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| Queen Victoria (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
We don't
see the Queen as having any say in how we conduct our business
today in Canada,
but since 1793 it has been the Crown with whom the
Indians have signed
binding treaties that affect them to this day.
This is
why Chief Spence is continuing her hunger strike until the
Governor General agrees to
attend the current discussions.
He
represents the Queen.
When you
hear talk of the numbered treaties, the speakers are referring to
treaties
that came after 1867.
Then as diseases like small pox and alcoholism raged at the same
time that their traditional food sources were drying up, they
seem
to have signed treaties in order to
get help.
of the various
main arteries that bring goods and services into the country.
They are pissed.
I would be
too.
They have been
treated abdominally.
But the truth is we can't afford to pay them the money that is owed
and we
can't give them back all that they lost.
***
10 comments:
The treaty obligations of the British Crown devolved on the Canadian Government when Canada became independent of Britain. The Queen and Governor-General have no role to play today in treaty matters. I think it's a mistake for aboriginal people to get side-tracked and hung up on this essentially non-issue. There are much more important points at stake here. The Canadian Government is who they need to deal with.
Not sure what you mean, Debra. Constitutionaly treaties are agreements between the Crown and Aboriginal people,I believe. I suspect they don't think it is a non-issue. The Cdn government doesn't see them as a separate nation. The Crown does,er did.
I don't blame them for being pissed either. Not sure how this will play out, but I hope it turns out okay.
You're right in stating that we can't afford to pay them anymore - nor should we be expected to! We have already paid enough for the 'sins of our father's'. Except for the older generation, I don't for a second believe that the Aboriginal people care about preserving their old way of life - they just use the idea of it to justify continuing to bleed us dry. Not sure how this can be solved, but, enough is enough.
I had no idea about any of this! seems we get little news about other countries here in the US.
I agree with Debra that the Queen and GG are irrelevant in this matter. The "crown" in this context is not the Queen. It is the Government of Canada.
It seems to me that we need to move toward integrating the native peoples into the mainstream, helping them become self-supporting members of society rather than wards of the state. Surely this would be a better path to achieving the human dignity to which they are entitled.
Note re; Jane's comment:
According to the treaties signed with the Brits we owe them billions of dollars. I wasn't referring to the paltry amount that they now receive that keeps them in despair. Legally, canada owes big time - and that is what they want. They want what is owed to them. This is a legitimate/legal claim. They are legally entitled to it. But we haven't got it.
Note re: Debra and Doug's comment:
Good luck with that.
I don't blame them either ...
I would be pretty pissed, too. And worried. There is nothing worse than a problem that is as obvious as the lack of solutions for it.
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