February 23, 2015

Thomas Mulcair NDP Canada300 - 279 Laurier WestOttawa, Ontario K1P 5J9

Re: Interviews regarding Bill C-51

She:kon Thomas

I would like to call your attention to the importance of language when speaking on

Indigenous issues. Keep in mind; our histories and stories are oral traditions. Therefore,

the nuances of language take on especial importance towards accuracy and understanding.

In the interview with Evan Solomon, you made the statement “Our First Nations Groups” or

it may have been “Are First Nations Groups”. I listened several times and was unsure what

the wording happened to be. Whenever Canadian politicians speak on indigenous issues

and use the possessive adjective “our” when talking about Indigenous people, it strips us of

our identity as sovereign Nations. Packed into this action is the denial of our Inherent and

Treaty rights because it is impossible to be both Canadian and in a treaty relationship with

yourself when you consider the implied understanding that no sovereignty exists.

With this understanding you can see that the phrases “Our First Nations”, “Our Aboriginal

Canadians” are phrases loaded with the intention of colonial control and oppression.

The use of the term First Nations groups makes us sound like the Rotary Club or the Odd

Fellows. Again, we need to look at this and what it speaks to with the notion of Indigenous

Sovereignty. A group is not a recognizable sovereign entity. It is ambiguous at best in

expressing what you might mean and it distances the subject of your point from their

Inherent and Treaty rights.

If, in fact you wish to name a group whose composition includes multiple Indigenous

Nations, say the name; like, Idle No More.

In the interview with Tom Clark on Global, you threw in the words Inherent Rights and

Treaty Rights like they were a check box on a list of talking points. Listening to the

interview, I had the feeling that it is a scripted item to get out when talking Indigenous

issues. I found myself thinking “Does he really understand the concepts of these rights and

that in accepting these rights in the full spirit and intent, it acknowledges our individual

sovereignties as distinct Nations including the right to self-govern as is true with any

sovereign Nation? Does he really mean this or are these words meant to recognize the

issues, pacify Indigenous opposition to inaction on these issues, and create space for more

inaction?”

These thoughts on what you might mean when you threw the words Inherent Rights and

Treaty Rights into the interview triggered addition thoughts. I would like to know these

things: What is the NDP position on the Comprehensive Land Claims legislation and the

clauses that extinguish Indigenous Rights? What is the NDP position on Indigenous Self-

Government legislation that again extinguishes Indigenous Rights and future claims? Does

the NDP understand these policies and legislation are racist and deny Indigenous pre-

existing right as recognized and acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

It is hard to address the issue of Indigenous sovereignty across all Indigenous Nations on

Turtle Island because each Nation has nuances in the collective understanding of what this

means. Ask a Woodland Cree or a Mohawk what they understand sovereignty to mean and

you will get at least two different answers. Further muddying the waters by using the word

“group of First Nation” makes the whole discussion of our rights impossible

This does not serve the improvement of conversation between Canada and First Nations.

I have raised this very issue with the group Canadians For a New Partnership. I refused to

sign their Declaration because it makes this same mistake of denying Sovereignty, Inherent

Rights and Treaty Rights in the first paragraph of the Declaration “Aboriginal and non-

Aboriginal peoples of this country”. This phrase denies sovereignty and effectively denies

Inherent and Treaty rights. We are not “of this country” but of our own individual and

sovereign Nations

I have also raised this matter with the ex-Prime Ministers individually.

I have not received a reply from any of them including CFNP.

In my work of combating systemic institutional racism and racist commentary, denial of

Indigenous Inherent rights and Treaty rights is the single most frequent and endemic

feature of both policies and legislation. It is also a primary “hot button” in racist

commentary directed at Indigenous People. Stemming out of this is denial of sovereignty

and any notion of our right to self-governance. This is consistent in every instance of

Canada/Indigenous relations since the founding of the nation state Canada. Any actions

that feed into these ideas and the institutional ideology that makes racism systemic in

Canada further oppresses Indigenous Nations and the individuals that comprise these

Nations.

This book provides a concise presentation differentiating human rights from Inherent and

Treaty rights of Indigenous People.

http://arpbooks.org/books/detail/aboriginal-rights-are-not-human-rights

The links to the two interviews are below.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/debate-over-anti-terrorism-bill-heats-up-1.2964920/

tom-mulcair-criticizes-anti-terrorism-bill-1.2964998

http://globalnews.ca/news/1843737/given-the-power-mulcair-would-amend-anti-terror-

bill-not-repeal-it/

These are my opinions only. I am not a leader and I cannot speak for others without their

approval. Nia:wen.

Ó:nen ki' wáhi

Kim Weaver

Turtle Clan

Mohawk Nation