_— Ih nesahehe loll

UU Ut ae LA dD

A

Inthe Northwest Territories the Native Peoples have proposed dividing the land into three areas, one each

| for whites, Inuits and the Dene Indian peoples.

Canada’s north. It recommended
i at a settlement include a
“asonable share of non-
| renewable resources (oil, natural
} a minerals, etc.); the right to
_ , © Tenewable resources such as
| eee trapping and fishing, na-
| ee of education; and new
& Utions and programs. that
Suld provide a basis for self-
termination.
tee More factors need to be
in’ in mind in evaluating native
and claims,
€ hative peoples do not
| *©Mprise ‘one homogeneous
i vid 8, Even among tribes, indi-
SI Ual bands or among the Inuit.
~ OWly but steadily class differen-
tion has developed among
_©m. Some have gone into busi-
en Some have become
| ever: A growing number,
€n if very small as yet, have
| 80neinto professions. The federal
Of ennment has followed a policy
{tying to buy off Indian leaders
government jobs. At the
€ time it has deliberately en-
Uraged some to get into busi-

hess to “ee Soi hemee.
’ et a stake’’ in the
8Ystem, g

aaa tet seve.

-

—SSe eS

| OTTAWA'S ULTERIOR MOTIVES

tig funding of native organiza-
NS to prepare their land claims
but other activities is anything
ss altruistic on the’ part of the
Yernment. That the native
the oles Tequire such funding
2 Te is no doubt and they have
thelied Considerable pressure on
Wo 80vernment for funds. But it

. uld be naive to believe that Ot-
mt does not expect some return
} € way of compromise,
: fon down demands, support
the Liberal Party and so on.

© recognize that there are
and hg the native peoples groups
Individuals who see native

land oy
W

Claims as a means to personal
1s not in any. way to dis-
‘Chai © the justness of the land
| “Js ‘themselves.
“With; S€ varying class groupings
eVitan the native peoples lead in-
ably to differing views on how
Ma settlement of land claims,
ady terms of settlement to be
is and the tactics to be
‘wh... © press. their claims,
atest by “‘reasonable’’ negoti-
: Maxie’ backroom deals or
P dete Mum public pressure and
Thuned struggle.
at alliances the native
b Ples establish are also affected
lin € class outlook of the group-
emp among them.
alin yeTS are no more prone to
Oth Cs with labor than are any
€t employers, for example.

Native >

A just settlement of land claims
is an issue that unites all native
peoples today, regardless of their
economic or class position. All
stand to gain by a fair settlement.
The problem is to see that a
settlement benefits all of them,
helps to fundamentally alter all
their lives for the better, not just
to benefit a few.

A second point to bear in mind
in considering land claims is that a
large percentage of native peoples
are not involved in land claims of
any magnitude. Their.needs must
not be forgotten in any over-all
settlement of land claims. They
are entitled to help of the same
magnitude as those who will
benefit by settlement of land
claims.

IMMEDIATE NEEOS IGNORED

A third point that deserves con-
sideration is that today, while
land claims are being aggressively
pursued, the immediate needs of
the majority of the native peoples
are being shelved or at least
pushed into the background.
Eighty percent live below what is
considered the poverty line. Two
fifths are on social welfare. Most
of those employed work in low
paid, part-time, seasonal jobs:
The average life span of native
Indians is still only 34 years. In-
fant. mortality among Indian
babies up to two years is eight
times higher than for other Cana-
dians. Over half of Indian deaths
are caused by respiratory dis-
eases and accidents, both of
which are controllable in modern
society.

In many prisons native peoples
form the majority, far in excess of
their relative numbers of the
population. Their educational
levels are the lowest in the coun-

“try. Discrimination against them

is still rampant — in the courts, in
jobs, in housing. All these are s-

Writer Ben Swankey
stresses the need for, and
offers a contribution to, a
set of guidelines around
which to rally public sup-
port for Native land claims.
“Further delay inexcus-
able.” Ben Swankey was
the delegate of the Cana-
dian Peace Congress at
the International Confer-
ence on the Indigenous
Peoples of the Americas,
held in Geneva, in Sep-
tember.

x ae Sk -—.

ee ED,
te OOOO

sues crying for resolution now;
they cannot await the settlement
of land claims five or 10 years
from now.

There are some among the na-
tive peoples who feel that all

white people are their enemies.

and not to be trusted. Some
others are hostile to or suspicious
of the labor movement. Not all
understand that the policies of
any society are decided by its rul-
ing classes’and that the racism
pursued against the native
peoples is the result of the policies
pursued by colonialists who first
represented the feudal system of
Europe and later their successors
in the rising capitalist class who
have become today’s multi-
national corporations.

