Where does AFN draw the line on corporate sponsorship?

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By Jennifer Ashawasegai of BAMOSEDA

Bamoseda is an Aboriginal news magazine radio program which features national Aboriginal news, current affairs, features on community and culture, spotlights on entertainment and a cross section of musical genres from very talented artists in the Aboriginal community. http://www.bamoseda.com/

Article Featured in Windspeaker

The Assembly of First Nations has thrown its weight and influence behind the 61 First Nations opposed to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project. But some see a disconnect between what the AFN says and what it does.

Monies from Enbridge were accepted when a gala event associated with the AFN was hosted in Calgary in 2009. An Enbridge Aboriginal relations newsletter from September that year states National Chief Shawn Atleo took his oath of office at the Calgary assembly where he was elected, then met with supporters and well-wishers at the National Chief’s Reception hosted by Enbridge.

Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Team Marlene Thistle (Administrative Assistant), John Carruthers (President), and Leonie Rivers (Director) with Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo.

The company news bulletin of Atleo’s election in July 2009 is accompanied by a photo of the national chief with three company representatives, including Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project President John Carruthers.

Peter Russell, a retired political sciences professor from the University of Toronto, says corporate sponsorship is something organizations need to think about.

“When any organization accepts sponsors’ funds for any activity or event, they have to consider very carefully the source of that money and whether, at the source, the organization that’s giving them the money might be in conflict with any of the principles of the organization itself or any of its members.”

Enbridge spokesperson Gina Jordan deflected a question about the contradiction of the corporate sponsored event, which was followed by public opposition from the AFN more than a year later.

“I certainly can’t speak for Mr. Atleo,” she said. “I do know that every project will have its opponents, as well as its supporters, and we certainly do feel that as people learn more about the Northern Gateway Project, and understand the details of the application, that they will understand that the project can be built safely and operated safely.”

Jordan added that she could not comment further on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Assembly of First Nations is not taking any credit for the Enbridge-hosted gala. An email from the organization’s communications department stated, “…the event you are referring to was a “farewell gala” for outgoing National Chief Phil Fontaine. This was not part of the AFN AGA, but did take place that same week. Enbridge was one of a number of sponsors for the event.”

First Nation opposition of the Enbridge project didn’t crop up overnight. According to Terry Teegee, vice-tribal chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, its member First Nations have been against the project since it was first proposed in 2005.

Russell said he would be troubled by an oil company sponsoring a First Nation event.

“There are a number of situations in Canada, (for example) particularly right now around the Mackenzie River where the Dehcho Dene are. The interest of oil companies are in conflict with the First Nations. The oil companies are pressing for a very quick settlement of land issues that would extinguish the title of Aboriginal people, and the Dehcho Dene are holding out for a much more fair and just agreement.”

“So, getting money from an oil company is supporting one side of that debate.”

Russell recommends that organizations have specific policies about corporate sponsorship. As a member of the Canadian Political Sciences Association, he said there are very strict rules about corporate sponsorship. For instance, he says the CPSA does not accept any money from political parties for fear of party bias.

It’s unknown whether or not the AFN has any policies around corporate sponsorship. The organization didn’t respond to email enquiries on the issue.

Policies or not, Russell has a dire warning about corporate sponsorships.

“He who pays the piper will try to call the tune, and there are some tunes that the member nations of the AFN are opposed to and you have to be very careful accepting funds from organizations that may have a different view of the Aboriginal relationship with Canada than the ones that the AFN espouses.”

http://www.northerngateway.ca/pdf/Sept2009.pdf

Link to Engridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Propaganda which features Shawn Atleo 2009

Don’t Mistake my Kindness for my Weakness

By Johnny Hawke ACTION

Sometimes in this update I need to rant as it pertains to the struggles we face within our  Communities as a part of our Decolonization.

So if some don’t like my “ranting” they can always turn me off and plug back into the comfort of the numbness of the system.

Some of us lately have been taking on others negativity within our circles which comes with the territory of putting ourselves out there. I want to share some  stuff lately that I have been struggling with and want to inspire us all to use these things  to make a positive.

This is not only about me but what to expect out there and how to overcome such obstacles. I know I shouldn’t have to explain myself and not worry about it but we cant hide it for it is the balance to the positive. Lets embrace it.

Recent comments by a minimal few tell me that I shouldn’t preach about Independence and being Sovereign when I am on Welfare and live with “Mommy and Daddy.” Some say that I am no Warrior but just a Fake.

I live with my Mom and Dad right now because my Dad needs assistance living at home, while my mom works to take care of our Communities toddlers. My dad has health issues in regards to his heart and breathing where he needs somebody close by.

I am also committed to learning a dying Anishinabe Language while residing with him. Sometimes the language has to be taught in an immersion setting. This is my immersion. Sometimes our history needs to be passed on and it can’t be taught in schools, sometimes you have to buckle down and hear it everyday, spoken from the source.

