BACK IN 1980,1 had the privilege of joining a delegation representing the Algonquin people of Quebec at the hearings of an international tribunal on native rights in Netherlands.
The First Bertrand Russell Tribunal was held at the International Court in La Hague, Netherlands and dealt with war crimes perpetrated by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.
The tribunal we attended then had testimony of natives around the world presenting their respective grievances about non-respect of human rights by their governments. To name a few delegations, among those present were the American Indian Movement, the Kurds (Turkey), the Papuas (New Guinea), Maoris (New Zealand), native women of Canada and Colombian aboriginals.
The first presentation was that of AIM by speaker Oran Lang. He began by displaying the Wampum Belt which was offered by Sitting Bull to General Custer as a token of a final accord between the two nations.
The story goes that a written treaty accord settlement had been prepared by the U.S. government for Sitting Bull to sign, but the latter refused to sign it and even tore it up to the dismay of General Custer.
He then took the General’s hand and stated: “No more broken treaties. I’ll give you my word that the fighting will be resumed. All we are asking for is to be left to live the way we have always lived and not be expected to emulate your ways. That is the meaning of the Wampum Belt. The rows of white and black representing two canoes riding side-by-side on the same river. My people in one and your people in the other. Living in harmony by respecting each others’ ways.”
Unfortunately, it seems today to be an impossible dream as we look at our brother Leonard Pelletier and the ongoing struggle.
Our spokesperson for the Algonkians, Gordon Poison, began the presentation by displaying the back of our then-Canadian one dollar bill, depicting the destruction of the Ottawa River by the pulp and paper industry which used the river to transport logs from upstream deforestation operations, thus killing the fish. The Ottawa River was the birthplace of Algonquin people.
They were forced to move northwards where they ended up being squatters on their own land. But the most serious complaint was that of non-existent medical facilities for the community of Grand Lac Victoria, isolated in the La Verendrye Park in Abitibi. As well, many complaints about social problems had received no action on the part of government agencies.
The native women of Canada, represented by Monique Sioui, were seeking the amendment of Article II Section IB of the Indian Act, as it was discriminatory to native women across the land, as they would be stripped of their status if they married a nonnative.
This was in later years changed in favour of native women, but I personally believe it ended up to the detriment of natives in
general as it created blood quantum wars.
Now the saddest moment of the hearings came with the testimony of Colombian natives whose delegate had to escape from incarceration in his country because of his government’s refusal to allow him to testify.
His people suffered outright genocide. The army would systematically gun down people in remote villages. The only thing he was asking of his government was the location of the mass graves where his people were buried, so as to allow the families to give them a decent funeral.
Ironically enough, The Netherlands which was hosting the conference had somehow overlooked the first inhabitants of their land. The “Gypsies” were uninvited to voice their concerns. On the last day of the hearing they forced their way to the podium and began their presentation in the traditional Dutch tongue which is not understood by today’s majority. Their complaint was, of course, being treated as second class citizens.
Now, in 1994, on the eve of the passing of a resolution on native rights at the United Nations, I am hopeful that many injustices of the past can be just seen as such.