WORKING CLASS ALLIANCE
A growing number of native

peoples, and this includes their

leaders too, recognize that strong
allies can be found in the ranks of
the.trade union movement and the

political parties speaking for -

labor’s interests. And it is to the
credit of the trade union move-
ment that it is responding posi-
tively and supporting the land
claims and other demands of the
native peoples. The native
peoples do not have the political
or economic clout to win their
demands by themselves; their
strongest and most natural ally is
labor. :

The New Democratic Party,
unfortunately, has equivocated
on the issue of native land claims.
While its last national convention
took the stand that no pipeline
should be built before the land
claims of the native peoples in the
north are settled, NDP members
in the House of Commons sup-
ported the Alcan route proposed
by the Liberal government, satis-
fied, apparently that the Trudeau
government will in a fair manner
settle the land claims at some time
in the future. This is an unwar-
ranted concession to the multi-
nationals who are the only ones
who will benefit from this
pipeline.

The Communist Party, on the
other hand, has taken a clear and
unequivocal position on native
land claims. It has consistently in
its conventions and in its daily ac-
tivities supported a just settle-
ment of native land claims; it has
demanded that no pipeline be

built in the north now and that

land claims there be settled
immediately, with its terms
incorporated in a treaty with the
native peoples of the Northwest
Territories and the Yukon.

_ one-hour general strike in protest of the murder. The fascist party in

UNIONISTS MURDERED IN ETHIOPIA
ADDIS ABABA — Trade union leader Temesgen Madebo was shot
and killed Sept. 29 after leaving his office at the All-Ethiopian Trade
Unions by opponents of the Ethiopian government. Radio Addis Aba-
ba, in announcing the assassination, described the killers as ‘‘reaction-
aries’’. Madebo was 40.

STEVEN BIKO DIED OF BRAIN INJURIES AUTOPSY SHOWS

JOHANNESBERG — Student leader Steven Biko died of brain
injuries and had been in a coma for several days before his death, an
autopsy has revealed. Biko, in police detention, also had chest injuries.
In response to massive outcries both in South Africa and around the
world at the murder of Biko, South Africa’s justice minister Kruger
callously announced Biko had died as a result of a hunger strike and
that “he had a democratic right to starve himself to death”’. Biko is the
latest of many South African patriots to die while in police hands.

PLO WINS OBSERVER STATUS ON CIVIL AIR BODY
MONTREAL — The Palestine Liberation Organization now holds
observer status on the United Nations affiliated body, The Inter-
national Civil Aviation Organization. The vote was 70 in favor with the
U.S., Israel and South Africa voting against and 32 nations, including
Canada abstaining. The resolution was submitted by 20 Arab states
and gives the PLO the right to sit at meetings without a vote.

FASCIST ATTACKS INCREASING IN ITALY
ROME — A young woman was shot in the thigh Oct. 3 as fascist
attacks picked up following the right-wing murder of a left wing militant
earlier this week. Thousands turned out for the funeral of Walter Rossi
and Rome’s Communist mayor Giulio Argan declared Rossi was killed
“out of fascist hate’’. The Italian Trade Union Federation called a

Italy is named the Socialist Movement Party (MSD.

JAPANESE CP ON RECRUITING AND PRESS DRIVE
TOKYO — The Japanese.Communist Party, on the eve of its Con-
gress Oct. 17, is carrying out a drive to increase its membership from
380,Q00 to 400,000 and build its press circulation. On the first Sunday of
the campaign they boosted their press circulation for the party’s paper
‘‘Akahata”’ by 5,700 in Tokyo alone.

SPANISH CP BLASTS U.S. MILITARY BASES |
MADRID — The Spanish Communist Party came out.in the Cortez 4
(parliament) last week against the presence of American war bases.on i
Spanish-soil. Deputy Ignacio Gallego described.U.S. military presence 4
in Spain as ‘‘abnormal and inadmissible”’ and was joined by deputies of
Spain’s Socialist Party in demanding the removal of all foreign military
bases on Spanish soil. Public opinion polls show 87% of all Spaniards
want the bases out. ,

NAZI ACTIVITY GROWTH CAUSING ALARM
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The president of the National Con-
ference of Christians and Jews said here that children are not learning
enough about the Hitler period and its dangers. He contributed this in
part to the growing resurgence of neo-nazi activities which has promp-
ted the calling of an international conference on the rising danger in
Vienna next spring.

CHILEAN PRESS PRAISES CHINESE 11th CP CONGRESS

SANTIAGO — The Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, mouthpiece
for the fascist junta has praised the recent 1 1th Congress of the Chinese
Communist Party and especially its desire-“‘to speed up military pre-
parations’’. It also lauded Peking’s intention to make China ‘‘a great
nationalist power making use of a variety (sic) of Marxism’’.

Chile and China have strengthened relations since the 1973 coup and
last year China extended $100-million in credits to the junta. It also
purchases copper and saltpetre from the regime and, according to
Chilean ambassador to Peking, Admiral Hyidobro, relations between
the two countries “‘hold out much promise’’. China continued diploma-
tic ties with Chile after the coup and its embassy refused aid to the
victims of the fascist terror.

+
* :

Lebanese patriotic forces guard the main and most southern Patriotic
stronghold in Lebanon in Khjam. They stand guard amid damage by
attacks from Israeli Super Sherman tanks possessed by the rightists.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 14, 1977—Page 7