/* Written 12:04 pm Jun 8, 1993 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.english */
Copyright 1993 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 05-Jun-93 ***
CANADA: NATIVE LEADER REMAINS UNDAUNTED BY GOVERNMENT POSITIONS
OTTAWA, Jun 5 (IPS) - Aboriginal peoples are well positioned to
achieve global recognition of their rights at this month's human
rights conference despite certain government positions, says a
Canadian native leader.
Meetings of aboriginal peoples from various regions this year
have secured consensus on key issues, making native peoples a force
to be reckoned with, said Konrad Sioui, chief of the Bear Clan of
the Huron-Wyandot nation.
Aboriginal peoples will seek recognition of a universal declaration
of the rights of indigenous peoples at the Jun. 13-25 World Conference
on Human Rights in Vienna.
"We've entered into treaties with many nations around the world,
and there's none of these treaties that have been recognised or respected
so far," Sioui said.
The Canadian government also says it will make the ratification
of an international charter for indigenous rights a high priority
at the conference.
But aboriginal groups here are distancing themselves from the
government, saying its international rhetoric is inconsistent with
its domestic record.
The major point of conflict, says Sioui, is that Canada has led
a campaign to have international bodies refer to aboriginals as
"populations" rather than distinct "peoples" or "nations" in order to
close the door on separatist movements.
"They've succeeded in convincing other nation-states of the world
that if they use the word 'peoples' when they talk about us, that
might break up their countries," said Sioui, the outgoing Executive
Director of the international affairs unit of Canada's Assembly of
First Nations (AFN).
But the native leader says the choice of words is crucial. He
said Canada's aboriginal peoples believe that recognition of their
enduring nationhood is essential to regaining control over their
land, resources and destinies.
A government official confirmed that Canada does not use the word
"peoples" internationally.
External Affairs Department spokesperson Denis Boulet says Canada
supports native self-determination if it takes into account the
inter-relationship with the existing state as well as the jurisdictions
that are established by mutual negotiation.
But the meaning of "peoples" under international law is unclear,
and could give unqualified sovereignty to indigenous people, Boulet
told IPS.
Sioui also suggested that indigenous peoples will push for independent
representation at the United Nations.
"The Secretary-General of the U.N. has said clearly that he will
restructure the United Nations, and we welcome that," said Sioui.
"We say, 'let's restructure it, and this time, let's not forget indigenous
people'.".
Sioui told a conference organised this week by the Canadian Human
Rights Commission there was a new understanding between aboriginal
peoples around the world, inspired partly by the example of Guatemalan
Indian activist Rigoberta Menchu.
"The best answer to the so-called discovery of our lands by Christopher
Columbus was to see our sister Rigoberta Menchu receiving the Nobel
Peace Prize in December," Sioui said. "It gives us hope and it gives
us something to believe in."
Sioui told IPS that aboriginal groups will take this hope to the
human rights conference in Vienna, along with a new resolve to
regain control over their own affairs.
There was agreement at the meeting organised by the Canadian Human
Rights Commission that aboriginal rights will not be fully respected
in Canada until the government and society recognise past injustices.
Journalist Geoffrey York, author of the book, 'The Dispossessed:
Life and Death in Native Canada', said "native people are...regarded
as fair game for verbal attack in the popular media" because social
problems on reserves are seen as the product of personal failing
rather than social injustice.
"But you can't understand the pathologies of these communities without
understanding their long histories of suffering from outside interference,"
said York.
"The history of hydro-dams and oil development, forced relocations
and mercury poisoning and dozens of other forms of arbitrary dislocation
have destroyed traditional economies and made people dependent on
welfare and alcohol," he said.
York said Canada's aboriginal people are understandably angry that
indigenous nations live in poverty while oil companies exploit their
lands. And they remember policies which as recently as the 1970s
took native children away from their families for placement in 'residential
schools' and foster homes, he said.
Historian Olive Dickason said the policies stemmed from the colonial
view that aboriginal people were "without law, without king, without
faith" and therefore had no rights.
Dickason said the British Columbia judge who recently turned down
a native land claim on the grounds that the tribes had no civilisation
"was repeating word for word what was said in the 16th century". (END)
Origin: New York/CANADA/
----
[c] 1993, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
All rights reserved
May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or
service outside of the APC networks, without specific
permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution
via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists,
print media and broadcast. For more information, send a
message to ips-info@igc.apc.org