a. em CANADA irst Nations slam By PAUL OGRESKO h{ORONTO — Adding to the yoni beating of Native drums T the chants of over 4,000 ple who gathered in front of a Ontario Legislature Building is Oct. 29 to demand self- “rmination for Canada’s Native tay ns: “We have something to 4 to this country,” George Era- eS National Chief of the the moly of First Nations told © gathering, “and that is we will taccept any more excuses.” Ouilled by the First Nations of lario the rally brought together On ans from every corner of eo representing all the first ‘See of the province. The rally ‘ Called to show the strength »,. determination of the Native Ples to press home their hggtds for recognition of their , Tical rights within the Cana- OF Ig Onstitution. In the spring Or 87 the Prime Minister and Teppecial premiers will meet with te. eNtatives of the indigenous ih les to clarify the Constitution _ «84rd to aboriginal rights. Ts This rally is a clear demon- Thayne of our right to determine ~ Our future will be,” Fred «2 4 tribal elder, said. ) “haa the ashes of col- iy ria from the ashes of defeat- We x Om the ashes of frustration, Ug the rise, like the phoenix of ,f our nationhood.” ign WO the enactment of the In- fy. ‘ct a few years after Con- tion, the Canadian gov- tng *nt embarked on a century- Nuc mPaign to wipe out Indian Mhite and the first nations. iho. the legacy for Canada’s tty Binal peoples is one of pov- “Up 4nd neglect, the policies of Sime 8enocide and forced the Spi ation have failed to destroy Shad Of the Native peoples. In Np, Years there has been a re- hei, = in Native pride and in a mands for aboriginal teats Nations of Ontario vanes 8 for three constitutional wting to be implemented in the abo in 1987: The recognition tg; penal title and treaty the inherent right to self- i’ determination; and acommitment to negotiate inter-governmental relations. Recent federal and provincial governments have ignored aboriginal land rights, violated numerous treaties and used land resources which the Native peo- ples have never given up jurisdic- tion over. Dennis Cromarty, Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, lashed out at the governments’ record. ‘“‘Back in 1905 the prov- ince of Ontario and the govern- ment of Canada asked us to share the land we live on. We agreed. The people of the province have benefitted many times over since then. We of the Nishnawbe-Aski have yet to see anything. Our time has come.” Addressing the rally Premier David Peterson lauded his gov- ernment’s record, saying that ‘‘past mistakes’’ were being rec- tified and a new spirit of coopera- tion and progress was at hand. The Premier’s remarks met with a sceptical response. Gary Potts, a Chief of the Teme-Au- gama Anishinabi Nation, said he was certainly surprised by Peter- son’s optimism and questioned whether the Premier and himself were sitting at the same table dur- ing the last Native-government talks. Erasmus reminded the crowd that there was widespread sup- port for Native peoples’ demands among the general Canadian population. A Gallop poll taken in March, 1984 showed that 83 per cent of Canadians believe the Na- tive people should be allowed to control their own resources, 57 per cent agreed they should be allowed to govern themselves. Support has also come from church, labor and. political organizations. A resolution from the convention of the Canadian Autoworkers in March, 1985 cal- led upon the Government of Can- ada and the provincial govern- ments to recognize and accept the Native peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination. Canada’s apartheid TORONTO — Natives will no longer tolerate an apartheid in Canada. The Communist Party of Can- ada calls for the Canadian Con- sitution to enshrine the funda- mental right of self-government for the Indian, Métis and Inuit people, a demand which neither the Tory, Liberal, or NDP parties recognize. The United Church of Canada passed a resolution in August, 1986 calling upon the Canadian government to entrench in the constitution the right of Canada’s aboriginal peoples to self-gov- ernment and autonomy in all fu- ture changes affecting them. Billy Diamond, of the Grand Council of the Cree in Quebec, brought greetings to the rally and a warning to be wary of any gov- ernment promises. ‘‘We, the Cree in Northern Quebec, in 1984 became the first Indians in Canada to have our rights included in the constitu- tion. But the government is refus- ing to fulfill its obligations to the Cree at James Bay. If these rights for the Cree in Quebec are not implemented, how will the rights of Indians in the rest of Canada be implemented?” The