I have my own two bedroom house that I personally own in which I let my Cousin and his two Sons live in. Shall I ask him to leave  so just I can be “Independent”  looking after only myself?

The Rent money I get from him goes to put food on the table for me and my folks. Also There is a Housing Crisis where over crowding is an issue and most of our people have no where else to go.  So for a fee to put food on my table I rent my house.

I have become educated out there and have worked out there, I have had my own place out there but I choose to make a difference working on The Self, Family, Community, Nation and then Globally, as the Elders preached this to me.

I not only reside here in my own community. I have many places within our Territories on Turtle Island where I am welcomed and call home. I have many brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles, where I am welcomed to reside during various times of the year. I am a Nomadic. I have many trailers, war camps, fires, reoccupation sites, hunt camps that I call home and where I change residence with the seasons. I go out to help in other communities, after I try to help within my own.

I am on Welfare and tried to be employed with my First Nation but am to “Political” or “Militant” in the things that I try to address. I and a majority of others are on Welfare in my community because there is no Jobs and Family Relations play a huge part in the Politics of obtaining employment. I also choose not to continue to support a system that contradicts our Nationhood.

I am working on Self Sufficiency plan that benefits those who want to participate and work and be Responsible for our Rights. I have the education and drive to  find a job out there and care for myself and leave my communities but I choose not to. I am not saying though it is wrong to leave your communities. You have to leave your communities to find yourself and sometimes you have to leave just out of frustration.

If this sounds Self Righteous and that I got an Ego problem this is the negative from telling us youth the positive that we can do anything. Don’t loose all hope on us though, we can utilize the humility teaching and create a balance.

If it seems I got an Ego problem let me know I can admit my faults and I will work on what needs working on. I encourage you within my circles to let me know my faults so I get work on what needs an adjustment so we can create this Unity.

I wanted to share this because those that  only see me as an Educated Welfare Bum who lives with his Mah n Pah and only hear my words without knowing me,  I ask you, Do you want to take the Blue Pill or the Red Pill?

If you take the Blue Pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe", or to take the red pill, where "you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." - The Matrix

If I still seem like I am living off of “Mommy and Daddy” maybe I can move in with you? I can pay Rent.

” Its the same damn circle chasing the dollar selling out instead of getting stronger, Snooki is the leader of a lost seventh generation of followers. Everybody wants to be tan with their liquor in their hand, bumpin n clubin, sippin off the titty of the fat white man/ So don’t preach to me that the bling is a thing that makes you feel In after selling out your culture” -Johnny Hawke

Earth Changes: Indigenous Prophecies

Wanaboozhoo’

This past Wednesday in Peterborough, ON at Trent University I attended a talk given by Diane Longboat who is of the Kanehkiaha:ka Nation (Mohawk). It was a part of the University’s Indigenous Studies weekly informal “Elder Teachings” and was entitled Earth Changes: Indigenous Prophecies.

I attended with my  Cousin who is also very active within our “Aboriginal” communities within this region of Turtle Island. Out of the blue I get a phone call and he asked if I wanted to attend and I found it to be more than a coincidence that this opportunity came up because of what I am working on, Spirit works in beautiful ways. What was heard in this talk just clarified the work that I am doing and what is to come.

Kahontakwas, Diane Longboat, Kanehkiaha:ka Mohawk Turtle Clan

Diane Longboat, Kahontakwas, (She is Picking Sweetgrass) is a Mohawk, Turtle Clan from Six Nations. She is a ceremonial leader, traditional teacher of Indigenous spiritual ways and a healer. She is a professional educator,  with a graduate degree in education and has taught and lectured at Universities in Canada and many national and international conferences and gatherings on the topics of spiritual renewal as the guiding force for nation building.

From 1976 to 1994, Diane was director of research programs and educational offices both provincially and nationally with First Nations organizations. Her leadership responsibilities at the Sacred Fire of the Great Peace (located at Six Nations) include conducting many ceremonies that minister to the needs of her people.

Many dreams, visions and the cherished guidance of Elders have brought Diane to a place of deep spiritual commitment to the service of the Will and Words of the Creator for the rebirth of humanity and the renewal of Mother Earth.

The myriad of ceremonies and services offered by Diane and a dedicated group of spiritual leaders who have trained with her for almost two decades are now being housed in a non-profit organization to enable the work to receive donations from scores of individuals and allied foundations whose lives and work have been empowered by the connection to Natural Law and Spiritual Law blessed through the power and the presence of the Creator at the Sacred Fire of the Great Peace.

A Briefing on the Talk: What my Ears heard and what my Spirit Felt

What I received from her talk is a confirmation of the work that I am doing. Coming from a colonized and assimilated community which is too plugged into a system where many are afraid not only to act upon our injustices but are intimidated when some of us just want to gather and speak about our history, our current conditions and the realities of our prophecies. Using terms such as Decolonization and exercising Sovereignty is far too radical for many just as the reemergence of our Ceremonies was thirty years ago.

