Your link is not working properly. It adds a few characters to the start of the correct website when it is clicked on.

That’s better.

Seems a bit hypocritical to be using a website to promote and communicate one’s cause when every recent (and past) protest has been about preserving traditional rights and cultures re trapping, hunting, fishing, etc.

If aboriginals want to be part of the 21st century–and they ABSOLUTELY should, as equal citizens of Canada–then you can’t have it both ways. By all means, please embrace technology and embrace progress. But that also means embracing higher education, embracing working for industries that create opportunities for innovation and employment, respecting the rights of other Canadians to ship freight travel unimpeded on roadways & railways to get to those jobs that pay for progress, paying your fair share of taxes, etc.

If you are willing to recognize that maybe a website is a far superior means of communication than smoke signals, then you should be able to recognize that 200 years of handouts on the premise of “protecting the old ways” is not working and start being part of the solution instead of just trying to shut down Canada to collect on some ancient promise from Queen Victoria!!

EX Pat – PGres, Well I think your a bit harse on your commentaries. There are a lot of good first nation people that are immersed in our society, and have worked hard and excelled. They left the reserves and buried themselves into the community and pay taxes, even if they don’t have too. Why, because these first nation people wants to be Canadian first, no different than the Polish people that came to Canada 100 years ago. We accept Polish tradition in our Canadian Society, so why can’t we accept first nation tradition.

Believe me, the first nation treats their elders with a lot more respect than most white people treat their parents. Maybe we can learn something valuable from these people.

So if you want to rid of all tradional ways. Are you willing to give up Christmas and Easter as well. No, your just being a racist to their belief because it is a popular thing to do.

Hanging onto traditions, is remembering history. Remembering history is so we do not make the same mistake again.

“200 years of handouts”

You know, if you want to write something that people can at least start to buy into based on facts, get your facts right.

Canada has only existed since 1867, and BC was not even part of it then.

200 years ago Fraser was travelling these parts and, unless resisted by the then inhabitants of this area, was going about his business unimpeded and, if any handouts were given it was by those who called this home to those who had yet to do that unnilaterally and uninvited.

In terms of time, that really is a very short time period. In matter of fact, it is just about as long as my mother’s side of the family have had their family business.

By that time the Hudson Bay Company had been taking from the aboriginals in North America for over 100 years.

Speaking of Polish people in Canada.

http://www.polishheritage.ca/home.aspx

You are being far too soft on ExPat-PGRes.

That poster is simply a racist …..

“the 100th anniversary of their being forced from their village”

Conveniently ignored by everyone so far ……

“Believe me, the first nation treats their elders with a lot more respect than most white people treat their parents”.

Ya right from first hand experience I see you have no knowledge of the above except fairy tales.

Racist, racist, racist….

And therein lies the rub. For every hard working aboriginal in Canada who wants to be a viable part of an equal society…there’s a liberal apologist like Gus endorsing the actions of aboriginal lawbreakers who’d rather complain about Harper and big business then do something about their corrupt chiefs. And anybody who dares open their eyes to the problem and speak out is a racist, according to Gus and the CBC!

Convenient label for the overtaxed middle class Canadian who is sick of seeing RCMP turn a blind eye to lawbreaking…chiefs and lawyers line their pockets…and no accountability for billions in tax dollars to a broken system. Most Canadians are as appreciative of Native pride and heritage as they are their own European, Asian or African culture. Doesn’t mean they expect continually increased taxpayer cash-flow to support those traditions while continuing to enjoy all modern day progress has afforded them.

“endorsing the actions of aboriginal lawbreakers”

Give irt break with putting words in my and other people’s mouths. Keep your opinions to your own device and let others express theirs

Show some respect for others no matter what colour, belief, etc …

Hey, how about doing something about so-called self interested non-aboriginal politicians…

“Doesn’t mean they expect continually increased taxpayer cash-flow to support those traditions”

Traditions … do you even know what a tradition is?

Our tradition is to enjoy the written word. As part of that tradition we enjoy publically funded libraries.

Our tradition is to play a variety of sports. We enjoy the publically funded arenas, tennis courts and other recreational facilities both competitive and non competitive.

We even go so far as to condone corporations to take part of the money we pay them for products to feed it into naming arenas to help cover operational costs and media to broadcast on radio and TV.

In doing such things, we support such endeavors whether we individuals participate in those activities or not.

It is what is called society.

The way I look at it, we took the land. In our world we have to pay for that. Our 4 fathers forgot about that one thing and one of those 4 fathers even thought they could beat it out of the kids if they were removed from their homes and brought to a central place for brainwashing.

So tell me, what did your parents do to you to make you so bitter about this?

Gus, better to be silent and be thought a hypocrite than to set fingers to keyboard and remove all doubt:

Post 1: “that poster is simply a racist”

Post 2: “show some respect for others no matter what belief”

Hmmm, glaring disconnect? Or do you consider it respectful to nonchalantly toss out the racist card?

To answer your question, my parents or upbringing have nothing to do with my opinions (which I might add, are shared by about 95% of the Canadian population, if the CBC news thread comments are any indication). Honestly, I’m not even that bitter about the whole thing–fact is, even with the far too much I pay in taxes each year my lifestyle is comfortable and I have no complaints. If the FN situation in Canada were to never change in the next 50 years, it would be but a mild political annoyance in my life–unless of course I was inconvenienced by an actual blockade.

I just hate hypocrisy. You talk about tradition. Every other immigrant society to Canada has been able to entrench and embrace their culture and traditions (think mosques, gudwaras, etc.) while still functioning in and contributing to a better Canada. Yet too many FN want their cake and eat it too. Lash out at the government and big corporations that are allegedly stripping their land for profit and greed, denying them their ability to hunt and fish as they did decades or centuries ago…yet at the same time wanting the iPhones and the websites and gas-powered vehicles that they use to organize illegal blockades against the very corportions that brought them those conveniences in the first place!!!

