Akwesasne
Connexions Library
www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/Docs/CX5023-Akwesasne.htm

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Growing reserves: a recipe for more aboriginal heartbreak
Globe and Mail, Friday, July 6, 2007, p. A15

"… reserves have small populations, are geographically isolated, are plagued with social problems and, unless resource exploitation is nearby, are not capable of offering economic populations."

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A native reserve in turmoil
National Post, Wednesday, July 25, 2007, p. A10

"The chief is always traveling and away from our community…We feel abandoned by our leaders, who never tell where they go and why they go. We lack good leadership."

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Uranium hearing at impasse
Kingston Whig-Standard, Friday, August 3, 2007

"We made proposals, we tried to be creative… It was all, 'No way, you can’t even walk on our property, you can’t even look at birds on our property.' "

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Why Kashechewan is staying put
Toronto Star, Tuesday, August 7, 2007, p. A17

"Fifty years ago, the federal government told the Cree people in northern Ontario they were being moved into a community on a flood plain near James Bay, … even though the Indians warned it was a big mistake."

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Community Opinion Poll. AMBE School Year 2007-2008
Akwesasne – Winter 2007, www.akwesasne.ca

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Land where the partridge drums
Akwesasne – 2007, www.akwesasne.ca/history.html

Deal with us as First Nations
National Post, Friday, January 25, 2008

" … The politics of blaming, naming and shaming First Nations and our organizations and painting us as wasteful, errant, criminal, stagnant, backward and irrelevant is counter-productive, reactionary and irresponsible … which is the only national organization with political legitimacy to speak for First Nations …"

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Extending a helping hand to urban aboriginals
National Post, Thursday, January 31, 2008

"But the sad truth is that this urban aboriginal majority is largely ignored. It doesn’t need to be this way." (Vera Pawis Tabobondung is president of the National Association of Friendship Centres.)

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Assessing native governance by polling the rank-and-file
National Post, Monday, February 4, 2008

"Sadly, however, there are certain reserves that do not want anyone to know what occurs in their communities."

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Crisis of native governance
National Post, Wednesday, February 13, 2008, p. FP15

"A veil of secrecy and therefore a lack of accountability continue to permeate the activities on the majority of First Nations band councils. Most band members are completely in the dark with regards to the disposition of band funds."

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Wanted: Better Native Governance
National Post, Wednesday, February 13, 2008, p. A16

"It seems almost inconceivable that after all these years this country has not been able to alleviate the despair in which tens of thousands of First Nations families live." (Patrick Brazeau is National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples [now Senator], a group that represents the rights and interests of off-reserve aboriginal people in Canada.)

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New Tory policy to audit reserves prompts outcry
Globe and Mail, Friday, April 4, 2008, p. A4

"Canada’s largest native organization is accusing Conservatives of spreading falsehoods about aboriginals as Ottawa steps up audits of reserves and vows to publicize its findings."

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The land human rights forgot
National Post, Tuesday, April 17, 2008, p. A18

"Many reserves are corrupt little kibbutzes run by – and for the benefit of – a tightly knit clique of leaders."

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Next Step: More Accountable and Transparent Native Governments
Globe and Mail, Monday, July 28, 2008:

"With respect to aboriginal affairs, the Conservative government is now being reminded of the truism that one thing leads to another. The aboriginal industry sees the government’s re-apology for Indian residential schools as a sign of weakness, leading to a wave of demands to resuscitate the Kelowna Accord."

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Healing won’t happen in jail
Globe and Mail, Saturday, February 14, 2009

"Native elders are suggesting a father whose two girls froze to death on a Saskatchewan reserve need not go to prison. The elders, who were part of a sentencing circle for Christopher Pauchay, say he should instead commit to a life of spiritual guidance."

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A pioneering proposal
National Post, Tuesday, November 10, 2009, p. A12

"The Gitxsan’s chief negotiator says his people no longer wish to be a burden to the Crown, but at the same time they do not want the Crown to be a burden on them."

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Chief sees peace, not politics, in Olympic flame
Globe and Mail, Wednesday, December 2, 2009, p. A3

"For the last 25 years, I paid $10-million to negotiate with two governments. Results? Zero. I will never negotiate with those people again."

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A new approach
National Post, Monday, January 4, 2010

"By last count – a federal government estimate from 2003 – Ottawa has spent over $8-billion just on researching aboriginal land claims and arguing them in court…"