THE INJUSTICE
AGAINST OUR.

NATIVE INDIANS

By BEN SWANKEY

NE treatment of Negroes
NM the United States
hye, Touses indignation and
nig among Canadians. But a
ia Problem is sitting right
en Own doorstep — our

at :
, Ne Indians. What about a

Rights for them?
Mst a few facts.

,ome 151,000 Indians live
: 200 reserves scattered
4009 the country. Another
he ive off the reserves,
Mhted ve Indian bands are
" from each other, be-
ca 'o a variety of tribes,
Ne different languages, and
Nder different conditions.
bay tat most. of them have in
fay 9 is’ poverty and degra:
hy, = Wretched housing, with-
Poj2umbing, electricity or
ft 1 facilities, make most

n C: Teserves the worst slums
aada.

Unemployment is

if
4,,0TEM POLE carved by
ly ." ©f the Haida Indians
st coast.

so widespread that more than
one-third (37.4 percent) of the
total Indian population is de-
pendent on social assistance.

Relief rates are low — an un-
married Indian in B.C. receives
$22 a month — one-third of
the rate to non-Indians. Most
of them face a _ completely
hopeless existence with no ap-
parent way out. The Indian
Agent and the police run most
reserves, often with heartless-
ness and sometimes with bru-
tality.

These are some of the things
to bear in mind when you hear
about drinking or law  viola-
tions among Indians.

Those who leave the re-
serve are confronted with every
kind of discrimination. Work is
often refused them simply be-
cause they are Indians. Skilled
jobs are even harder to get.
Rarely does an Indian have the
chance to become a foreman
or superintendent. The profes-
sions are practically closed to
them. Many of the Indian girls
in B.C. who leave the reserves
end up on “Skid Road” where
malnutrition, alcohol and pro-
stitution bring an early death.

Take a look at the Indian
Affairs department itself. Out
of a staff of 2,590, only 281 are
Native Indians. Of all the ste-

nographers employed by the
department, only nine are
Indian.

Out of 1,506 teachers in In-
dian schools, only 123 are In-
dians. :

Are there any Indian Agents
who are Native Indians? How
many Indian Agents can speak
an Indian tongue? Very few, if
any.

The discrimination practiced
against Indians is the direct re-
sult of calculated government
policy. It’s been going on for
over 200 years.

Historically it arose when
the Indians had their lands
taken from them. One of the
biggest items was the CPR
land grab less than 100 years
ago. It too arose out of the ex-
ploitation by the fur trading
companies such as the Hud-
son’s Bay which has been at it
for 199 years.

Fostering discrimination to-
day are the interests who want
Indian lands or the riches on
them. It: is fostered also by
those who want cheap Indian

| One word — DISCRIMINATION — sums up
| the plight of this section of our population
and it's a direct result of the government's
calculated policy toward them.

labor; the logging and fishing
industries in B.C. are examples.

Education is usually the so-
lution proposed for the ills
that face Canada’s Indian peo-
ples. But of what use is an edu-
cation .that is foreign to their
way of life? And how can there
be interest in an_ education
when there is little possibility
of making use of it?

The basic problem is rather
to create the conditions that
will enable Native Indians to
make a decent living. This
means jobs and income. One
way to do this would be to
help the Indians establish in-
dustries on or near their set-
tlements, industries that would
provide steady year-round em-
ployment at good wages for
both men and women and es-
pecially for young people. We
have the resources, both natu-
ral and financial, in our rich
country to do this.

As part of this program Na-
tive Indians should have re-
stored to them some of the
land and resources taken from
them. The Haidas, for exam-
ple, should be given back some
of the rich timber and mineral
resources. on the Queen Char-
lotte Islands, off the B.C. coast,
a land they occupied for cen-
turies, -

Bill C-130, a bill to settle
Indian claims, now _ before
Parliament, should be with-
drawn. It is aimed at forcing a
final financial settlement on
Canada’s ndians for lands tak-
en from them, under conditions
where the federal government
sets all the ground rules and
acts as prosecutor, judge, jury
and appeal court. There will be
no. justice for Indians under
this unfair bill.

With the establishment of
industries in Indian communi-
ties, with the need for skills

The rich culture of the Indian peoples — their crafts, songs,
dances and languages — should be restored and developed with
government assistance, suggests the writer of this article.

and training, there will be
both the need and incentive for
education. This education
should be of a special kind,
especially adapted to the needs
of the particular Indian com-
munity. Native Indian teachers
should be ~trained. All steps
taken for an educational pro-
gram should be with the co-
operation of the Indians them-
selves. And why © shouldn’t
schools include instruction in
Native Indian languages, to the
extent this is possible?

A government - subsidized
housing program, to _ provide
low-cost modern homes with
all up-to-date facilities, is des-
perately needed for reserves.

Cultural and recreational fa-
cilities, often entirely lacking
today, should also be provided
for the reserves. The rich In-
dian cultures with their crafts,
songs, dances and languages
should be restored and deve-
loped. Could not assistance
also be given for the develop-
ment of written languages for
Native Indians?

Shacks like these, and worse — very often a home for an entire
Indian family —make most of the Indian reserves the worst slums in

Canada.

The power and authority of
Indian Agents should be re
placed by democratic self-gov-
ernment: of the Indians them-
selves.

Is it not time that our school
history books were revised to
tell the truth about how Can-
ada was taken from the Indians,
what discrimination has done
do them and the need for ac-
tion to correct this historic in-
justice? Surely this would bea
big step in the direction of pre-
venting prejudices in the com-
ing generations of young Can-
adians.

Because of the _ difficulties
that exist, because of the scat-
tered nature of Indian commu-
nities, it has been difficult for
them to establish a united na-
tional organization. They need
help in each community and
the logical place for this to
come from is the labor move-
ment.

In B.C., the United Fish-
ermen and Allied Workers
Union, which has many Native
Indians among its membership,
has set a splendid example of
backing up the demands raised
by the Native Indians and of
fighting for them. An example
of this was the strike last
spring of Native fish cannery
workers at Masset in the
Queen Charlotte Islands, a
strike against the injustices of
the authorities and companies.
It was won, thanks to the
backing of the union.

We need more such brother-
hood and solidarity between
the labor movement and the
Native Indians.

November 13, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5