So it is always good to get out of the “Philosophical Isolation” of our communities to meet up with “like minded” people to get refreshed from the “social incest” conditions that exist within.  It also helps to validate the work some of us our doing. At times it is draining when we are surrounded constantly by the “you can’t do that, you can’t say that, you can’t think that Syndrome” which attacks individual freedom.

Here are some quotes I managed to capture. I was going to record the talk but personally felt it would be disrespectful.

“The Earth shook three times before and is soon ready to shake once again” – Diane Longboat

Within our oral histories, ceremonies, prophecies our Indigenous People across Turtle Island speak of these things and Three Periods of Time we went through.

Western approaches as well know that continental drift, floods, and massive earthquakes happened and they talk of a time when there was a Super Continent.

“Time is going by faster and our Spiritual leaders across our Nations have been noticing this through Visions and Ceremonies and through the Guidance of the Spirits. The Earth has sped up her rotation. As well the Sun has seemed too moved. It doesn’t rise in the same place as it used to rise at a certain time of the month that it did forty years ago.” – Diane Longboat

In the Western Scientific community this is starting to be discussed.

We have been seeing a massive amount of species turning up dead for unknown reasons along with Floods and Earthquakes. I do not want to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist but am just seeking out logic from our Oral History, Western Approaches, Prophecies and what is currently happening.

“We need to start taking action on what we know and become Spiritual people again. We need to embrace what is coming because it is coming. Soon we will have no choice but to live like our ancestors again. We can gather and talk about our prophecies but we need to get active and start learning the ways of our people, including survival. It is our young ones that matter and we need to get them ready on how to live once again and to become Spiritual Warriors.” – Diane Longboat

As she spoke and said we need to embrace this change and that death is only a transition not to be feared she  validated the thoughts and actions that some of us have been immersed in lately.

As I reclaim my teachings and culture I have noticed that our people, our Chiefs gather and talk on Sovereignty, our Spiritual people gather and talk on prophecies. I hear of talk that our Youth are the real teachers and we should listen to them. I hear that We are the Seventh Generation and need to choose what road we want to walk down and I see only a small percent that actually walk the talk of what is preached.

Do Chiefs listen to the Youth? Why are they still listening to white man? Our Culture should be used more than sugar coating funding proposals for economic development which exploits our Mother.

Why do we preach and dress like we are “Indigenous” on weekends but are so far from living the ways of the Earth and embracing who we are to the full extent while we return to our IPOD’s, Jersey Shore, Computer’s, Council Chambers during the week?

Being plugged into a system that works against the Earth are we going to be prepared to survive the harsh realities of Violent Earth Changes?

Diane also said that Prophecies and the Visions of our Elders tell us that  Women will be standing up bringing back the balance of things and taking on Leadership roles. We can see this as in our communities  as it is the majority of times it is the Women who are standing up and waking up our Nations.

I am inspired by our Indigenous Peoples and Nations and our Women who are more than just talk and exercise our Teachings.

In Conclusion:

We have always been a people accustomed to Change, Why then are we  different now? We must not fear change.

Also we have always learned from the Earth and the Animals and so what is happening now we should apply to our “Indigenous Resurgence Movement”.

The Non-Violent Philosophy is the lasting remnants of the “hippie” era which has become an idealism in this Passive “New Age Pan-Indian Healing” Movement that exists within our communities.

If we are a people that learn from the Earth then we can learn a lot from what she is going to do. She is preparing for a cleansing from the abuses she has been suffering from.

She is not going to exercise “non violence” when this next “shaking” happens. The massive earthquakes, tornado’s, floods, continental drift will not be “peaceful” actions in dealing with an oppressive humanity. She will prevail and us an Indigenous People who understand true power and who are those Spiritual Warriors will survive alongside her.

There was a lot more to her talk which I feel I am not justifying in this briefing but I encourage us all to become active and get out there learning our teachings and putting them in to ACTION

I am preparing for this change disengaging from this Capitalist Society. If nothing happens, hey at least I will be exercising Anishinabek Sovereignty living the ways of the Earth.

“In the time of the Seventh Fire New People will emerge. They will retrace their steps to find what was left by the trail. Their steps will take them to the Elders who they will ask to guide them on their journey. But many of the Elders will have fallen asleep. They will awaken to this new time with nothing to offer. Some of the Elders will be silent because no one will ask anything of them. The New People will have to be careful in how they approach the Elders. The task of the New People will not be easy.

If the New People will remain strong in their quest the Water Drum of the Midewiwin Lodge will again sound its voice. There will be a rebirth of the Anishinabe Nation and a rekindling of old flames. The Sacred Fire will again be lit.

It is this time that the light skinned race will be given a choice between two roads. If they choose the right road, then the Seventh Fire will light the Eighth and final Fire, an eternal fire of peace, love brotherhood and sisterhood. If the light skinned race makes the wrong choice of the roads, then the destruction which they brought with them in coming to this country will come back at them and cause much suffering and death to all the Earth’s people”

– Anishinabe Seven Fire Prophecy