Since his appointment a year ago, the Minister of Indian Affairs, Robert Nault, has been conspicuously absent from places one would expect to see a man of his position: Saskatoon (where police dump Natives outside town in winter), Caldwell First Nation, Burnt Church, the Ipperwash Vigil on September 6th, the barricades at Kokomville in Quebec, the B.C. interior, and sit-ins and barricades across Canada.

He’s not even in his office. No-one has met him there and he doesn’t answer his mail.

Some say Ottawa’s current Minister of Indian Affairs doesn’t exist – that he is, in fact, NOT Nault, but NAUGHT.

Rumours abound Nault may be a hologram or a socially dysfunctional robot, because we HAVE seen PICTURES of him from time to time. Remember the famous one, just a month ago, of his backside as he ran away from the media and community members at Burnt Church? It was an ignoble retreat that caused AFN spokesperson Ovide Mercredi to remark, “I’ve never seen a white man flee from Indians before”.

All this mystery prompts a revival of the familiar child’s game/books about a missing man, “Where’s Waldo?” -where you look for the missing person in a picture.

Today, October 3rd, we began this mystery search at a rally in front of the Department of Indian Affairs in support of the Aboriginal and Treaty rights of the Burnt Church People.

Nauldo can be very difficult to find but, much to the astonishment of founding members of the “Nauldo-Seekers Club”, we have received reports of two recent sightings.

On September 6th, when Aboriginal, Canadian and international human rights activists were recalling the five long years since non-violent Aboriginal rights activist Dudley George was killed at Ipperwash Park in Ontario, a verified sighting of Nauldo was made at Long Dog Reserve in Treaty Area 9, in remote northern Ontario. While, Nault/Nauldo should have been in his office in Ottawa signing the papers to strike a federal inquiry into the terrible events at Ipperwash five years earlier, he was seen getting into a float plane operated by Mammow Beaver and flying away.

More recently, on September 22nd, Nault/Nauldo was again spotted in public. This time his mouth was seen moving although news reports do not verify him saying anything. The grand occasion was the opening of his new constituency office (would he be preparing for that mainstay of democracy – an election?). The Minister was greeted at this event by Elders, First Nations representatives, and many non-Native constituents who called on him to “Stand with the People” for a just resolution at Burnt Church. In a press release, this ad hoc group noted that “Nault, Kenora-Rainy River MP and Minister of Indian Affairs, has been painfully silent and invisible over the past few weeks regarding the situation on our East coast. His lack of leadership and public presence adds to the growing anxiety among First Nations and non-Native citizens alike, in his constituency and across the country. It is the Minister’s constitutional responsibility to act in the best interests of Aboriginal peoples in his role as trustee for Indian Affairs.” Since the day he got hastily inserted into his job, many of us outside his riding have been concerned about the cavernous ‘black hole’ that occupies the place where Nauldo should be.

WHERE’S NAULDO NOW? Have YOU seen him? Can you verify your sighting? Send any relevant information to us at “animated@web.net”.

Please help the “Nauldo-Seekers Club” by passing this message along. Only YOU can help us get to the bottom of this mystery and find the missing Minister of Indian Affairs.

There’s more! In this once-in-a-lifetime offer, the “Nauldo-Seekers Club” will Offer a prize of our soon-to-be-released satirical publication called “A Guide to the War Against the Indians: From A – Z”.

This prize will go to anyone who can provide ‘info’ on WHERE NAULDO WILL BE.

We know lots of people who are looking for him… They just want to talk.

Ed Note: This political satire came from Mike Constable, who is a well-known professional humourist in the Toronto community. Mike has done some artwork on the Ipperwash issue, one example of which can be seen on his website at union-art.com. You can contact Mike Constable, the “Nauldo-Seekers Club” founder, at animated@web.net. His “WHERE’S NAULDO” message, while humourous, is also very serious and important Why is the Minister of Indian Affairs not taking care of business?