Underlying causes among our First Nations citizens

It was heart-warming to read the March 6 article in the Herald in which the local Rotary Club had invited Michael Welsh to speak to their members. Welsh is the B.C. president of the Canadian Bar Association.

As reported by managing editor James Miller who was at the meeting, Welsh spoke about some of the findings in the “Truth and Reconciliation Report” which was released in December, 2015. Welsh said, “Only 3% of Canada’s population is indigenous, but 20per cent of inmates in Canadian jails are First Nations, including 35per cent of all incarcerated females.

“The law, unfortunately, was used for decades as a tool against our indigenous citizens not to assist them.” They couldn’t vote, have a lawyer. Children were taken by force from their homes and placed in residential schools. One government official said of the latter that they wanted them in residential schools so that “they could take the Indian out of the children”. The children were forced to learn and speak English only; they were punished for speaking in their own language.

Welsh also said, “It’s estimated that between 50 and 60 per cent of the children in B.C. foster care are indigenous, as well as 25 per cent of murder victims in Canada.”

Later in the article Welsh said, “Legal issues are social issues. They arise because there are people in the system who are mentally ill, have suffered brain injuries, suffer addictions, been abused and that brings them into conflict with the law. We need to be dealing with the underlying causes, especially among our First Nations citizens.”

I recently read the book, Invisible North, by Alexandra Shimo. She is a former editor at Macleans, an investigative reporter, and an award-winning journalist. She lives for a time in Kashechewan (referred to hereafter as Kash) reserve in northern Ontario. Her primary reason for going was “to investigate rumours of a fabricated water crisis, and document the reserve’s deplorable living conditions.” But she ends up finding out why the reserve (like many other reserves) is the way it is.

Shimo writes, “At the turn of the 20th century, the Crees of Kash trapped over 640 square kilometers over the James Bay area. But in 1905, with the signing of Treaty 9, they were moved to an area measuring 1.5 kms by 0.5 kms, the size of the reserve, with 230 square kms shared with Fort Albany, for hunting.

“Treaty 9 records the surrender of 144,840 square kms of what was Cree land. The Crown got something for nothing, or at least not very much. Everyone was given $8 up front ($169.47 in today’s inflation-adjusted currency), and $4 per person per year afterwards. “After the signing, the real value of these numbers would shrink too; they weren’t indexed to inflation .... ”

But, perhaps more importantly was that “Kash was promised to be equal partners (with the Crown) in how the land would be used in the future.” They also promised to help the unemployed find work. But almost every attempt Kash made to create industry and work was turned down by the Ministry. So there continued to be widespread poverty, unemployment, poor health, and disease on the reserve, with parents not being able to provide adequately for their families. The depressing conditions in Kash led to a high rate of suicide, especially among young people.

With the outbreak of E. Koli in the town’s water, reporters descended on Kash, including the CBC and the Globe & Mail. Their reporting of conditions on the reserve embarrassed the government who then promised to rectify the situation. As Shimo writes, “On October 27, 2005, Ottawa announced a plan to create a ‘First Nations Health Organization’ in the area, to better integrate this patchwork of services and ‘be more responsive the the unique health needs of this region’.”

“However, (she says) there still needs to be a considerable injection of funds into the education system and a serious transfer of property rights and responsibilities to indigenous persons if we are to start to address and acknowledge our historic legacy and give people a fair shot in life.”

Harvie Barker is a Penticton resident and writer of inspirational messages. He’s the author of the book, A Good Word in Season Volume 8, now available at the front desk of The Penticton Herald for $10 with all proceeds to local charity.