Treaty 8 Commemoration Message from the Chief

Good morning Elders, Chiefs, leaders of other governments, other invited guests, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our historic commemoration of the signing of our Treaty 8 Adhesion here today 100 years later. It is truly an honour to stand here in front of you as the Chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, 100 years after Chief Justin Martin and his Headman signed our Adhesion to Treaty 8, and as the great-great-grandson of one of the signatories.

I would like to begin by honoring our past and present leadership from Chief Justin Martin and his Headmen who pioneered the way for generations of Mikisew membership and also of a new relationship with what we know today as Canada; I would like to honor all the subsequent Chiefs and Headmen or better known to us today as Councillors, who gave their time, their guidance, their wisdom, their vision, and their commitment to secure for their people, our brothers and sisters who have gone before us and those yet to come, a rightful place in this Canadian society. We cannot and should never forget their contribution to what we know today as the community of Fort Chipewyan and more importantly to our First Nation, the Mikisew Cree.

As we count down the hours to an end of an era, it is important that we reflect on, as a people, where we have come from, and from our reflection, to set a path for ourselves, our children, and those yet to be born. It is important to remember and take the time to see as a people where we have been in order to know where it is we want to go.

While our past has not been the most desirable, and is one that can be understood as one of survival, it is still important to understand and to educate ourselves on the importance of our history, that we should not shut the door on it, but rather to learn from it and go forward.

We must understand governments intentions of the Indian Act of the 1870's that still exists today to some degree which has been understood by many scholars and leaders and activists in our own communities, as one of paternalism, one of where one group who controls the destinies of another group. Another important government policy that controlled our lives is the one of Indian Residential Schooling that many of us are victims of, survivors of, products of, and by-products of. Even our children who have not yet been born will experience the effects of this government policy. As we commemorate the 100 years of signing the Adhesion to Treaty 8, our First Nation today is taking the government of Canada to task on their lack of living up to the agreements as set out 100 years ago. Another aspect of injustice towards our people is the B.C. Bennett Dam and its terrible effects of ruining a great number of ways of lives of our Mikisew Cree, Athabasca Chipewyan, and Metis people of this community. Our First Nation is taking the government of Canada on yet another agreement that was not negotiated in good faith, that is, our 1986 land claim settlement agreement. This lack of informing our peoples during negotiations, or in the extreme, an altogether lack of consultation, is a terribly sad commentary of the way government and industry has and continues to treat our First Nations peoples. The systematic discrimination played a major role in the way government and industry treated our peoples. Today the systematic discrimination continues to be seen and felt in individuals, institutions, and actions of many.

On reflecting it is easy to see that the injustices have been many. Plus, we only need to assess our community today to see the after-effects of the past injustices to see where our people suffer the most. The after-effect include but are not limited to: a prevalence of alcoholism; addictions be it illicit and prescription drugs, gambling, or relationships; a lack of identity as a people because of our major loss of language especially to our youth and young adults; the loss of our customs as a people; many of our people suffer the long-term effects of the residential schools, those who have attended and even those who have never stepped foot in the schools; we have a major problem of family violence; of family breakdowns; our people as First Nations people make up often the majority of individuals in the provincial and federal prisons; we suffer from one of the highest unemployment rates and the lowest literacy levels in this country; our health care personnel are overworked with the multitude of health-related issues that are prominent and they must provide this care with budgets that are inadequate; suicide is a social ill that plagues our community today and the likes of many First Nations communities across this country. I won't go on.

Our future can only get better. We know it can only get better because when we look at where we've come from and see the progress of our community and our First Nation, we have survived much. Our history must dictate our future. Today we have the wherewithal, the resources, the capacity to ensure the next 100 years for our people is not a repeat of the first 100 years. Today as your leaders, we have the ability today to continue to serve our people and protect what is rightfully ours, to advocate and act for our people in regards to the Treaties, to industry, and our fair and equal participation in this process politically, socially, economically. Today we have the ability to choose our future.

As we make the transition from one centennial to another, let us commit to a healthy community, to a healthy First Nation, one that we owe to our children, our youth who have in the past and today tell us that we must not ignore them. By committing to a healthy outlook as leaders, we are in fact giving our youth of today and those yet to come, a history they can be proud of.

With that, Happy 100 Years, enjoy the festivities and activities. Thank you.