And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 09:43:37 -0400
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Lynne Moss-Sharman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: AFN - NCAI
July 09, 1999
Natives to realize dream of Tecumseh
Almost 900 bands and tribes from Canada, U.S. plan mighty political union
Rick Mofina The Ottawa Citizen
Native leaders from Canada and the U.S. will sign an unprecedented
political accord as a stepping stone to a formal union when they meet this
month in Vancouver, fulfilling war chief Tecumseh's dream of an alliance of
all tribes.
Representatives of indigenous people from Mexico and Central and South
America will also attend, not only to observe, but to be included
eventually in the new political nation.
The political union of the Ottawa-based Assembly of First Nations and the
National Congress of American Indians will emerge when the AFN holds its
annual conference July 20-23.
It will mark the first time the two groups have met in a formal structure.
The aim is to build an entity representing the concerns of First Nations
people of Canada and all Indian tribes of the U.S., and to evolve to
encompass all indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere.
"It's a way to approach major organizations, such as the United Nations,
with a more concerted, united front on common issues," AFN spokesman Jean
LaRose said yesterday.
Consider such an alliance taking the issue of land claims to an
international agency. "It would obviously give the argument more weight
before such a body as the UN," Mr. LaRose said.
Exact details of the accord are still being drafted, but the hope is to
create "an evolving document" as a starting point from which to work.
"From there, we hope to establish the formal structures to further the
working relationships," Mr. LaRose said.
The new political alliance could address such issues as housing, health,
poverty, trade, culture and human rights. It might even see the emergence
of ambassadors, dispatched from various regions to others to help
co-ordinate various matters.
Last month, AFN national chief Phil Fontaine and other Canadian chiefs
asked the UN to create a permanent agency to advise the world body on
indigenous issues during an unprecedented meeting with Secretary General
Kofi Annan.
The AFN represents 633 First Nations in Canada. The National Congress of
American Indians has 250 member tribes in the U.S. That figure accounts for
about half of the tribes in the U.S. Together, they represent almost 1.5
million people.
"There's a lot to be learned by joining forces," said Joe Garcia, a
vice-president with the National Congress of American Indians, who will be
a delegate at the Vancouver conference.
"There are common issues to talk about, like the misunderstanding of Indian
people and how we battle the problem."
For years, Indians in North America have been trying to form coalitions but
endured internal and external problems, Mr. Garcia said from San Juan
Pueblo, New Mexico.
In Canada, the 1927 Indian Act outlawed aboriginal political organizations
and established residential schools which embarked on enforced assimilation.
It was the dream of Shawnee war chief Tecumseh to form an alliance of
Indian tribes.
Born in what is now Thamesville, Ont., Tecumseh was betrayed by the British
government, which had abandoned him at the battle of Moraviantown on Oct.
5, 1813. Tecumseh was killed in the fighting against the Americans, and his
dream of an Indian nation was never realized.
Some 4,000 delegates are expected at the AFN's convention, of which about
half will be from the United States. Nearly 50 delegates from Mexico and
Central and South America are also expected to participate.
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks
www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html
FOR K A R E N #01182
who died fighting 4/23/99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
807-622-5407
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
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