* There is poverty in British Columbia reserves too,

Native Indian women (centre) are from the
the Gordon Commission urging new policies
4S a photographic study of the indignation an

Reporter'‘tells of conditions on Cote reserve

as evidenced by this picture (left) of a shack on the T’sartlip Reserve at West Saanich on Vancouver Island. The
North west Territories, where the Yellowknife District Miners Union of Canada Mine-Mill recently submitted a brief to
to assist the Native Indians. The Native Indian boy (right) has had his picture reproduced in newspapers across the country
d frustration his people feel over discrimination and denail of their rights.

‘Indians don’t live -- they exist’

By HELEN GOLAY |
KAMSASK, Sask.
On the Cote reserve near this
town the Native Indians don’t
ve — they exist.
'. Scattered over the reservation,

ae homes of these first Cana-
lans are usually lonésome little
°R€-roomed, clay-plastered log
Ouses. The icy winter winds
low in around the door. On
Some huts ‘small porches have
is €n built, on others, a blanket
" hung over the door to keep
no the Wind. In the yard there
roometimes a barn of sorts built
Say rough lumber: or shiplap
uffed with straw or hay.

CU come up to a house and
oo For a long time there is
s uce. Then, with the soft
aii in,” you enter — to find a

# Ple and their pre-school chil-
so Shyly gazing at you,
of €y are proud people ashamed
hon €lr meagre possessions. The
R €s are neat. The “furniture’
at most skimpy, often no chairs
feet Just an odd bench; usually
thin old style frame beds with
them Patchwork blankets over
Or fo, an odd cupboard for dishes
Or ¢ od, of which there is so little,
Nii Ay Clothing. Or just boxes, a
aac table, an old tin heater —
ut half the places are without
Cookstove.
cookin are compelled to do their
tlhe: ing, melting snow or ice on
© tin heaters. The minute the
urns out a chill sweeps
fe the “house.
€ are signs of some im-
adey ements — one home added an
to + ©nal room of board lumber
Partit;, log hut; another had a
Card and nailed on beaver-

.NSide, an attempt is made
ingenting — with the poorest
Cl pant all they can afford.

Ing is most inadequate.
or « Patched “hand-me-downs”
Little winter
& oni Rubbers, frequently
With nly footwear, are patched

~~ Reedle and thread.
* * *

0
*hrough

T

th as Indians, of course, receive

treat amily allowance. Medical

coh meat is free with the excep-

Blagse. Part of the cost of eye
€s and dentistry,

rson receives treaty
aguas ot $5 annually. They
are exempt from direct taxation.
Education is free. Old-age pen-
sions of $40 begin at, 69.
Veterans, if the department of
veterans affairs says SO, receive
$108 a month pension if they are
disabled, but not before the age
sak food and clothing comes
from the family allowance, ness
money, relief, sale of some mop
and odd jobs. There is virtu BY
no hunting and trapping. see e
renters have cleared most of the
trees from the land and trapping
leaves little attraction for game.
Most of the families are sup-
posed to own land — a quarter
section. This they are forced
to lease out to the white farmers
in the district for a one-third
share. :
pate families are without any
land and are in debt from pre-
vious years of farming. ies
debts they must pay back an
build up a fund to start farming
eaney are told that when enough
money accumulates for them to
purchase the necessary machinery
they will be allowed to take it out.
In the meantime they are ex-
to obtain jobs which are

ected
Pat available to them because of
unemployment and discrimina-

ion. If they do find work it is
ean terribly underpaid sea-
sonal employment — sometimes
even paid by food..

mens 2 Ki

ung Indian leader said to

ss wall Jand lease money goes
to Ottawa. No withdrawal of it is
allowed. They discourage the
Indian in ive way and want to

with him. |
Peat Indian to try to farm
on the reserve is hopeless.

»} farm one third of my quar-
ter section myself and lease out
the other two thirds. I bought
machinery out of my army grant
of $2,322. Because the price was
so high I was only pu to get

-drawn equipment. :
sets thirds of my land was
bush so I leased it out to have
it cleared. Now they’re saving
the lease money for me.

“J have under $2,000 and I’d
like to buy a second hand tractor
to farm my own land myself. But
to get it I am told I must only
purchase a new tractor which is
worth more than my savings.

