Legislation enforces use of Inuktitut
Ottawa rebuffs Atlantic Chief’s bid for apology
Kashechewan First Nation choose to remain on traditional homeland
Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame welcomes Harry Cook
Inuit already living with the reality of climate change
The man behind the Nobel Prize
Renowned Mi'kmaq Poet Rita Joe passes away at age 75
Legislation enforces use of Inuktitut
By Bob Weber
In move reminiscent of laws that changed Quebec forever, the government of Nunavut has introduced language legislation that would enforce the use of Inuktitut in public places from restaurants to schools to offices.
"What we'd like to do here is protect the Inuit language for the future," said Louis Tapardjuk, minister of Culture, Language, Education and Youth. "It will have an impact on all our children, families, communities, businesses, schools and governments."
Tapardjuk has introduced two language bills into the territorial legislature.
The Officials Languages Act declares French, English and Inuktitut to be Nunavut's official languages. The Inuit Language Protection Bill is intended to ensure the three languages remain on an equal footing by mandating the use of Inuktitut for signs and services.
The proposed law says organizations providing "essential services" would have to use Inuktitut signage "at least equally prominent with any other signage used."
However, essential services would include emergency services, health care, restaurants, hotels, utilities, telecommunications and other services deemed to be "essential as a result of their nature or consequences."
Tapardjuk acknowledges that covers almost everything in Nunavut.
"When we talk in terms of essential services it pretty well covers any hospitality industry as well as the retail sector. Any public or private institution will have to provide service to the public in Inuktitut as well as English or French."
The bill also maintains Inuit children have a right to be educated in Inuktitut, despite the shortage of curriculum materials in that language. It also provides for an office to determine official usages and coinages of new words.
Quebec's Bill 101, designed to govern the use of French in that province, was one of the inspirations for Nunavut's bill, said Tapardjuk.
"That was the direction Nunavut wanted to take," he said.
As in Quebec, Inuktitut is in danger of being swamped by English.
"If you go to a restaurant, you don't see a menu in Inuktitut. Everything's in English," Tapardjuk said.
"In the regional stores the majority of the customers are Inuk, but the majority of the signs are English. It makes you wonder who they're really serving."
If it becomes law, the act will be enforced by an arms-length language commissioner reporting directly to the legislature. The act would be enforced on a complaints basis. Tapardjuk said penalties for breaking the act haven't yet been set.
A Statistics Canada study released last week found that Inuktitut is one of the healthiest Aboriginal languages in the country.
More than half of Canada's 30,000 Inuit still consider it their mother tongue and it's the language spoken most often at home for 43 per cent of them. Still, those figures are declining and the young are least likely to be fluent. Tapardjuk expects to hear concerns from the private sector.
"There are cost factors the private sector is quite concerned about."
However, he said, the Inuit Language Protection Bill is the result of two years of work and consultations, and more are scheduled.
Public meetings on the bill are to be held over the next weeks in five regions across Nunavut, but Tapardjuk expects the final legislation to return to the territorial legislature before the end of the current session.
Although the Northwest Territories recognizes 11 different Aboriginal languages, nothing like Nunavut's proposed protections exist there. Tapardjuk says Nunavut's proposals may be unique in the world.
"We're not aware of any legislation like the Language Protection Act," he said. "The closest one we were able to see is Bill 101."
Ottawa rebuffs Atlantic Chief’s bid for apology
By Kevin Bissett
Atlantic First Nations chiefs seeking an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper for abuse suffered by children at Native residential schools were flatly rebuffed March 26th by Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice.
Chief Rick Simon, vice chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said an apology to First Nations people for their treatment at the schools between the 1870s and 1970s is overdue.
“We have noted your willingness, Mr. Prime Minister, to apologize to Japanese Canadians who were interred during the Second World War, your apology to Chinese Canadians who were subjected to a racist head tax and your apology to Maher Arar, yet to date we have heard nothing of plans to apologize to residential school survivors,” he said, quoting from a letter sent to Harper.
“All First Nations people wonder why.” But outside the House of Commons, Prentice made it clear that there are no plans for an apology from the federal government.
“We're in the process of implementing the agreement and the agreement did not call for an apology,’ he said. “The agreement was negotiated over the course of several years and 10 months of court proceedings. I don't propose to reopen the provisions of the agreement.”
