On Thursday, the Assembly of First Nations, which purports to be the umbrella organization representing more than 600 First Nations bands across the country, issued a press release announcing that it and its National Chief Shawn Atleo were convening a meeting of First Nations (FN) leaders on Jan. 24 and that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston had been invited.
Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, engaged in her own protest for such a meeting, rejected the Jan. 24 date, saying she needed a meeting to happen sooner than that, given that her protest consists of having consumed nothing but fish broth, tea and water since Dec. 11.
Less than 24 hours after the AFN issued their call for a meeting on Jan. 24, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced he would be prepared to meet with a delegation chosen by the AFN next week, on Friday, Jan. 11.
More than four hours after that announcement, the AFN issued a statement “welcoming” this news. But while Chief Spence took questions from reporters through a spokesperson, neither Chief Atleo nor any AFN spokesperson was made available to answer questions. There was no mention in the release which FN leaders would attend the meeting. Nor was there any mention of that status of the Jan. 24 meeting.
Chief Spence, though, told reporters the AFN would, in fact, include her in that delegation that is to meet Harper next week. (Harper told reporters in Oakville, Ont. today that the AFN can designate anyone it wants to meet with him and Aborginal Affairs Minister John Duncan) Spence also said she’ll continue her protest if next week’s meeting doesn’t produce an outcome she finds satisfactory.
Chief Spence is the elected leader of about 1,500 people from one community.
Chief Atleo was voted in by the 600 or so chiefs who represent not only Attawapiskat but First Nations communities across the country. He just won re-election last summer.
Who should Harper or Canada be negotiating with? Should Spence be calling the shots or Atleo?
Before you answer: Consider the tweets that have been coming forth from the account of Pam Palmater. Palmater tried to unseat Atleo as National Chief last summer with a campaign that put forward the idea that First Nations people needed to be much more militant. And while the Idle No More movement does not take direction from Palmater and other more militant FN leaders, it is clearly inspired by her call to action.
Here’s Palmater last June as she was setting up to try to defeat Atleo and change the AFN’s tone:
“The direction that the AFN is following, they seem to be following the path that the Conservatives have laid out,. To me it’s a very destructive path. And it looks like some people don’t even realize how destructive it is.”
The file, from Canadian Press, went on to say:
Palmater said [Atleo] has co-operated too closely with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and has little to show for it. She argues repeatedly on her blog that his leadership has taken First Nations down the path of assimilation.
“Being extra nice to the Conservatives isn’t actually advancing our interests,” she said in the interview, pointing to funding cuts. “We’re making things worse.”
So, as word of this meeting between Harper and a delegation of leaders picked by the AFN emerged today — and as some Northern Ontario First Nations leaders told reporters in the National Press Theatre that all First Nations people were united at this point, here’s some excerpts from Palmater’s Twitter feed (this was current at 6 pm ET Friday, she had not tweeted or re-tweeted anything in the prior 24 hours that could remotely be described as supportive of National Chief Atleo or the AFN):
my dream team of those meeting with Harper includes @pam_palmater @deejayndn @khelsilem @rmcomedy @duncanmccue @wabkinew @sonnyassu
— bob muckle (@bobmuckle) January 4, 2013
No mention of Atleo (or Chief Spence, for that matter). Do click through for Twitter bios of this “dream team”. (Should you do so, you will discover that one is a reporter for CBC’s The National and that reporter gave a “+1” to this post — an indication that he approves of and endorses the suggestion.)
Here’s University of Victoria political science professor Gerald Taiaiake Alfred:
PM Harper’s minions have laid a trails of crumbs from Victoria Island to January 11th, and many chiefs are slavishly following it…
— Taiaiake Alfred (@Taiaiake) January 4, 2013
#IdleNoMore Don’t forget the main job of the “National Chief” of the Assembly of First Nations is to run interference for white governments.
— Taiaiake Alfred (@Taiaiake) January 4, 2013
@obiemad @pam_palmater And I believe Atleo is an accomplice in this action to defuse.
