Mailing address:
3536 - 106 Street
Edmonton, AB T6J 1A4
403-436-5652
FAX: 403-437-0719
August 19, 1992
The 8th Annual Meeting of Native American Support Groups was held
this year on July 22 through 25 in Genoa, Italy.
The Lubicon people were represented at the meeting by Larry and
Alphonse Ominayak supported by Lubicon advisor Fred Lennarson.
Attached for your information is a copy of an action resolution
passed unanimously by meeting participants representing thirteen
European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The resolution is interesting in that it tries to provide in the
WHEREAS clauses the information required to take the actions called
for in the THEREFORE clauses.
* * * * *
8th European Meeting of Native American Support Groups
July 22-25, 1992, Genova, Italy
Resolution on the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation
WHEREAS in 1899 the Government of Canada made a treaty purporting to
extinguish aboriginal land rights with the aboriginal peoples in the
area surrounding the traditional Lubicon territory;
AND WHEREAS traditional Lubicon lands were isolated, inaccessible and
geographically unknown to the Government of Canada at the time that
the Government of Canada made treaty with the aboriginal peoples in
the area surrounding the traditional Lubicon territory;
AND WHEREAS the Lubicon people were consequently missed by the
Canadian Government treaty-making party, have never signed a treaty
with the Government of Canada even purporting to extinguish Lubicon
ownership of traditional Lubicon lands and therefore retain unceded
aboriginal title to traditional Lubicon lands;
AND WHEREAS in 1930 the Government of Canada purported to transfer
ownership of a large area which included the unceded traditional
Lubicon territory to the Alberta Provincial Government;
AND WHEREAS in 1978-79 the Alberta Provincial Government completed
construction of an all-weather road into the unceded traditional
Lubicon territory for the purpose of opening-up the unceded Lubicon
territory for exploration and exploitation of gas and oil resources;
AND WHEREAS the value of gas and oil resources being extracted from
the unceded Lubicon territory since 1978-79 by oil companies working
under leases and licenses granted to them by the Alberta Provincial
Government amounts to an estimated $500 million Canadian annually;
AND WHEREAS this massive exploitation of resources from unceded
Lubicon territory without Lubicon permission and over the protest of
the Lubicon people has destroyed the traditional Lubicon economy and
way of life and threatens the very existence of the Lubicon society;
AND WHEREAS the consequences of destroying the traditional Lubicon
economy and way of life include 90% plus welfare rates, family break-
down, a dramatic increase in still-born and prematurely born babies,
a tuberculosis epidemic which infected over a third of the Lubicon
people and all manner of unnatural, often alcohol-related violent
death;
AND WHEREAS after studying the worsening plight of the Lubicon people
the World Council of Churches rightly charged that the Alberta
Provincial Government and its oil company cronies are taking actions
in the unceded Lubicon territory which could have genocidal
consequences for the Lubicon people;
AND WHEREAS after studying repeated Lubicon efforts to achieve
redress for their plight working through normal Canadian legal and
political institutions the Human Rights Committee of the United
Nations rightly concluded that the Lubicon people could not achieve
effective legal or political redress from normal Canadian legal or
political institutions;
AND WHEREAS in February of 1988 the Alberta Provincial Government
sold the trees from a huge 45,000 sq. km. area which completely
blankets the unceded 10,000 sq. km. traditional Lubicon territory to
a Japanese forest industry giant called Daishowa;
AND WHEREAS Daishowa has since indicated that it plans to turn
Lubicon trees into dehydrated pulp at the rate of 1,000 metric tons
per day requiring the clear-cutting of about 11,000 Lubicon trees per
day;
AND WHEREAS after a massive public outcry Daishowa agreed in March of
1988 to stay out of the unceded Lubicon territory at least until
there is a settlement of outstanding Lubicon land rights and an
agreement negotiated between Daishowa and the Lubicon people
respecting Lubicon wildlife and environmental concerns;
AND WHEREAS in the fall of 1990 Daishowa attempted to circumvent its
agreement with the Lubicon people by sending sub-contractors and a
wholly-owned subsidiary into the unceded Lubicon territory to clear-
cut Lubicon trees;
AND WHEREAS the Lubicon people have publicly made clear many times
their firm conviction that they will be rendered extinct as a people
if on top of everything else they allow the clear-cutting of the
forest upon which they have historically depended for their survival;
AND WHEREAS the logging camp of a Daishowa sub-contractor engaged in
clear-cutting unceded Lubicon lands was raided and destroyed,
effectively shutting down logging operations in the unceded Lubicon
territory or the winter of 1990-91;
AND WHEREAS thirteen Lubicons have been charged with destruction of
the logging camp of the Daishowa sub-contractor and now face criminal
