[Winnipegger]

I volunteered at the Aboriginal Centre again today. Years ago I was asked to help with the Computer Lending Library, a charity to provide refurbished computers to low income individuals in need of assistance. It isn't restricted to people of Aboriginal descent, but is expected that most people will be simply because of the location. It's in the basement of the Aboriginal Centre of Winnipeg. Earlier this year the building was renamed Neeginan Centre. Most people there appreciate what we do and accept us. Other programs in the building or associated building across the parking lot welcome us and cooperate. But...

This year they have a new security guard. He's a relatively young man, perhaps late 20s, and expressed his desire to run for chief of his band. He's given us lectures what it's really like to be a status Aboriginal. It's good to hear directly from someone who grew up and lives it. He has said many white people think status Aboriginals get benefits that other Canadians don't, but he pointed out those benefits are not actually useful. For example, a status Aboriginal living on Reserve does not have to pay income tax, GST or PST, but costs on reserves are so much higher that you end up paying more. He can purchase gasoline without gas tax, but to do so requires driving to a reservation to fill his tank. That would burn so much gas that he would end up paying more. If he buys gas off reservation, he has to pay gas tax, GST and PST just like everyone else. He's better off just finding the lowest cost gas station in Winnipeg, and just pay the price at the pump like everyone else. He works in Winnipeg, so has income tax deducted like everyone else. As long as he's living and working in Winnipeg, there are no benefits.

Today he complained about Aboriginal leadership. He started that conversation today by pointing out Aboriginal people in BC are different than those in central Canada. And yes, by "central Canada" he meant prairie provinces, not southern Ontario. Look at a map. He pointed out bands in BC have never ceded land. Treaties in central Canada all ceded land. He complained that someone who never lived under restrictions of the Indian Act would never understand. So he said the Grand Chief from BC was required to step down.

He went on to complained about actions by one band to get a building within Winnipeg designated part of that reservation. Steps to do so are many, with many bureaucratic hurdles. He said the process takes years, it's expected to take more than 10 years further. I pointed out many people object to land within the city being designated a reservation. He didn't like that, and pointed out we are living on Treat One Land. I let it drop.

I see he feels very passionately about this, and pushing the point would just start a pointless argument. But he is the one that pointed out the numbered treaties of central Canada all cede land to the Crown. Particularly Treat 1, which covers southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg. He called this "treaty land". It really isn't "treaty land". The dictionary definition of the word "cede" is "surrender, concede, relinquish, yield, part with, give up". Land that has been ceded to the Crown is now Crown land. It isn't Aboriginal land that is occupied by tenants or guests or visitors, it's now Crown land. Treat 1 was signed in 1871, which means land covered by that treaty has not been Aboriginal land since the signing of that treaty. Basically, the land was sold. You don't get to sell something, accept payment, then claim the thing you sold is still yours. Aboriginal peoples who signed the treaty were given money every year, given healthcare, federal government paid education, and many more services. The individual I spoke with pointed out money paid every year was only 4 or 5 dollars. That the amount increased the first years, but stopped for over a hundred years. Actually, I looked up the text of the treaty; it says each Indian family of 5 persons receives 15 dollars in Canadian currency. And I calculated inflation since 1871; that wasn't easy because it was tied to the gold standard until 1914. But exchange was $4.8666 per British pound, and the bank of UK has an inflation calculator that goes back farther than 1871. It works out that one Dollar in 1871 is worth $511.96632 today. You could round that off to $500, so each family should receive $7,500 per year. Aboriginal peoples have been screwed many times through Canadian history, but the problem is some Aboriginal individuals still do not understand that ceded land is not their land.

Numbered treaties stated those bands, and only those bands that signed the treaty are allowed to hunt, fish, and fowl (hunt birds) on ceded land covered by that same treaty. They can harvest all forms of resources, including logging, harvesting gravel, collecting wild plants such as berries or vegetables, etc. But only until such time as the land is developed; once a piece of land is developed they cannot harvest resources. And the treaty explicitly states the government's intent to so develop all land covered by the treaty. All numbered treaties do. Permission to harvest resources is essentially a transition, segue, between their ownership and Crown ownership. That isn't some overbearing condescension by the federal government, that's grace by the new owner of the land to permit the previous owner to continue to use it in a declining manner for a limited period after it is sold.

This bothers me because I living in Winnipeg. Any claim that Winnipeg is still "treaty land" is a claim that my house and my yard are not mine. Furthermore, Manitoba Hydro was halted from constructing a power line in the most directly line possible. Bipole 3 is a new major power line, originally supposed to be down the east side of Lake Winnipeg. But Aboriginal groups tried to extort money from Manitoba Hydro, they wanted an amount of money per kilowatt hour transmitted. Hydro said no way! Aboriginal groups started a court challenge, and claimed they would keep it tied up in court for year. Since Manitoba Hydro is a crown corporation, the provincial government decided to change the route to the west side of Lake Manitoba, a circuitous route that is longer, requires much more money to build, and will result in significantly more power loss. That affects everyone in Manitoba. If the proposed route passed through any reservation, I would be completely on their side, but it didn't. The proposed route was entirely on Crown land, that is land ceded to the Crown by treaties. The east side of Lake Winnipeg is covered by treat 5. That treaty was extended in 1875 to cover northern Manitoba. A tiny part of the route would pass through south-east Manitoba, covered by treaty 3. Southern Manitoba is treaty 1. All ceded lands.

I would like to propose the government fully comply with it's side of all treaties. Fully, without exception. And likewise all Aboriginal peoples must comply with their obligations under the treaties. That does mean no oil pipelines through reservations, no provincial highways or provincial roads, no "public works" of any kind in reservations. Reserve land is their land; period, full stop! And non-ceded land cannot be taken either, so an oil pipeline such as Northern Gateway cannot be run there. However, that also means ceded land is not their land, so all land claims over ceded land are entirely forfeit.

[Public_Domain]