We need to have some sober reflection on this issue in order to better understand it.

I think that we can say without any doubt, that the Canadian Government, and therefore the Canadian people have done very little to solve the problems with the FN. In fact a case could be made to show that we exacerbated the problem.

As far as I know, there were no treaties signed in BC with the FN until recently, and there are a number of Groups that have not yet signed. This is taking place as we speak. In other parts of the Country treaties were signed hundreds of years ago, and it seems that the FN in those areas want to get more out of these agreements than they did at the time of signing.

We have the Government on the one, hand and the FN Chiefs and Leaders on the other hand, and stuck in the middle with no proper representation from either side are the average FN. They are being royally screwed, and have been for many many years.

Most people I talk to do not have a clue about the history of the FN, and in fact do not have a clue about Canadian history, and at best can just repeat what they see on TV, or read in a newpaper.

Many Canadians have this Comic Book, Western Movie, TV Drama, idea of what a Canadian is, and what our history is. The fact of the matter is most of them know diddly squat. Canadian history when it comes to dealing with FN or Womens issues, etc; are not all that good.

Our biggest problem is that we tend to beleive our own BS.

Anyone who beleives that the FN have not been hard done by in Canada, by both the Canadian Government and their own people has no idea what this whole issue is about.

We need to stay on top of this issue, keep an open mind, and try to find a solution. At the end of the day, thats not a lot to ask.

With regard to treaties, the history is quite interesting. James Douglas, the first governor of the colony of Vancouver Island, signed treaties with a number of First Nations in the Victoria area. This he was explicitly instructed to do by Lord Lytton, the Colonial Secretary, who insisted that no land could be acquired except by treaty with its owners. However, this practice was discontinued, and no treaties were negotiated anywhere else in BC, with the exception of the Northeast, which was included in Treaty 8, until the Nisga’a treaty, in spite of the repeated requests of First Nations to do so. The refusal to negotiate was the deliberate policy of BC and Canada. Canada even made it a crime to hire a lawyer to pursue land claims.

Furthermore, when BC entered the Dominion, it certified to Canada that Indian land claims had been satisfied and that reserve allocations met minimum standards. This was false, and they knew it: the provincial government committed a deliberate fraud.

Although there has been considerable activity in recent years, few treaties have actually been signed. Outside of the main process, the Nisga’a treaty was signed and McLeod Lake, which had been overlooked back in the day, adhered to Treaty 8. Only two other treaties have been completed: Tsawassen and Maa-nulth. Another six have attained an Agreement in Principle but have not finalized a treaty. In sum, the great majority of BC First Nations have never signed a treaty.

By the way, the Colonial Secretary Lord Lytton is better known as Edward Bulwer-Lytton, author of the much maligned passage that begins: “It was a dark and stormy night…”.

EXPAT””I just hate hypocrisy. You talk about tradition. Every other immigrant society to Canada has been able to entrench and embrace their culture and traditions (think mosques, gudwaras, etc.) while still functioning in and contributing to a better Canada. Yet too many FN want their cake and eat it too. Lash out at the government and big corporations that are allegedly stripping their land for profit and greed, denying them their ability to hunt and fish as they did decades or centuries ago…yet at the same time wanting the iPhones and the websites and gas-powered vehicles that they use to organize illegal blockades against the very corportions that brought them those conveniences in the first place!!!””

Keep going EXPAT your obvious prejudices are shining a light on your racist view points. You conveniently neglect to point out that all those other “immigrant” cultures you mention were not put into concentration camps [reserves], beaten, raped, murdered, starved to death, arrested for practicing their culture….and the list goes on and on and on.

I’ll be looking forward to spending some time at this annual elders gathering, which by the way is what this blog is about. ;-)

Ohhh wowwww FN again??? Probably a white guy that developed that website.. Yesss they all pay taxes off reserve. They even pay city tax and taxes at all the stores they shop at that’s owned by other than FN. They are just like everyone else.. They got got a better tan than most people

Anyhow…. does anyone care my roads not plowed yet?? yaaa City… Go get a lawyer

The past is the past,I like FN Elders, Its the young people ,all young people ,that I have a problem with having respect for Elders and thinking the world owes them a living. I was thinking of taking part in this event, then I read the theme . I think Chief Frederick wants to stir up trouble, instead of making this a HAPPY event that we all can take part in.

I have the Book, the History of Prince George By Rev. Runnalls in l946. In the Book he states the property in question was sold for $l25.000 with Father Coccola acting as an agent for the Band in about l913. That was a lot of Money back then.

Strictly speaking, the purchase price was $100,000, with the additional $25,000 provided for the cost of new buildings to which to relocate on IR#2. The construction costs ran to $29,000, and although the construction was entirely under the control of Indian Affairs and the over-run their responsibility, $4,000 was deducted from the purchase price.

I am unclear as to whether the band actually received the entire amount. Half of it was supposed to be held in trust for the band by Indian Affairs. I wonder what ever happened to that.

Father Coccola was not exactly an agent for the band, if by that you mean someone whose role was to act only in the interest of the band. He mediated, and did play a role in getting a better price, but he was working both sides, as it were, and offered his assistance only on the condition that the band agree to relocate, which it was reluctant to do.

Frederick should invite all of us white elders too. We know what happened and we are sympathetic but if you don’t involve us, we can’t help. Don’t close the doors to everyone else — that’s losing the battle before the first shot is fired. You need support from the white community to succeed.

An interesting range of comments, but some people are too quick to label others as racist, simply for stating an opinion.
In the true spirit of friendship, surely people of all creeds and colours will be welcome at the elders gathering.
metalman.