Prentice dismissed suggestions that former residential school students should get the kind of apology that was extended to Chinese Canadians or Arar.
“I think the circumstances are quite different,” he added.
“I've said very clearly that the residential school chapter of our history is one that was a difficult chapter. Many things happened that we need to close the door on as part of Canadian history.
“But fundamentally the underlying objective had been to try to provide an education to Aboriginal children. And I think the circumstances are completely different from Maher Arar or the Chinese head tax issue.”
Tens of thousands of Native children were taken from their families to attend the schools across Canada, and many were physically and sexually abused. They say the separation from family also deprived them of their culture.
Chief Lawrence Paul, co-chair of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs, questions how people are supposed to heal when the country's political leader won't acknowledge the wrong-doings.
“Mr. Prime Minister, if an apology is not given to help the residential school survivors to heal, there will always be a black mark on the history of Canada that time will never erase,” he said at a news conference in Moncton, NB.
The letter the chiefs sent to the prime minister is in support of Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine's efforts to get an apology.
Fontaine was one of the first national figures to go public in 1990 with his own story of sexual and physical abuse at the Fort Alexander School in Manitoba.
The federal government settled on a compensation package earlier this year that will see former students paid $10,000 for their first year, and $3,000 for each additional year spent at a residential school.
Former Indian affairs minister Jane Stewart offered a “statement of reconciliation” in 1998, but many survivors say it didn't go far enough.
Among those is Lottie Johnson, 61, of the Eskasoni Reserve in Cape Breton.
“In order for all parties to heal an apology must first be made,” she said.
“It would validate the losses of language, culture, tradition, spirituality and the loss of connection to our families.”
Chief Noah Augustine of New Brunswick's Redbank Reserve said the apology must be made soon, because survivors are dying.
“This shouldn't be unexpected. It's simply an apology for these atrocities that were done to our people by the Canadian government at the time,” said Augustine.
“Lesser men have taken bigger steps. I would think that prime minister Harper can step up on behalf of Canada and apologize to our people.''
Kashechewan First Nation choose to remain on traditional homeland
Kashechewan Chief Jonathan Solomon met with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Minister Jim Prentice on March 15th to present the Minister with the results of an extensive community consultation.
"My people have spoken, loudly and clearly. The people of Kashechewan want to remain on their traditional homelands," stated Chief Solomon.
The community consultation process was held in order to obtain community input and feedback on the report of federal representative, Mr. Allan Pope, released on October 31, 2006. Mr. Pope's report recommended relocating the people of Kashechewan to outside of Timmins, Ontario at an approximate cost of $200 million.
“The people carefully considered the recommendations made by Mr. Pope but clearly do not want to leave their traditional lands. The land is fundamental to our identity as Cree people, it is not enough to simply spend two weeks per year hunting on the land,” said Chief Solomon.
The majority of those polled selected Site 5, which is approximately 30 kilometres upriver, and on higher ground, from the current community location.
Dr. Emily J. Faries, a member of the Moose Cree First Nation, and a professor at Laurentian University, was hired to assist the community in coordinating the community consultation. Dr. Faries explained that 95% of the 863 people polled indicated that they preferred to remain on their traditional homelands. Dr. Faries indicated that the Pope report did not include any numbers detailing who was polled and what the results were.
“It is unfortunate that Minister Prentice has been throwing around the figure of $500 million for the relocation to Site 5, when in fact there has been no reliable cost analysis completed for the relocation to Site 5," stated Chief Solomon. Chief Solomon indicated that he is confident that there is a common ground solution that can be found and that it will take good faith negotiations and the necessary political will.
“This Minister made a commitment to acting on the situation our community is in when he was appointed Minister. He demanded the resignation of former Minister Andy Scott over the former governments’ inaction. Now it is time for Minister Prentice and this government to fulfill the commitment they made and work with us to take the necessary action to begin addressing the safety of the people of Kashechewan,” said the Chief.
Chief Solomon indicated that repairs and renovations have been made to some homes in the community, and the water issues have been stabilized. However, the dyke surrounding the community has not been secured and the spring thaw is approaching, potentially putting the safety of the people of Kashechewan once again at risk.
