Attawapiskat - Mental Health Workers

[Graham Adder]

"The "indian band councils" of which you speak, do not exist."

My native step daughter will disagree with you on that one - vehemently. As will her in-laws and my ex-wife.

which is fine by me
I love having people disagree with me
it makes for better dialogue

Let's hear from these people.
Can you invite them to the party, or do you feel you speak on their behalf?

I suspect that if you present them with the idea that an Indian Band Council controls the parents of their youth, you'll be unpleasantly tuned in from your posse. No such Indian Band Council exists.

The NATION of FIRST PEOPLE I come from does not use Indian in their terminology.

We aren't from India. It's time to change that idiocy, don't ya think?

The Nation of First People from which I come are not unlike most First Nations people in this country in that we choose to deny use of your ignorance based terminology that is offensive to both the Native First Peoples of North America as well as people from India. They are Indian. I am not, and neither are your step daughter, her in-laws or your ex-wife I suspect.

[dontrump]

OKIB doesn't stand for Indian Band Council.

no and I never said it did ?Its stands for Okanagan indian band and they in turn have a indian band council

[Frisk]

Try to stay on topic please!

[Muzza]

which is fine by me
I love having people disagree with me
it makes for better dialogue

Let's hear from these people.
Can you invite them to the party, or do you feel you speak on their behalf?

I suspect that if you present them with the idea that an Indian Band Council controls the parents of their youth, you'll be unpleasantly tuned in from your posse. No such Indian Band Council exists.

The NATION of FIRST PEOPLE I come from does not use Indian in their terminology.

We aren't from India. It's time to change that idiocy, don't ya think?

The Nation of First People from which I come are not unlike most First Nations people in this country in that we choose to deny use of your ignorance based terminology that is offensive to both the Native First Peoples of North America as well as people from India. They are Indian. I am not, and neither are your step daughter, her in-laws or your ex-wife I suspect.

The "Indian Band Councils" was cut and pasted from your quote, so don't try to deflect it on me. I have never called my ex-wife or my step-kids "Indian" and never will. Obviously I struck a nerve by posting the truth, so you come out attacking me, trying to make it sound like I said things that I did not say.

According to my step kids who live on the reserve, as well as my ex-wife who lived on reserve for part of her life all say the same. There is corruption on their reserves. They have complained to me numerous times about the chief and his cronies living the high life with their brand new SUVs while they live in shacks. And I have seen it first hand.

That said, there are definitely many very good band councils who do run things above board and treat their members with respect. I imagine the majority are well run. However, one corrupt band council is one too many.

As to getting my step kids and ex to contribute, I wish I could make them. I think the members of the bands where there is corruption should speak out more, but I fear it isn't going to happen, at least not any time soon. That is why Harper was on the right track by making the bands more accountable financially. At least it was a start.

[dontrump]

A real good fiction movie series on ATP called Blackstone (made in Alberta) is a real good take on how corrupt most indian band councils and chiefs really are

[Graham Adder]

I have never called my ex-wife or my step-kids "Indian" and never will. That's great. Thanks for that. Sincerely. Obviously I struck a nerve by posting the truth, so you come out attacking me, trying to make it sound like I said things that I did not say. Not my intent. My apologies for presenting myself as an attacker toward you. It was also not my intent to make it seem that you said things you did not say.

According to my step kids who live on the reserve, as well as my ex-wife who lived on reserve for part of her life all say the same. There is corruption on their reserves. They have complained to me numerous times about the chief and his cronies living the high life with their brand new SUVs while they live in shacks. And I have seen it first hand. I've seen this too. This is a rampant situation across the country. Most reservations (isn't that a disgusting term for a Native Community?) have corruption at their core without doubt. I hope you can see this is not a fault of the Natives, but rather a fault of humans. These disgusting traits we see have been patterned into their being. It can be changed. It takes education, experience and a commitment by those in and those out to see things through, rather than the systematic means of dumping funds to cover the filth. Even the funds turn to compost in that environment. I agree entirely with this segment of your post and will not deny for a nano-second that you have both seen and heard this from your sources.

That said, there are definitely many very good band councils who do run things above board and treat their members with respect. I imagine the majority are well run. However, one corrupt band council is one too many. I only wish the majority were run clean. Not the case. I agree there are many examples of doing it right. Osoyoos might have one of the more "famous" res templates we see today, but there are certainly others. I wish there was a way to get ALL native Bands onboard to take up applicable training. Not just passing a GED exam, but real tangible secondary education that can help the leaders of thse micro-nations to lead by better example. They need to be educated themselves. This is obvious. It goes beyond the education of numbers, letters and dates. It needs to be an eye opener. Something to awaken them to this new world we have to live on within.

As Clarence Louie says, they need to understand that Natives can still hunt, fish and gather from the land to create sustenance for their people. They just have to focus on a new game. Hunt for, fish for and gather investment into their culture, lands and people. They've got it all. They've got the skills. They've got the lands. They've got ancient knowledge. They've got spirit. They just need to integrate all of those qualities into one force that drives them to rise proud in the face of new challenges.

As to getting my step kids and ex to contribute, I wish I could make them. I think the members of the bands where there is corruption should speak out more, but I fear it isn't going to happen, at least not any time soon. That is why Harper was on the right track by making the bands more accountable financially. At least it was a start. Might I suggest looking at your first line a bit different? Don't wish you could make another person do anything. That's control. Nobody likes to be controlled. It may not be your intent, but the language around that wish casts a shadow you don't want to cast I'm sure. I too wish Natives had louder voices to be heard within their own. To be able to speak loud and proud against those within their ranks that abuse and use. They have been broken. Please understand what that5 means in the big picture. It's virtually impossible for most Native elders to speak loud, as they have been crushed into having no voice. Now, the offspring of the direct victims of residential schools and forced labor, systematic abuse and attempted racial genocide are left to try to speak, but they were never given a voice by their broken parents and elders. I know this first hand. It took me decades to find my own voice. Now that I use it, it often pisses folks off because I have so much to say, so many questions to ask and so many expectations in our future, and to those who hold the keys. That's us. You and I. I'm not going to return a comment regarding Harper, and honestly I wish you'd not even made mention of his name.
This thread doesn't need to be another "crackhead at the crosswalk" thread, swinging from left to right, right to left, away from center and back from left to right then right to left again.