“In addition, they expect us
to have capital for operating ex-
penses. They tell me to lease out
my land and build up my fund.

‘Yd like to farm now while
Ym still young enough and sup-
port my family — clothe, feed

and educate them now—not when |

I’m 50 years old and it’s too late
to do anything.”

Then he added bitterly: “At

the present rate we might not!

even survive till that age. Or by

that time we could be complete-

ly- pushed off the land. There’s
no sense owning land when
you get no living off it.

“There are practically no hors-
es, no livestock or poultry on the
farms — no feed for them. No
money to buy equipment, even for
cutting and hauling the little
wood there’s left.

“The supervisor comes out in
the summertime only to the bet-
ter homes, never to the poorer
places. He spends very little
time with us, he’s always ‘called’
to some other place and ‘must
rush off.’ It’s most discouraging.”

vs * *

Too many of these fine people
suffer from malnutrition. Their
food consists of flour for bread
and bannocks, lard (not butter),
cream of wheat, beans, rarely
milk and the more nutritious
foods.

The relief they receive ranges
from $5 to $19.33 or $22.50 a month
depending on how urgently help
is needed.

Because of the low standard
of living their health is poor.
It is not uncommon for them to
suffer from TB and illnesses pre-
venting them from doing heavier
work.

A young married couple expect-
ing a family is homeless, living
at another folk’s home. They had
applied for land and a home
but were turned down. Not
enough land for all, the reserve
is over-populated.

The Indians are treated as sec-
ond rate citizens. They have no
right to vote (except the veter-

ans) but they have every right
to join the army. For many of
the young boys the only road that
seems open is the army.

The answer government repre-
sentatives give as an excuse for
these deplorable conditions is that
the Indian is “no good” and “will
never amount to anything.” As

though it justified everything,
the officials say, “They are not
people, they’re Indians.”

What. do the Indians here
want? Their own teachers,
doctors, nurses, hospitals, de-
cent homes and jobs. They want
an end to discrimination, to
living conditions of starvation
and despair. They want equality
and the preservation of their
special rights. They want the
right to live.

|

for halting of
atomic tests

B.C. Council of Congress of
Canadian Women this week sent
an urgent appeal to Prime Minis-
ter Louis St.. Laurent and MPs,
asking the government to use its
influence to help prevent any
further nuclear weapons tests,
and to do everything in their
power to help bring about world
disarmament through the United
Nations.

CCW members will be asked to
visit their MPs during the Easter
parliamentary recess, to discuss
this important question.

Council took action on the mat-
ter at its March 15 meeting fol-
lowing -press reports announcing

tests by the U.S. in the Pacific
next month.

The CCW is sponsoring a forum
on the question of government
health services April 4 at Pender
Auditorium.

“MARCH 23, 1956 —

ccW appeals S

a new series of nuclear weapons’

Sask. legislature asks
new deal for Indians

REGINA

Canadian Indians ought not to be second-class citizens, Premier
T. C. Douglas said in the Saskatchewan legislature recently.

He was speaking in the debate on a resolution recommending
that the government extend the provincial franchise to Treaty
Indians unconditionally, and remove from existing provincial laws

|any restrictive legislation which
| denies the Treaty Indians rights,
/ privileges and responsibilities en-
joyed by citizens of Saskatchewan
generally.

The resolution which was un-
animously adopted, also réquest-
ed the provincial government to
make representations to Ottawa
for a federal-provincial board to
plan policies and programs to
ensure that the actual needs of
the Indians in the fields of health,
welfare, education and local self-
government may be provided for.

“Aré we prepared to accept
the reservations as a permanent
feature of our civilization?” Pre-
mier Douglas asked. ~

W. J. Berezowski (CCF, Cum-
berland) moving the resolution,
stated that Canada had 150,000
Native Indians. They had been
and still were under-privileged,
ill-housed and ill-clothed, ridden
by disease and bad health.

He said the Indians should be
so treated as to preserve all the
‘culture and good in their tradi-
| tional skills.
i faced could not»be solved by as-

similation. They should be treat-
ed as a minority with the rights
| of the majority.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 3

The problem they ©