The Chief indicated that Minister Prentice agreed to contact the Kashechewan Chief and Council in two weeks time to discuss this issue further.
“Minister Prentice made statements following the release of the Pope report indicating that the community would decide the best course of action for their future. Now they have and he appears to be balking at the result of an extensive community-driven consultation process and this is simply unacceptable,” stated Regional Chief Angus Toulouse. Regional Chief Toulouse pointed out that the community has taken ownership of their future and should be supported in implementing the changes that they need.
The Regional Chief further stated that the federal government has the resources necessary to begin making a significant investment toward addressing Kashechewan's most pressing needs given the projected federal surplus of $8-9 billion dollars for this fiscal year. "I am interested to see if this government uses the opportunity of a new federal budget to identify resources to respond to the needs in Kashechewan and in other First Nation communities, given their repeated commitment to closing the gap in the quality of life between First Nations and other Canadians. It is time to move beyond the rhetoric to action. We will be watching the budget announcement very closely," stated Regional Chief Toulouse.
Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame welcomes Harry Cook
The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) has welcomed three Aboriginal business leaders into its Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame (ABHF) at the 9th Annual Circle for 2015 National Gala Dinner in Toronto in February. Chief Victor Buffalo, Harry Cook, and Garfield Flowers established milestones which future generations of Aboriginal entrepreneurs will advance.
We profiled Chief Victor S. Buffalo in the March edition and this issue will focus on Harry Cook. The May edition will feature Garfield Flowers.
Harry Cook (left) poses with fellow laureate Chief Victor Buffalo.
Following is an condensed version of the CCAB video tribute to Harry Cook, which was presented prior to his appointment to the ABHF. The full version is at www.ccab.com.
Harry Cook is a world class entrepreneur but not for his own account. He built his businesses for his community.
He was born in 1943 in Stanley Mission in northern Saskatchewan. The first of eight children of John and Susan Cook. Harry trapped and fished with his parents until he was sent to residential school at the age of nine.
As a teenager, he realized that his parents traditional way of life was disappearing, so Harry when to Prince Albert for high school and then trained as a welder in Saskatoon. He spent thirteen years at an aluminum and steel manufacturing plant in Regina, the last three as foreman.
In 1967 in married Rosie, also from Stanley Mission and they started a family. Their life in Regina was comfortable but they both missed their home up north. They moved back to Lac La Ronge in 1978 where Harry took a job as Housing Coordinator for the band. He was elected to council in 1983. His remarkable eighteen year run as Chief started in 1987.
Lac La Ronge First Nation is unique in that the reserve is intertwined with the towns of Air Ronge and La Ronge, so the benefits of development are in site everyday. The Lac La Ronge Band is the largest in Saskatchewan and also includes five other communities north of Prince Albert.
As Chief, Harry was president of the Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership, which had been setup to allow the band council to finance their business ventures. In Cree, Kitsaki means “take off your jacket, it’s time to go to work”.
Despite the fact that the area’s resources were relatively undeveloped, under Harry’s leadership the businesses grew and prospered, until by 2005 when he retired, Kitsaki owned or managed fourteen companies engaged in everything from trucking to catering, forestry to hotels and large scale exports of locally grown wild rice. It does about $70 million a year in business and has 450 full time employees.
Kitsaki companies won numerous awards, including Saskatchewan Indian Business of the Year, CANDO’s Economic Developer of the Year and a Canada Export Award, for their world wide sales of wild rice.
In 1988 Harry was named Saskatchewan’s Indian Businessman of the Year. When Harry became Chief there was no place to buy anything in most of his six communities, so he started the Keethanow Supermarket. Keethanow means “ours”, and made sure each community had a convenience store and a gas bar, so that people wouldn’t have to leave town to get a loaf of bread.
Harry was one of the first Aboriginals in Canada appointed to a Bluechip Business Board. In 1992 he was invited to join the board of Cameco Corporation, the world’s largest uranium producer, a position he still holds. In his last years as Chief, he worked with the Government of Canada and the Bank of Montreal to get his Nation into an innovative mortgage program that allows on reserve people to own their own homes.
Harry’s parents taught him to work hard, and to do things worth doing. He learned on his own that you can’t change the past, you have to live for today and look to tomorrow. His friends say he’s tough as nails, and always thinks first of the welfare of his land and his community.
