INDIAN PROBLEM BASED ON LAND

                by Richard Wagamese, Columnist,
               CALGARY HERALD, Sun., Oct 29,1989


There's good news and there's bad news.

The bad news is that the government to the east still believes
in the merits of the divide and conquer methods in its dealings
with the Indians. The good news is that its practically
impossible in this modern age to sneak it by without attracting
any publicity.

Back in the good old days the government could shuffle the
Indians off to the reservations, claiming they were allowing
them at least some of their land back. What they were really
doing was isolating each group of Indians from the others.
Without benefit of communication it was impossible for the
Indians to unite and organize any kind of political front or to
see that vast problems existed in the system.

Divide and conquer. In order to see the implications of this
ploy it is first necessary to know that the so called "Indian
Problem" in this country is based on the issue of land. The
government would have us believe that the Indian problem is
primarily a cultural one. Not so.

It's always been the land. Initially the Europeans wanted the
land for settlement. As modern technology and modern society
evolved the land became important for the resources it held.
From furs to fission the land held the future. As long as the
Indians held land there was an Indian problem.

There's an Indian problem right in our own backyard.

Just over a year ago Premier Don Getty and Lubicon Indian Chief
Bernard Ominayak signed the Grimshaw Agreement. It was evidence
that the province and the Lubicons wanted to settle the
Lubicons' 50-year-old Land Claim. All that was needed was the
cooperation of the federal government. It's been over a year
and all signs indicate a long wait.

Rather than work with the province and the Indians the
government has decided to haul out the old method of divide and
conquer.

In August of this year they officially recognized the existence
of a group of Indians now known as the Woodland Cree Band.
Previous to August the Woodland Cree did not exist. The fact
that they do exist these days is due to some frightening
specifications contained in the Indian Act.

Section 17 of that legislation gives the minister responsible
the absolute power to create new Indian bands whenever he so
desires. All that is needed is the request of an unspecified
number of persons to form a new band. Theoretically, a dozen
people could make such a request and become officially
recognized as an Indian band. They simply need to be members of
an existing band or be listed with the Indian registrar.

Section 17.2 of the Indian Act allows the minister the absolute
power to take money and land away from existing bands in order
to accommodate the newly created one.

Enter the Woodland Cree.

This anonymous gathering of Indians number 100 registered
Indians. The government would have us believe that they are all
disgruntled members of Chief Ominayak's band. Not so. They
belong on the band lists of six separate, northern Alberta
bands. Only 37 are registered Lubicons.

Some time ago the government made a big show of its concern for
the Indians by its support of Bill C-31. This bill made it
possible for Indians who had either lost or never had status to
regain it. Nowadays, and in light of the Lubicon situation,
it's beginning to look as though the entire Bill C-31 move was
a means to an end.

Some 250 C-31 Indians will become members of the Woodland Cree
Band. The government is hurriedly processing their
applications. Following the dictates of the Indian Act these   
C-31 returnees are being registered within existing bands to be
later transferred to the Woodland Cree.

This is interesting because there are some 70 aboriginal groups
in this country that have been waiting over 50 years for
official recognition as a band. It is more than curious that
the Woodland Cree should be officially recognized in less than
two months.

With recognition comes negotiation. The Woodland Cree are
claiming rights to the traditional Lubicon area. If the
minister sees fit he could appropriate land from the Lubicon
claim and hand it over to the Woodland Cree along with whatever
amounts of money he deems fit as well.

The Lubicon could be left out in the cold.

The most frightening aspect of this whole fiasco is that
section 17.3 of the Indian Act dictates that no protest may be
made. Absolute power. The minister is free to create whatever
bands he chooses, take whatever lands he chooses from
established bands and communities and remove whatever amounts
of funding from existing bands as well.

There's more to this story than this space will allow but rest
assured that divide and conquer is alive and well.


EAGLE FEATHERS: To Bernard Ominayak, Fred Lennarson and all
those at the front lines in the continuing battle for the land.



 For more information contact web:car by e-mail or in writing 
                Aboriginal Rights Support Group 
                   Committee Against Racism 
                   P.O. Box 3085, Station B 
                   Calgary, Alberta  T2M 4L6