Lots of things to respond to, and will only flag some of them here:
-- yes -- DO remember the Miskitos of Nicaragua (and try to see past your
own rather threadbare agenda); try to see that the Miskitos have some
meaning apart from where they may fit into your own "causes" and you
might have a chance to understand something about native people in
Quebec
-- The glowing account of Quebec's record puts lots of emphasis on
promises and PR ploys; this surely makes Quebec different (and better?)
than other jurisdictions in Canada
-- A funny feature -- which has reappeared so often in your statements as
to be a dead giveaway -- is the constant reference to Manitoba as a yardstick.
Lots of folks might want to know what is so special about Manitoba, and I
think your point is probably lost if you are addressing a largley US
audience. Why don't you go ahead and make explicit what lurks behind the
smoke, namely, the fact that it was the vote in the Manitoba legislature
that held up the approval of the Meech Lake accord, which was largely through
the efforts of Elijah Harper -- a native member of the provincial legislature
who blocked the approval by refusing to suspend parliamentary rules? As itr
is, I suspect you're wasting some ideological ammunition....
-- You might, in your anxiety to paint a rosy picture of native life in
Quebec, draw your readers' attention to a map and some constitutional
realities in Canada. The appropriate reference for comparison in the
case of the James Bay Cree and neighbouring Inuit is not some other
provincial jurisdiction, but in fact the Northwest Territories. This
is the right comparison to make on historical (look into why provincial
authorities run in northern Quebec what might otherwise be federal affairs
in the arctic and subarctic, for example), geographical, and political
grounds. Now you might also want to answer questions like whether the
degree of autonomy native people in northern Quebec enjoy is similar to
(less than, more than) that enjoyed by native people in similar latitudes
in Canada, hmmm? And perhaps you'd also like to explain why Quebec has
dug in its heels -- in both federalist and separatist incarnations -- on
the processes leading to the formation of new provinces, an eventuality
which would open the door to a reconfigured Northwest Territories as the
first native-run provincial jurisdiction (with great sentiment in the N
Quebec side for amalgamation).
-- What I really get a kick out of is the notion that you -- as many
pequistes as well -- would like to have your cake, eat it too, and then
scarf up somebody else's. Fly the "progressive" flag (you had a look at
Parizeau lately???) and get the lefties lined up, stressing the line that
Stalin loved so much and the Belgrade boys adore, the line that says that
petty minority issues must take a backseat to moving into the bright future
afforded by your utopia -- here ethnic identity, etc, is only a distraction
and kind of false consciousness (Miskito don't count because they were not
really progressive; by the way, where was *their* share of Ortega's pinata?)
that just hold things up. *Then* you can move to the image of downtrodden
Quebec throwing off the anglophone yoke and realizing her true destiny in
the family of nations. And, when you get past that one, *then* you get to
disqualify native folks and lean on immigrants for speaking the wrong
language or being a couple of shades too dark. Really slick, ace.
I've heard of forked tongues, but....