— Faye Hansen (@Fansen) January 4, 2013
Voices of the people can’t be silenced with a political photo-op. Our movement was never about a meeting – it was protecting FNs & Canadians
— Pam Palmater (@Pam_Palmater) January 4, 2013
Another academic, Niigaanwewidam Sinclair is a professor at the University of Manitoba:
Note how AFN has co opted the dialogue. Angus pronounced that Atleo will speak on behalf of FNs. The same process that led to #IdleNoMore
— Niigaan Sinclair (@Niigaanwewidam) January 4, 2013
Tanya Kappo’s Twitter bio says she is a Treaty 8 Cree woman from Edmonton:
Just to be clear AFN – you do not speak on my behalf, nor do you represent me. #idlenomore
— Tanya Kappo (@Nehiyahskwew) January 3, 2013
On top of all that, here’s a press release from Chief Fox of the Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan saying, basically, that Chief Atleo and the AFN do not speak for his band.
I believe the AFN chiefs — not only Atleo but also his executive committee — have their own political problem on their hands. If Canada negotiates with First Nations leaders, which are the First Nations leaders that can claim to be the legitimate leaders of their peoples? Is it a leader who wins a majority of votes from a handful of chiefs? From one chief who wins a majority of votes from one in his or her community? Or from those with more Twitter followers than their opponents?
Harper has his majority government and the full power of the Canadian state on his side at least until 2015.
Stephen Harper is not scared one bit by this silly stuff, he agreed to a meeting so he can have something to stand on when the Libs/NDP attack. Not only does he have his majority government and the full power of the Canadian state as you say, he has the backing of most Canadians (and Quebeckers, for once!) on this issue. Do NOT negotiate with these people; like Palmeter herself said, their movement was never about a meeting, they are not interested in solutions, only disruption and extortion. The good thing is that it’s going to backfire on them big time when omnibus 2013 comes along. OTOH it’s kind of sad for the responsible first nations out there who got stuck supporting a radical movement they did not fully understand.
how many tiers of politics do I see. The ground swell will wash Shawn Atleo away, he is weak. He appears that way to many. This is a righteous cause with no room for those trained in legalese. He is a quagmire in it’s making.
Harper did not win the election as many have claimed. The vote fraud ought to have been thoroughly resolved before one piece of legislation was passed.
The Conservatives only narrowly won their majority by 6,201 votes in 14 ridings. Consider this deeply; 20 Sep 2012 – The widespread accounts of electoral fraud and voter suppression in the 2011 federal election are now a major volume in Canadian electoral history.
“he has the backing of most Canadians (and Quebeckers, for once!)”?? Prove it…in the meantime, I’m heading over to our peaceful protest site to enjoy the company of my people and the citizens of our surrounding non-FN communities (whose big concern seems to be the lack of protection for their environment – they seem to distrust the Harper Government as much as we do…go figure)
Get rid of Atleo….he’s in that position for his own good. We understand everything we are fighting for, nobody is stuck in this movement, everybody is involved for their own reasons. It is about the taking care of the land, water and resources for future generations to come for both native and non-native.
Pamela Palmeter should definately head the team! Go Girl!!! 😀
Drama Queen Spence is a waste of time
I was at the AFN Election and had considered voting for Pam, it was when I witnessed her acting holier than thou in the hallway with even her supporters, then when Shawn was elected back in by a huge margin, the way she rudely snubbed him afterwards confirmed that I was voting right by choosing Shawn over her, now for her to use this to make herself look better doesn’t surprise me one bit. She is young and I believe someday she will look back at her actions and will not be the least bit shocked at her position slipping to this day. Shame on her.
people who feel entitled to live off the fat of the land and do as they want are really just welfare bums who very seldom put their country first
our ancesstors solved this problem by insisting on no workee not eatee
so many so-called canadian indians and quebecois live just like the rest of us and contribute to society, I wonder if an honest dna study would show we are all the same – remember in the states dna could not predict the colour of skin – really believe a lot of these welfare bums seeking to screw us would get a surprise if we told them what their dna tells us, i.e. they are just like the rest of the population, nothing special
often wonder if our main problem is academics, doogooders and politicians helping welfare bums as a way of making a living
Being First Nation from BC, I find it pretty embarrassing to read about all this internal political bs going on at the AFN level. Who is suffering in the end while you people publicly cry over spilt milk? It is our children. Leaders who have an issue with Atleo need to hatch out privately at the AFN level. Chief Spence has put her life on the line and I feel she needs all the support she can get. Focus on the Jan 11th meeting and get results from PM and his crew.