He and Rosie cherish their two daughters and their little granddaughter. Over the years they have taken many needy kids into their home. Harry’s philosophy is, leave no one behind, a strong family makes a strong community.
He traveled the world as an ambassador and salesman for Kitsaki and still travels on behalf of Cameco. He is passionate about hunting, fishing and golf.
He stepped down as Chief in 2005, undefeated and on his own terms. Harry had a bunch of retirement parties including one in Lac La Ronge and a huge one in Saskatoon.
Not long ago Prime Minister Harper asked Harry to be Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. He thought about it, but when he found out it meant wearing a suit for two hundred days a year, he decided not to accept.
He believes his greatest accomplishment was maintaining the balance between work and family. His family is his anchor and he believes the stability they achieved made them role models for their community.
Chief Harry Cook has been chosen to enter the Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame because his vision and deeds have shown young people how to meet the challenges of the business world. His career established a milestone, past which succeeding generations of Aboriginal entrepreneurs will advance.
Inuit already living with the reality of climate change
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier fighting to save her people and her planet
When she was growing up in an Inuit community in northern Quebec, Sheila Watt-Cloutier never rode anything faster than a dog sled.
Now the 53-year-old grandmother jets across the globe speaking out on environmental issues and warning of the impending catastrophe that is global warming.
A long-time political spokesperson for the Inuit, Watt-Cloutier, is actively engaged in climate change initiatives with the aim of persuading states to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases and the use of toxins.
The very survival the Inuit is at stake, she says.
"We go out and hunt on the sea to put food on the table," Watt-Cloutier said in a recent interview. "You go to the supermarket."
“The Arctic is now considered the early warning, the health barometer for the planet and whatever happens in the world happens first in the Arctic. I have said many times in my talks around the world that if you wish to see how healthy the planet is, come and take its pulse in the Arctic.” Sheila Watt-Cloutier, February 2007
And if there is one place on the planet where the effects of the "great warming" are immediately felt it is in the Arctic says Watt-Cloutier who as chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference represents some 155,000 Inuit in Canada, The USA, Russia and Greenland.
"We, on a daily basis, observe the minute changes that are occurring in the environment," Watt-Cloutier said. "We are the guardians of the environment, in fact, because we're on the land every day... we're the early warning system for the rest of the world."
Originally from Nunavik in Northern Quebec and educated in Manitoba, she now lives in Iqaluit, NU.
Her people are witnessing first hand the devastating affects of climate change and its relentless assault on their traditional way of life. "We're already living this reality," Watt-Cloutier, said. "It's not a theory in the future, it's right now in the present."
The polar ice cap ice is forming much later in the year and breaking up earlier in the spring causing havoc for both man and animals. "The sea-ice season is a lot shorter than it used to be. And as a result we have less time to hunt on the ice. Our wildlife, the polar bear, has a lot less time so they're becoming a lot thinner."
Streams on traditional hunting routes that were once fordable have become torrents that claims lives every year. The icepacks have become so unpredictable that even seasoned hunters with knowledge of the land and the cycles, have fallen through and drowned, she said.
"What you see on the surface is no longer what it is underneath. The arctic sink is warming from under, and the ice is changing from under as well.
"So the rules have all changed and so has the wisdom we pass on to our young people. Many of our Elders are being stumped by it, because it is so unpredictable."
The damage caused by rising temperatures is evident all around the north, although not all regions are affected in the same way.
In the Beaufort Sea area, for example, erosion due to the rapid melting of the permafrost is hitting the beaches hard.
"They are having to move houses because they are crumbling," Watt-Cloutier said. "In Nunavik the permafrost is melting so quickly that they are having to redo the pavement of the runways because they are starting to crumble."
The minutest change in the Arctic changes everything, every eco system. The changes in climate have brought a lot more insects and bugs, and new species of birds never before seen in the arctic are appearing every year.
"I think everything is connected and meant to be where they are. It's going to be an adaptation period for every species of animal, whether you are a bug, or a human being or a polar bear."
Watt-Cloutier is fully involved in United Nations work and has for years been working on the treaty to eliminate the use persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
The so-called "dirty dozen" are among the most fearsome toxic chemicals because of the threat they pose to both humans and animals because they last so long in the environment before breaking down.
"I was personally involved in a lot of that work. That took me to different parts of the world but its really paid off.”
Some 50 nations have signed on to the new treaty making it one of the fastest ratified UN treaties on record. But the global work to get there took some 15 years, she said.
So as they turn their attention to stemming the tide of global warming the Inuit continue to navigate the significant social and economic changes that have accompanied development of the north.
"We have gone from a nomadic society to a democratic self-governing people – proud to be Canadian.
"We have gone from the "snow age" to the "space age" in one generation.
So are the Inuit, in a sense, contributing to their own demise?
"I get asked that question quite often," Watt-Cloutier said. "Yes, we our own airlines, we have skidoos, we have trucks, but the reality is our contribution to this problem is very minute.
"It's off the radar in terms of what we are creating ourselves, whether it's the toxins or the greenhouse gases. These things are coming from afar."
The US is by far the biggest culprit producing 26 per cent of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, she said.
Watt-Cloutier is one of the environmental heroes featured in The Great Warming, a three-part documentary narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier has been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The Canadian Inuit leader and climate change activist has been nominated for her grassroots work to save her people and the planet. Former US vice-president Al Gore has also been nominated along with Watt-Cloutier. This year's Nobel Peace Prize winner will be announced in October.
The man behind the Nobel Prize
Alfred Nobel, scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and pacifist
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honoring men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. The foundations for the prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize. But who was Alfred Nobel? Articles, photographs, a slide show and poetry written by Nobel himself can be found at www.nobelprize.org to give a glimpse of a man whose varied interests are reflected in the prize he established.
Renowned Mi'kmaq Poet Rita Joe passes away at age 75
Rita Joe
March 15, 1932 – March 20, 2007
By George Paul – Inspired Forever
It is with great sadness the Mi’kmaq Nation announces the passing of an adored Mi’kmaq poet, beloved mother and honored Elder, the Honourable Dr. Rita Joe of Eskasoni First Nations, Nova Scotia.
Dr. Rita Joe’s battle with Parkinson’s disease ended on March 20, 2007 only five days after her 75th birthday. The beautiful funeral ceremony was held on March 26 at the Eskasoni Holy Family Parish with over 500 people paying their last respects to Dr. Rita Joe and family.
She was the “Poet Laureate of the Mi’kmaq People.” An icon for her people where she used her words to beautifully represent her people and culture. Rita’s approach to life and her writing was kind yet powerful. In an interview a few years back, she said, “Everything I do is gentle persuasion. And that had more effect than a blockade.”
Rita was born in 1931, in Whycocomagh, NS. She was orphaned at age 10 and went on to live with a succession of foster families then stayed at the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School till she turned 16. She married Frank Joe at age 21 and they later moved to Eskasoni and raised 10 children, two adopted.
Rita began to write poetry in the late 1960s, going on to publish five books of poetry, an autobiography and an anthology.
Her eighth and final book will be later published by Ron Caplan. Caplan has been collecting Rita’s poems and they were working on her final book. Rita continued to write until her final days. Her last poem was still on her electric typewriter title “October Song,” the first verse began, “On the day I am blue, I go again to the wood where the tree is swaying, arms touching you like a friend, and the sound of the wind so alone like I am; whispers here, whispers there, come and just be my friend.”
Rita received many acclamations throughout her life. She was one of the few non-politicians ever called to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, entitling her to be called "Honourable" for the rest of her life, recipient of the Order of Canada and Aboriginal Achievement Award, of which she was very proud. She also received four doctorates from Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, St. Thomas University and Mount St. Vincent University.
Rita has been often quoted as the poet who conquers hearts with kindness. Her philosophy was simple, “You'll always find beauty everywhere if you look for it," she once said.
Rita’s approach to life and her words played a powerful role in defining Aboriginal people and how they are perceived. Her legacy will live on. Her words will still impact future generations. Her kindness and humility proudly represented our people the Mi’kmaq.
A few weeks before Rita passed away, she told her granddaughter, Venessa, “When I die I will move mountains.” And she has.
You can rest now, Rita. You have fulfilled your journey. Thank you. Say “Hi” to Niskam for us all.