charges which could send each of them to jail for terms of up to 50
years;
AND WHEREAS in the spring of 1991 Daishowa publicly announced that it
had stayed out of the unceded Lubicon territory for as long as
possible and would have to start clear-cutting Lubicon trees in the
fall of 1991 or face the shut-down of sub-contractors and its wholly-
owned subsidiary who are reputedly obligated under Provincial law to
supply the Daishowa bleached kraft pulp mill with trees from the
unceded Lubicon territory;
AND WHEREAS Lubicon supporters from across Canada, Europe, Australia
and Japan responded to the re-newed Daishowa threat to clear-cut
Lubicon trees with demonstrations, a letter writing campaign and an
increasingly effective boycott of Daishowa paper products;
AND WHEREAS a thereby besieged Daishowa reacted to the international
STOP DAISHOWA campaign of Lubicon supporters by again temporarily
cancelling plans to clear-cut unceded Lubicon territory and by
publicly demanding the Canadian Government take action to resolve the
question of outstanding Lubicon land rights;
AND WHEREAS the Canadian Federal Minister of Indian Affairs
subsequently contacted the Lubicons and proposed behind-closed-door
negotiations which are in fact going nowhere but which both levels of
Canadian Government and Daishowa are publicly citing as evidence that
progress is being made and that therefore the STOP DAISHOWA campaign
should be called off;
AND WHEREAS the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Alberta
Provincial Legislature has now formally convened an independent, non-
partisan Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review consisting of
prominent Canadians and charged with publicly assessing the positions
of all parties to the Lubicon land dispute;
AND WHEREAS to-date only the Lubicons have agreed to appear before
the Lubicon Settlement Commission to publicly present their position
on the involved issues and to answer questions;
AND WHEREAS the Provincial Native Affairs Minister has refused to
appear before the Lubicon Settlement Commission and publicly answer
questions about the Provincial Government's position on Lubicon
settlement issues claiming falsely that the Provincial Government's
position on the issues is already a matter of public record;
AND WHEREAS the Federal Indian Affairs Minister has refused to appear
before the Lubicon Settlement Commission and publicly answer
questions about the Federal Government's position on the involved
issues claiming falsely that he has an agreement with the Lubicon
people not to comment publicly on supposed Lubicon negotiations;
NOW THEREFORE the participants of the 8th European Meeting of Native
American Support Groups concerned with Recognition and Respect for
the Rights of Aboriginal People, representing people from thirteen
European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom;
DO HEREBY RESOLVE:
1.) to continue pressing in every imaginable way the Governments of
Canada and Alberta to negotiate with the Lubicon people a fair
and just settlement of Lubicon land rights, such efforts to
include letter writing to Canadian political leaders and the
making of representations to Canadian Consulates and Canadian
politicians visiting European countries;
2.) to continue pressing European Governments and national and
international political organizations to keep raising the issue
of outstanding Lubicon land rights with Canadian politicians and
representatives of the Canadian Government, such European
political organizations to include the United Nations, the
European Parliament, the Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE), European political parties, aboriginal rights
organizations, human rights organizations and environmental
organizations;
3.) to continue the public education and information campaign on the
plight of the Lubicon people through the European media and
through on-going presentations in schools across Europe;
4.) to accelerate the international STOP DAISHOWA campaign until
there is a settlement of Lubicon land rights and an agreement
negotiated between the Lubicons and Daishowa respecting Lubicon
wildlife and environmental concerns, such efforts to include
letter writing to the Canadian Daishowa General Manager Tom
Hamaoka an the making of representations to Japanese Government
offices and major Japanese business interests across Europe;
5.) to write letters to Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and
Alberta Provincial Premier Don Getty demanding that they
instruct their Indian Affairs and Native Affairs Ministers to
appear before the Lubicon Settlement Commission and publicly
answer questions about the positions of their respective
Governments on Lubicon Settlement issues;
6.) to establish a Lubicon Monitoring Committee of concerned
European organizations to enable a speedy and effective response
to any changes in the evolving Lubicon situation, including the
possibility of another effort by Daishowa this fall to clear-cut
Lubicon trees.
Moved by: Michael Austin/Association for Endangered Peoples
(Austria)
Seconded by: Sigrun Rottman/ BMAG-Frankfurt (Germany)
Passed: Unanimously
Date: July 25, 1992
From: NativeNet@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Chairperson of the Meeting: Naila Clerici