There’s a grassroots uprising throughout Indian Country. Men and women from reserves in Western Canada are banding together and speaking out.
They’re protesting against living in poverty while the chief and council live in comfort, of funds destined for community programs disappearing without explanation, of electoral systems ripe for fraud and the complacency of Indian Affairs for not putting a stop to the abuses.
“All we want is financial accountability.
It’s not that we’re attacking the leadership.
We want to improve life on the reserves,” said Rita Galloway, founder of the First Nations Accountability Coalition and a member of the Pelican Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan. The coalition now has a membership of 1,500.
Galloway never intended to become an activist, but when several Elders from her reserve asked her to investigate how the chief and council were handling the reserve’s funds, she felt compelled to take action. “I had a paper trail and when I went to Indian Affairs they said not to worry. It’s happening all over,” Galloway said.
FNAC is in contact with grassroots groups in other provinces. Its Manitoba chapter helda four-day protest demanding accountability at a local Indian Affairs office.
SOURCE: FIRST PERSPECTIVE
