Let me clarify fist of all, I have an adopted daughter who is native, but I still don't
think we need this.
As a society we have made some serious mistakes in the past. We had a Native
Affairs Department for years and like everything else it became more political
than service oriented. As it turned out some on the Reserve ended up with the
wealth and the majority ended up with nothing or next to it. There were of course
programs that benefited the few at the expense of many.
Self Management meant that some were paid huge sums to be in charge and the
rest well they didn't even know what was going on. It went from the Government
making decisions to a few privileged people making decisions, often in their own
interests rather than for the good of all.
Once again we tried an experiment where we attempted to mix societal people
with tribal people. We as the mainstream of Canadian Society think as a collective
society when formulating laws and rules of behavior. Tribal groups think only of
the benefits for their tribal members within the society, and they compete for power
with other tribal groups.
This is evident today, when looking at the mess we have allowing tribal groups to
immigrate to Canada. They do not assimilate into society and they want to enforce
their own laws and customs once they are here, instead of abiding by the laws of
the land, as crafted by a societal group, Called Canadians.
Instead of having an Aboriginal Parliament, native peoples should be seeking to get
elected in Provincial, Municipal and Federal Parliaments. In addition their local band
office elections, need more people with the view that the Native Communities should
reach out to join the mainstream of society, and lean toward adopting a societal
view of the world. By remaining Tribal in nature, they are in fact limiting their own
progress and advancement. If they were to join the mainstream of Canadian Society,
they would open up the world to new possibilities around them. They would be like the
rest of us Canadians, and not regarded as First Nation Peoples, that in and of itself
is a limitation label often self imposed on them.
Instead of isolating themselves even more why not join the mainstream of Canadian
Society and take their place along side the rest of us? This would put an end to their
self imposed isolation and help them to take a much more powerful role within
Canadian Society
