a ALBERTA ‘INDIANS EOE ‘PRESENT The following are excerpts om an article appearing in In- dian News, June, 1970. Although events took place several ‘Months ago, the issues are as alive today as ever and will, we Gre sure, be of interest to our readers, “The true owners of the land re not yet born.” Thus reads: the Indian Asso- Clation of Alberta’s Citizens Plus, or the Red Paper, as it has €come known, in commenting °n Indian lands and legislation for the future. There would Seem to be a message here for Mankind, as the world fast ap- Proaches its environmental crisis. © land is only a man’s to hold . “Not to do with as he damned- Well pleases. * * * On June 4, 1970 — some 93 Years after the signing of Treaty even, the Indian Association Of Alberta, led by Harold Car- dinal and backed by the Nation- al Indian Brotherhod, presented Its Citizens Plus counterpro- Posal to Prime Minister Pierre Tudeau and 13 members of the abinet in an historic confron- tation in the Centre Block on atliament Hill. The 100-page document was prepared after a year of almost universal Indian pposition to the federal gov- €rnment’s Indian Policy propo- Sals of last June and represent- €d, in the words of Manitoba Indian Brotherhood President tr. David Courchene, “one hun- red years of frustration, rejec- 10n, broken promises and dis- Crimination.” Chief Norman Yellowbird Presented the Red Paper to the Time Minister on behalf of the Indian chiefs of Alberta, while at the same time Chief Harry Chonkolay, dressed in treaty Uniform, returned the green In- lan Policy proposal booklet to Ndian Affairs Minister Jean Chrétien, “I completely reject it fcause this was designed by € government itself. At the Same time we have our own set Of ideas as to what the Indians Should be doing for themselves and we have come up with a Proposal. We do not need this any longer. Our people do not heed the Indian policy paper. This is the reason I am return- ng it to Mr. Chrétien.” David Courchene then came °n strongly with a plea that Sincere and honest dialogue must Ollow on the part of both gov- *tnment and the native people ‘acting on the Red Paper’s Proposals. “This past year, like © past 100 years, has been Most difficult for our people. ut unlike the past 100 years, : te PLUS this year is not ending in frus- tration and anger. We have, for the first time in our history, joined together as one. We are not only brothers in colour and blood, but we are brothers in purpose, intent, aspirations, hope and effort. The govern- ment of Canada has had one hundred years to prepare its white paper. We have had but one year to prepare our views. We now have but one hour to meet with you. This hour is one hundred years .. . We hope that this will not be our last hour. Our brothers in Alberta present you Citizens Plus. We hope you will accept it in the manner which it is given, in . honesty and sincerity.” Harold Cardinal, in address- ing the Prime Minister, declar- ed: “It is: disheartening at this stage in history to have made so little apparent progress to- wards reaching an understand-. ing of each other’s point of view.” He added, rather more optimistically, that native peo- ple could take encouragement from the mere fact that a meet- ing was finally being held at this level, which indicated a new willingness on the part of the government to come to grips with the situation. He said that the Alberta chiefs were not there ‘only to reject the government's proposals, but to come up with viable alternatives. Mr. Cardinal went on to re- iterate that the government must recognize its historic, le- gal, moral and constitutional re- sponsibilities in relation to ab- original rights and treaty obliga- tions. He charged that Indian Claims Commissioner Lloyd Barber was appointed without the endorsement of the Indian people and this appointment simply strengthened the gov- ernment’s position against the concept of the aboriginal right. He suggested that the two sides are now at a stalemate over this issue. Mr. Cardinal’s pre- ferred suggestion on settling the claim once and for all is the setting up of an _ impartial Claims Commission, appointed after consultation with the In- dians, and having broad terms and wide powers; a body whose judgment would be binding on both sides (as suggested by the Liberal Party during the 1963 election campaign). He went on to discuss the ad- ministrative changes proposed by the Red Paper: that a review, not an abolition, be made of. the Indian Act; that a new and more dynamic federal agency be set up, solely responsible for In- dian Affairs with its own Minis- ‘ ter and more responsive to the needs of the people. The paper also proposes a re- examination of the options available to Indian people for control of their land without ac- cepting ‘white’ concepts of property rights. As an imme- diate proposal to help alleviate the more pressing social prob- lems, Mr. Cardinal suggested the creation of an Alberta In- dian Education Centre, based on the concept that Indians should be given the resources and be permitted to find their own so- lutions. The centre would be a. training ground for developing management and _ leadership skills among the people. The 94 per cent dropout rate at the grade 12 level amongst, Alberta Indians could be lowered by re- search in Indian education and curricula to offer alternatives more rélevant to the people, he said. The paper also proposes the setting up of an economic devel- opment corporation to involve a partnership among all levels