militancy of the rally was indicative of the growing unity and political organization among Canada’s Native people. Eras- mus said the support shown the rally was a clear message to the leaders of the country that the Na- tive people will not wait any long- ers “Nothing will end with the First Ministers’ meeting”’ he said. ‘“At some point our patience is going to run out.” The frustrations of years of ne- glect and ineptitude on the part of the federal and provincial gov- ernments towards Canada’s Na- tive people were summed up by the various speakers. ‘‘We will not tolerate any long- er this bureaucratic terrorism,” Diamond said. ‘‘There is a South Africa in Canada. There is an apartheid in Canada. We Native people will no longer tolerate this. We will rise.” A message from Cockbum The following letter was sent [77 to the Tribune by the commit- tee for Non-intervention In Central America (NICA). In the letter Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn makes an im- passioned plea for Canadians to get involved and help end intervention in Central Ameri- ca. The message is that Cana- dians can make a difference, that together we can force the Mulroney government to take a stand against Reagan’s poli- cies. For the interest of Trib- une readers we are printing this letter. (abridged) Dear Friend, The Reagan administration’s immoral and illegal war against Nicaragua continues unabated. Earlier this year I visited Nicaragua for the second time. I found a country suffering under the devastating impact of the ongoing war. Yet, equally striking was the hope and per- severance its people bring to their struggle for a future of peace and freedom from poverty. On July 28, the U.S.-backed ‘‘contra’’ forces launched a mor- tar attack on the town of Panali, killing four children and a woman, and injuring 26. The attack followed by five days the departure from the community, of a group of Canadian volun- teers who had just finished building a school. Windsor high school teacher, Pat Noonan, one of the volun- teers, believes the attack was a reprisal for the work of the Canadians, and intended to discourage international aid to Nica- ragua. She said the attack left her feeling “‘very bitter’ but certain that ‘“‘they (the Nicaraguans) are not going to stop farming and building because of the Contras.” - The attack gccurred only a month after the World Court ruled . that ‘‘in training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying the contra forces,’’ the United States has violated international law. Disregarding both international law and world opinion, the U.S. Senate approved $100-million in additional aid the Con- tras on August 13. According to the U.S. press reports, the Reagan administration will pass on an additional $400-million to the Contras ‘‘through the back door,”’ that is, via the CIA. Yet recent opinion polls show that 62 per cent of Americans oppose U.S. funding of the Contras. The contra war has already claimed 31,290 casualties, more than 3,000 of them civilians. Isn’t it time such state-sponsored terrorism was stopped. Thanks to the efforts of people like you, Prime Minister Mul- roney has at least been moved to raise his voice in public opposi- tion to the Reagan administration’s war against Nicaragua. In a mid-September speech, he stated that ‘‘we do not approve of third-party intervention anywhere in Central America. Whoever we third party may be, and regardless of its legitimate interests in the area.” Now is the time for our government to match its words with actions. While we continue to press for diplomatic efforts to halt U.S. intervention, Nicaragua now, more than ever, desperately needs international aid. Current Canadian government aid to Nicaragua is insufficient. Canada should quickly follow the lead of other nations and increase its aid to the Nicaraguan people. In Nicaragua, people asked me what Canadians were doing to help end intervention in Central America. Your opinions do count ... let them be known. Yours in peace, ence horas for NICA You can show your support for Nicaragua by writing to Joe Clark, Secretary of State for External Affairs, House of Com- mons, Ottawa, K1A 0A6 and William Weingard, Chair of Stand- ing Committee on External Affairs (same address) calling for increased Canadian aid to Nicaragua and for Canada to speak out strongly in support of the World Court decision (no postage necessary). You can also let the Prime Minister know your views by calling (613) 992-4211. jo iia eats linkin x ee PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 5, 1986 e 5 wiipataate SiR gg — — ———————————————————_—_—_— —————