded and ‘colonialized’….the Natives knew what the long range plans were…..assimilation, or eradication, but this time with a kid glove and underhanded tactics. A prime example of this is Harper’s Bill C45.

Right now the First Nations people are being polite…..but that will end.   

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

hereiam....remember the old saying....''beware of swine bearing gifts''.

I don't think a policy of confrontation (Chief Spence) will be ultimately productive in the long term.

First Nations people have always been told to not be confrontational. Be a good boy or girl and sit there and say nothing until you are spoken to. Listen and do as you are told.

Those days are over, as are the residential schools.

[puckstopshere]

Here in my view is the Native situation, Readers Digest version:

Around the world, this story (with minor variations) could apply in a thousand different places.  The majority of the "original" owners of the land do not feel they still have a claim to that land and have moved on. 

IMO, the natives will continue this fight and do not have a chance of winning.  Most non-native Canadians do not understand the situation and don't want to.  They fear that the ultimate costs will bankrupt the country.  And the worst fear is that the land they live on, the house their kids and grandkids grew up in, will become part of the process.  The natives need to get together in their own Parliament and decide exactly what is needed to resolve the issue once and for all.  And, IMO, this does not include being supported for another millenium.  The only true solution will be a one-off deal that ends this mess forever. 

[puckstopshere]

By parliamentarians that are supposed to have their constituents best interests at heart.

Most First Nations are seen as not wanting to be part of Canada - whether it is true or not.  They are Canadian when it suits them but still wish to be governed by their own rules and their own laws - dealt with by their own courts.  I belive that they have a major P.R. problem when it comes to non-natives.  They don't pay tax.  Yet, they will sell to non-natives - tax-free.  Many people here go to the rez for smokes and gas.  Tax free status is granted to natives - not the non-natives.  If you are going to "share" that benefit with others, you may lose it.

Natives claim a great respect for mother earth, yet, I have seen many examples where this is window dressing.  They certainly don't respect their own people.  Native children have access to liquor, drugs, lottery tickets, smoke-filled bingo halls.  My son played ball on a diamond at Muncey.  We had to clear the broken liquor and beer bottle glass off the diamond before every game.  Were they not concerned their own kids would get hurt.  Apparently not. 

And don't tell me to go visit the rez.  I worked for a native for four years.  I travelled throughout Ontario and into Quebec.  The business was transportation and I visited many native communities and was in many native homes.  My biggest headache with my job was trying to insure that what I did was legal.  My boss was always after me to do things that were major crimes.  I refused.  The only reason I kept my job was that he needed a legitimate business to front his other activities - and I was a reliable component of that legitimate business.  My boss and his brothers all have spent much time in jail since I worked for them.  I was lucky to escape the same fate.

[brandeentertainment]

i say Pick a Battle fight for and Work your A55 off for the rest a country will not go Bankrupt to give any culture everything

No Taxes,Free Housing,free education this to a Typical Middle class family is 20 years worth off working which native americans can have for free... Where else in the world does 1 culture get all that for just being born ..

pick a Specific Battle like education and job oppurtunities ...

My Grandparents died for this country my grandad's brother was tortured to death my grandad  lost Limbs and was shredded by a Grenade .. I don't get nothing because they faught for this country to protect this beautiful place we live in ..

I do get the history so I do believe they do deserve something but i think as a country you can only give so many people free stuff before it does to much damage no natives pay taxes so every penny the goverment gives them never in no way ever comes back to them . I think why many people get mad about this is because of al that money being the tax dollars of many families who get nothing free and struggle like crazy to provide for their families well they watch there family struggle they look at the 30k they paid in taxes which a good chunk will go to support another family well they watch their own still struggle...