of government, private enterprise and the grass-roots people for developing economic opportuni- ty on Alberta Indian reserves. Mr. Cardinal’s presentation drew a standing ovation from ‘the native people, who packed the Railway Committee Room, as well as from reporters and many others present. Chief Norman Vellowbird presents the Red Paper to Prime Minister Trudeau. Indian Affairs Minister Jean Chrétien, in response to Mr. Cardinal, reiterated that the gov- ernment’s policy paper of last year was a proposal for discus- sion’ with Indian people, the government and the Canddian public, and that the government is awaiting the counterpropos- - als to be presented by the other organizations of the N.I.B. And then the Prime Minister made his response. He immedi- ately recognized the Indians’ position of having been faced with a hundred years of dis- satisfaction, slowness and _ in- justice from the government and society. He admitted that the government’s statement. of po- licy “had perhaps not been pre- ceded by the kind of consulta- tion which would satisfy every- body,” but at least something was finally being done. “I’m sure that we were naive in some of the staternents we made . . . having perhaps the prejudices of small “1” liberals and white men at that, thinking equality means the same laws for everyone,” the Prime Minis- ter said. He then called for a measure of trust to develop as the dialogue proceeded. An arbitration body, as sug- gested by the Red Paper, to de- cide on Indian rights would be considered, Mr. Trudeau said. In a final statement, the Prime Minister promised that the government. would not force UR RU he at 1 arene any solution on the Indian peo- ple, that thére would be “two, - three, five, ten or twenty years” for proposals and discussion. David Courchene of Manitoba put it on the line: “This one hour certainly will go down in history, as far as Indian people are concerned, provided it is not all talk. I hope that this hour that we have had together will certainly be a start on a long- term plan. But let us not forget the short-term solutions that are needed immediately. Our people are still living in shacks in ‘forty below’ weather, and you can see that any time you travel to Canada’s northern sector... our people have given every- thing to Canadian society, and all we are requesting is a fair, share of its resources. When we can dialogue together in hones- ty and sincerity, not only to our Prime Minister, but to every Cabinet Minister and to every provincial government, then we will be part of Canada, and we will be proud to call ourselves Canadians.” Possibly the position of the Indian Claims Commissioner is up for re-evaluation as well as the role of the consultation and negotiation team within the De- partment — or the implementa- tion team, as Mr. Cardinal calls it. .We wait attentively to see what June 4th of next year will bring for the Indians of Canada. VOW hit U.S. marines book Do You Know What I Am Going to Do Next Saturday? is the title of a book that VOW has been asked to concern itself with. It is one in the Cat in the Hat series published by Random House (New York and Toronto) and was distributed in Mont- real by Grolier Enterprises, as part of the Beginning Reader’s Program. The hero is a loud-mouthed, brow-beating aggressive young- ster who is shown in full-page illustrations with very little text, lording it over awed younger kids and demonstrating a massive, gluttonous appetite, heaving out his chest doing super-acrobatics, yelling his head off, rejecting all restraint, beat- ing his friends, his father, shrug- ging off his mother, generally out-doing, out-shouting and out- hamming everyone. After this super-kid gets his . up ina helicopter, he way to go : iis 40 Vos comes down to ‘humiliate his friend Sam. “Then I'll come down” he says, “I’ll dump water on Sam. I'll make him take a walk. Ill make Sam walk about a hun- dred miles. After a walk like that I'll have to eat a little something. Sam won't keep going, but I want to keep going. So I’ll have to eat and eat. Next Saturday I’m going to eat like a horse.” This delightful character ends up with the Marines — the U.S. Marines. “There are things I'd like to do,” he says modestly. “Did you ever play with the United States Marines? Shoot- ing! I’ll go shooting with the United States Marines. Little guns! Big guns! I’ll shoot every gun they shoot. ‘The marines will like my shooting. And they are going to like me.” So he proceeds to out-run, out-shoot, out-play, out-box the U.S. Marines singly and in pairs and groups. Naturally the U.S. _ Marines put on a special parade for him. ; : After his fun-fair style of day at the U.S. Marine camp he brings the whole company home, remarking, “I hope mother has a little something in the house for us to eat.” This has been and may still be a recommended text in chil- dren’s libraries in Canada. It is designed for beginner readers, ’ having only 176 words to cope with in the text. “. . . a child can dream along all by himself,” chants the dustcover blurb, “and join our hero in his dazzling adventures.” Mothers concerned for what their children are being offered in the school libraries, should check for this one; and we hope that many will also get in touch with Random House of Canada Ltd., 370 Alliance Ave., Toron- to 334, asking that publication and distribution of this book be ended in Canada. (C.V.) "5 \ SNCIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1970—PAGE 9 SSA “QTE Asad? S37 eC --asUdAt AR