“, he has the backing of most Canadians (and Quebeckers, for once!) on this issue”
Where the heck do you get this info C Martin?
Thousands have signed petitions in the past weeks asking him to have a meeting and thousands have emailed him requesting he address First Nations issues.
I didnot see any petitions to the contrary.
As for First Nations and differences of opinions amongst themselves, I hope they have a talking circle and are able to establish a cohesive accord
militant? no where in your article have you shown or proven first nations’ so-called militancy. are we militant because we peacefully stand up to a government that has supported such wide ranging destruction to our lands? we, as humans, have been given the gift of responsibility to the land. the gift. when you begin to see it from that point of view, then maybe you can see why so many thousands of people are taking on this duty to protect our mother earth. we are the only species on the planet that is capable of altering the planet to such a degree. it’s time we all take that gift of responsibility more seriously.
I for one do not trust the government requesting AFN executive and an AFN Delegate to attend the meeting. My question is, since when did AFN represented us in Treaty Negotiations? Never, it was the traditional territory that did the negotiations, so why are each treaty present in this meeting? So for us grassroots people to be treated equally, we are with Idle No More all the way until we are fully heard regarding traditional territory land, resources and especially our children’s future.
Harper always said we will not deal with terrorists.So will likely listen to what they got to say then have the matter fall on deaf ears and move on without giving into demands.
It’s the way the system is organized, Akin, that permits you to play the divide and conquer card so well. If only the FN chiefs could realize that. As you well know, the AFN only represents the reservations, and Atleo was “elected” by the chiefs of those reservations. Spence is one of those chiefs. Pam Palmater was a losing candidate in the last recent AFN election. It’s all politics. Native politicians are no different than non-Native politicians.
I don’t hear any of them, for example, arguing for a democratically-elected, pan-Aboriginal government, one in which all od us get to vote, whether on- or off-reserve, status or non-status, Métis, Inuit, treaty, non-treaty. The Indian Act has created so many different classes of “Indians,” it is virtually guaranteed we will all be assimilated, unless these FN politicians accept that change is needed.
Never mind the fact that the majority of us do NOT live on the reserves, and we do NOT generally speaking, vote for the chiefs who, in turn, vote for the AFN chief. It’s all crazy. It drives me nuts.
Until these FN leaders ALL realize they are, themselves, perpetuating the very kinds of division and assimilation the Canadian government wants, we will simply keep losing everything, bit by bit. Eventually, there will be no more reservations, if Harper gets these bills passed.
We obviously, obvious to me anyway, need to unite all the Native peoples in Canada, as soon as these chiefs are able to get Harper to stop these bills. If they are able.
The lack of democratically-elected, centralized, pan-Aboriginal leadership makes it very easy for Harper and MSM like yourself to play divide and conquer.
When you play this game, I wonder if you realize the human cost? Is this really a zero sum game to you? Or can you all act like adults, for a change, and realize that if you want those pipelines built, you are going to have to finally make some huge concessions? Concessions like pan-Aboriginal parallel systems of government?
Or is institution-building and democracy something you only want to see established in places like Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Iran and Syria? It’s such a puzzle to me, this colonial imperialist mindset.
Martin and rest of you guys, come and try to stop us protesting, come on and stop us! We’ll protest all we want, we fought for treaty rights in wars with Crown and English etc., and we defeated them, and that’s how treaties were born, from war then peace and friendship. Harper breached both parliamentary protocols and debates and breach constitutionally protected treaty rights, so IdleNoMore grew to a Global movement and you nor anyone can stop us! We have 67% Canada backing us and the World is watching Canada with magnified glasses! Harper and allies created this mess and turned the Act of War when he breached our Treaties! NOT US!
I thought all native bands come together when another band is in distress
So why don’t wealthy native bands give some of their wealth to ATTAWAPISKAT Chief Spence.
Or for that matter why doesn’t chief spence ask wealthy native bands for money.
I can’t believe some of the drivel written here by the pro idle nitwits.It’s hilarious how ill informed they all are.