le

A

' Here members of the Six Nations Indians are seen re-burying their dead in a traditional

eremony held near Toronto.

Continued from page f

~ NATIVE INDIANS

traditional ceremony of re-
Urial,.to commune with their
‘Ncestors and to apologise for
disturbing them.

An ancient burial ground of
the Six Nations had recently
fen unearthed nearby and
Was being formally dedicated
8S a sacred memorial.

Speaking to 260 chiefs and
their families, his first words
ade every one stare at him
With open hostility:

“Some Indian children are
Stupid.”

Then, in'a lame effort to

Over up he added: “And some
“@Nadian children are stupid.”

mete Cabinet minister best
aang for his inept tongue
aoe on to suggest that In-
;2us should be more like white
*n.and take jobs that would
+ € them independent of
**vernment support.

hartter the banquet, the chiefs
ad a council meeting where
nor vate raged on whether or
Bet formal protest should ‘be
dees to Ottawa. Finally it was
Pe that Miss Emily Gen-
th Would publicly reprimand
© minister,
dor ISS General. replied at a
20002 ceremony attended by
Bick Indians and whites, with
arctSgill present.
ay t.  Pickersgill shouldn't
a Said what he did,” Miss
Bia, said. “The Indian’s
of re is built on generations
Tadition and no Indian
ants it destroyed.
ditt € European people are
dle Tent from the Indian peo-
Ry, ct North America. The
cyl peas have’'a competitive
tur te, but in the Indian cul-
there is no competition.

‘Tees’ b&lief is that there is no

Gre for competition. The
ik Spirit has provided
ay” Of space and game for

“When the White Men came
they were greedy and wanted
the land. It took us years to
understand what their culture
was.

“The whites promised that
they would abide by the treat-
ies which they made with the
Indians. We want to preserve
our homeland. Everyone wants
a home of his own, which he
can go back to.

“The white man wants to
break down the Indian’s obed-
ience to that tradition. I felt
it as an undercurrent in My.
Pickersgill’s speech.”

Editorially, Native Voice
criticises the minister in the
sharpest terms it has used in
a long time:

“We maintain that either
Mr Pickersgill is incredibly

ignorant or he harbors such a
dislike for those of Indian an-
cestry that he is quite pre-
pared to ridicule them pub-
licly.”

“Here was an historic occa-
sion, one at which respect for
tradition was being shown, an
affair of solemnity and dig-
nity. But Mr. Pickersgill chose
to address those present for
this occasion as though he
were making a speech at a
Rotary luncheon.”

“. . . He is. certainly not
fitted for his position in the
federal cabinet.”

Big White Owl, eastern as-
sociate editor of Native Voice,
branded the speech as “brazen
stupidity.”

“The honorable gentleman
(if he may be called one?) dis-
played flagrant and sarcastic
arrogance in more ways than
one. ... He not only insulted
the Indian people but also be-
littled and iygsulted Reeve Gus
Harris of Scarborough Town-
ship. He called him “an Eng-
lish immigrant’.”

History was re-created —
and made — when 300 Indians
performed the Condolence
Ceremony and reburied the
bones of 700 of their ancestors
in a Great Feast of the Dead.

This was the first such feast
in 500 years, and the first time
the ceremonies were translat-
ed into English, for the bene-
fit of spectators.

Fishermen who belong to
the Native Brotherhood in B.C.
will not be pleased to learn
that Pickersgill is being tout-
ed as the next minister of fish-
eries, to succeed James Sin-

clair,

VLC debates

on refugees

On Tuesday this week, less than 24 hours before
the first group of Hungarian refugees arrived in the city,
there was a vigorous protest in the Vancouver and Dis-
trict Labor Council against preferential immigration
treatment for ‘“‘Hungarian freedom fighters.”

New Westminster Local 357
of the International Wood-

workers of America launched
a vigorous debate by introduc-

ing a three-point resolution
that called for:

@ No immigration schemes to
be tolerated whereby em-
ployers make private ar-
rangements to bring select-
ed groups to this country.

@ The federal government to
cease giving preferential
treatment to “Hungarian
freedom fighters.” All Hun-
garian immigrants to go
through the normal process
laid down for prospective
imigrants. Canadian Labor
Congress policy on immi-
gration to be enforced —
new immigrants to be al-
lowed into Canada as jobs
become available to them,
so as not to displace em-
ployed Canadian workers.

@ That food and clothing be
sent for the relief of Hun-
garians in Europe, instead
of money.

The first point, condemning
private immigration schemes,
was carried with the execu-
tive recommending concur-
rence. One delegate reminded
the council of the scandal a
few years ago when eastern
textile companies imported
young women from Poland to
work at sweatshop wages.

The second point, calling
for an end to _ preferential-
treatment, was defeated, but
only after a spirited debate. A
delegate from the sponsoring
union, a veteran of World War
two, said that a great number
of the refugees who came to
Canada immediately after the
war were followers of Hitler
who could not face their own
people.

Tom Alsbury praised the
Liberal government for doing
an outstanding job in the in-
terests of freedom.

The third point, calling for
relief in the form of food and
clothing, instead of cash, was
carried in face of a recommen-
dation of non-conecurrence by
the executive. A number of
delegates expressed the opin-
ion that it would be more dif-
ficult for dishonest persons to
steal food and clothing.

Ubyssey
questions
Hungary

Are the daily newspapers
pulling the wool over their
readers’ eyes in dealing with
the tragic events in Hungary?
Have the Western powers been
guilty of sacrificing lives in
their frantic desire to stop the
advance of socialism?

These questions were open-
ly posed in a guest editorial
boldly asks, “who supplied the
University of British Colum-
bia. The editorial, which was
signed by Ken Hodkinson,
in Ubeyssey, published at the
Hungarian rebels with weap-
ons?”

“After only eight years of
communist rule, there are still
strong fascist elements in the
country. There is also a large
middle class which has been
dispossessed of much of its
wealth, and a large number
of students who, as in most
European countries, are al-
ways eager to express their
radical -ideas by demonstrai-
ing and other means.

“Propaganda has been di-
rected to these groups particu-
larly and these are the most
likely people to start a rebel-
lion. A revolt, to be success-
ful, must have a large ‘supply
of arms. Who supplied the
Hungarian rebels with arms?”

“Certainly the communists
did not supply them. It is
possible that the weapons were
secreted across the Austrian-
Hungarian border by the West.
It seems ridiculous to spend
five hundred million dollars
mainly to stir up discontent
in these communist countries,
and then when all the mak-
ings are there for a revolt, not
to supply the rebels with weap-
ons. It is rather disquieting
to think about this, the im-
p_ications are so grave.”

Commenting on the propa-
ganda barrage in connection
with the Hungarian refugees,
the writer had this to say:

“Certainly the Western pow-
ers have played the situation
to the full, even to the extent
of having refugees arrive in
New Jersey with brown paper
wrapped around their feet in
place of shoes. This is pan-
dering to emotionalism car-
ried to its extreme.”

DECEMBER 7, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE &