Canada Does not agree with Human Rights

[Wisdom]

http://www.sd79.bc.ca/programs/abed/...man_rights.pdf

[Soundbear]

Canada?? No, Canadians.

My ancestors and yours thought that these things were perfectly correct.

What is now important is to right these wrongs.

[Wisdom]

My ancestors only wanted peace between nations...

Respect for the land by all those that benefited from it and the ability to sustain themselves while respecting thier fundamental spiritual attachment to the lands they lived on...

Industrialization has destroyed it and still continues to do so...till there will be nothing left....but monetary profit....

[Soundbear]

So you are a native?? If pure blood, then you are correct. If not, then I am.

[Wisdom]

I don't limit my thought in such dichotomous terms....

[Anapeg]

I don't limit my thought in such dichotomous terms....

The duck and weave has been perfected, I see. Either you are or you are not. I am. My family left the reserve three generations ago and we have never looked back. We have met the whites on their terms and equaled them at every turn. I, and my family have paid taxes since our family made their choice and are proud of it.
To look back and wish for things is a waste of time. We as a people must move forward and to do so must look that way or risk stumbling. Two and three hundred year old treaties hold little validity in this day and age. Times have changed and we natives have not. We have stagnated in a back water of our own making.
No man can subjugate us unless we allow it to be so. Standing around in the white mans board rooms with our collective arms crossed looking and sounding the part of the wounded and noble red man is past. It is time to move forward and leave our accepted welfare mentality behind. We must be responsible for our own destiny and stop relying on the hand outs from "The Great White Father".
If we stop whining and wanting to be protected and cared for we can and will be accepted as equals BUT stay our present course and humiliation and dependence will continue. Nostalgia, looking back and remembering is nice but looking ahead and moving in that direction gives one a sense of pride and self assurance second to none.
If we wish for equality then we need work to that end and drop the dependence and the whining. Stand on our own two feet and take responsibility for our destiny, not look to the whites for direction and hand outs. Are we independent human beings or are we "fort Indians"? Do we stand on our own or huddle at the entrance of the whites forts, huddled in blankets waiting for another handout?
Taking handouts and living that type of existence has never and will never build a nation to it's former glory. Until we do for ourselves we will never be able to stand with our heads held high. If you live a demeaning lifestyle and accept it you have gone as far as you can go.

[SSMP]

There's a lot in the speech for everyone Anapeg.

[Anapeg]

I did not set the tone of the thread, I simply followed.

[Bluesky]

Anapeg, I have a Metis friend.. I sit on a board of directors with him. He is one of the more successuil men I know. He left the reserve at age 12, and he could have written exactly what you did. In fact, you sound like him. He recognized as a 12 yr old kid that he would have to leave the res if he was going to break free from the chains of the past.. his family stayed in Northern Alberta.. and he hears nothing but bad news from them.. suicides, disease, drink, one crisis after another. he has quite a story to tell.. He has managed companies, and runs his own business..

[Anapeg]

It is difficult to move ahead when the past is used as an anchor.

[dancingqueen]

Anapeg, I would like to know more if you are comfortable with it.
Having left the reserve three generations ago, does that make you born into (I'm not sure of the proper term) a non-status native? or did you have a choice to return to the reserve at any point?

Those where very good points you made, and although I could just be bias, I agree that in order to put a stop to the racism, there needs to be an elimination of differences, regardless of past treaties. We do live in the here and now, and although I recognize what has been done in the past was terrible, I think the same can be said about many other minorities, as a personal example, the gay population. leave the past behind, and focus on the future, because we cannot change the past, but we can change the future.

[Anapeg]

I am full blood Iroquois. Could I go back, yes I see no reason for I still have family that choose that lifestyle. I could have a status card and choose not to. We have been separated yet part of for so long I don't think I could return for personal differences. You, as a people, or a Nation can't take hand outs forever and not feel subjugated. When you sever those ties that make you a dependant you further your own cause and abandon those who are comfortable within that mentality.
If I can't care for my family, extended or otherwise and rely on the "Great White Father" then I give up far far too much in my estimation. What happened two, three or four hundred years ago is far to removed from to-days reality to be relevant to me as a person. Should I remember from whence I came, absolutely. I am after all a product of my past. Should I use the past as a crutch, not on your life. By keeping me dependant the government has control, by being independent I have control.

[dancingqueen]

Thanks Anapeg, you even answered my next question as to whether you would ever return, or regretted this choice.

[Anapeg]

Thanks Anapeg, you even answered my next question as to whether you would ever return, or regretted this choice.

Being sequestered or stock piled has never been attractive to me or my family. A nation that is a Nation simply in words or through the benevolence of another is not a Nation at all. Living on hand outs makes you a dependant not a Nation.

[Soundbear]

Just one more comment.

Anapeg, I commend your choices.

But.

If my grandfather was ripped off like yours was, I'd still be ticked off about it.

[dancingqueen]

What does being ticked off do about anything except breed more contempt?

[Soundbear]

What does being ticked off do about anything except breed more contempt?

In most places, ticked off is closely followed by violence.

Canadian natives are not so inclined.

Yet.

[dancingqueen]

Interesting thought...
I wonder how many people would be so willing to fight for that which they themselves don't fully understand?

[False Witness]

While you sit on your computers and debate what "Indians" should do with their lives, Native people are bettering themselves quietly and efficiently. In our own city alone there are Native lawyers practicing, Native police officers, there are Native nurses, heck even a few in medical school as we speak. Look at your Soo Greyhounds, Native head coach with 4 Native boys playing on the team. So you continue to type away and be angry at how the forefathers messed up the Indian problem, I'm sure they aren't worried what you're thinking. How much tax does a person pay on call centre wages anyways?

[Wisdom]

Interesting thought...
I wonder how many people would be so willing to fight for that which they themselves don't fully understand?

how ironic