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Have any of you visited a reservation? I haven't even visited the large Choctaw reservations in my state, and until recently I thought I had some Choctaw ancestry on my mother's side.
A lot of American tribes operate casinos and sell tobacco products (for which consumers pay no federal taxes) as a way of making money. How about up there?
Yeah it's the same scenario up here with them breaking taxation laws and getting away with it routinely because we're politically correct to the n'th degree. In other words; we're chicken-chit!
Smuggling tobacco products across the border between Canada and the U.S. went on unabated for many years with them running high speed powerboats full of product across the St.Lawrence and equipping their boats with larger weapons than our LEO'S carried on their slower craft.
They sell cartons and loose cig's to off reservation people without tax exempt status and thumb their noses at the CRS.
Where does all the profit from that business go? The same place all the government allotment money goes....into the hands of a few chosen cabal of thieves and corrupt leaders. They learned their lessons well from us white-eye's.
I'm part cree on my mother's side.
The sooner we realize that reservations don't need unaccountable government assistance that effectively ghettoizes them and makes them totally dependent the better.
Do the Mohawks in Quebec prefer to speak English rather than French as their second language?
They mostly speak English. This is a reflection of their historical alliances with the British and also their ties to the U.S. states close by.
In Quebec aboriginal groups tend to speak the language of the European colonizers they were allied with: the Hurons and Innu tend to speak French, for example.
Have any of you visited a reservation? I haven't even visited the large Choctaw reservations in my state, and until recently I thought I had some Choctaw ancestry on my mother's side.
A lot of American tribes operate casinos and sell tobacco products (for which consumers pay no federal taxes) as a way of making money. How about up there?
I've visited the Blood and Peigan reserves in southern Alberta many times, as I dated a Blackfoot girl for a quite a long time. The town of Brocket, on the Peigan (the setting of the infamous, cringe inducing, but occasionally hilarious Brocket 99 radio show) would be more at home in Afghanistan or Somalia than Alberta. Burnt out houses, packs of feral dogs and packs of feral children (which were infinitely more disturbing than the dogs) and large signs warning the RCMP that they were unwelcome. Rumour had it that burning down your old house was the prescribed way to get a new one, though I can't confirm whether that was true or not. Still, the sheer number of fire consumed buildings brought a certain amount of suspicion.
I was on the Blood reserve once and was mistaken for Cree (the only people the Blackfoot dislike more than whites), as I had identified myself as being from Saskatchewan and I'm quite deeply tanned, usually. I never thought my safety on a reserve would hang on my whiteness .
I got sucked into going to a reserve meeting there, too, once, as they were contemplating allowing drilling on the reserve. Apparently my somewhat limited hydrogeological knowledge was volunteered - I probably learned more than they did though, as I'd never been privy first hand to the kind of corruption, nepotism and infighting that characterizes a good deal of First Nations politics, at least in that area. Depressing stuff, as there were some pretty decent people there who, I think, could have contributed a lot to the health of the reserve, but they belonged to the wrong family or complained to the wrong people, etc. etc.
I've been to the Osoyoos reserve in BC, as well, and it's astonishing how different it was. Not only was it wealthy, but it appeared peaceful and well maintained. They seemed genuinely interested in sharing their culture with outsiders, too.
Most of their problems are brought on by their own actions or inactions. It's easier to turn around and blame "whitey" just ask Theresa Spence...you can find her driving around her reserve that has no road connections to the outside...in her Cadillac Escalade.
This is an absolute ignorant and rascist post. It very much reminds me of the American RWNJs and their fables about the rich baby mommas milking the taxpayers.
I'll bet you have never been on a remote reservation and so, you don't have a clue. The things that have been done to our native peoples is worthy of South Africa and in fact it is one of the only things that I'm ashamed of my country for.
The residential school programme with ran for the better part of a century was like a cultural genocide. Children ripped from their homes,families and culture just to be abused and as we have recently found out killed and otherwise treated subhuman by US for the sake of what? Our superiority, our much more civilized culture? PFFFFT it's sickening.
There are no remote communities of regular Canadians who have no drinking water, no decent schools, poor healthcare, shacks for homes etc, etc. We have broken every single treaty we ever made with these people, robbed their land, destroyed their way of life, stole their children, refuse to get serious about helping solve the problems they face and you see WHAT????
One freakin lady riding around in a SUV.
There are many first nations in Canada that have never even seeded sovereignity to the crown. If I were in their shoes I would threaten to leave Canada completely if the country would not get serious about developing my nation in the way I see fit. Maybe the Russians could offer the first nations of the Pacific north west a better deal. Maybe the first nations of the north east would be far better off joining up with the Danes. The Russians have rightly pointed out that if a country, like Canada can not act like a sovereign power over territory then in fact they are not. Some other power could in fact take control and possession of this territory if they were willing to assert sovereign control. In the future our neglect of our native population could prove to be the biggest national security issue the country has ever faced.
You see, along with the massive natural resources Canada can and will develop there is a human resource that goes right along with that, developing one and neglecting the other is criminal and the very worst kind of colonialism.
Have any of you visited a reservation? I haven't even visited the large Choctaw reservations in my state, and until recently I thought I had some Choctaw ancestry on my mother's side.
A lot of American tribes operate casinos and sell tobacco products (for which consumers pay no federal taxes) as a way of making money. How about up there?
My mom lives on a rez in Interior B.C. It's a resort community, the Crown leased land from the band. The band I'm speaking of is one of the richest in the world. They've managed their funds properly and are honestly highly regarded, upstanding citizens that have a nearly 100% high school graduation rate and over 70% university enrollment of their members. They contribute positively to society in every way, including institution of social programs to help band members who were once homeless, jobless, drug addicted, alcohol addicted, and poor to get back on their feet and off the streets. They're to be commended.
When I was living in Ontario & I came back to B.C. with someone from Ontario, he was astounded at how clean & beautiful the reservation in this area was. It's probably an anomaly, I realize that. The reserves where we lived in northern Ontario leave something to be desired in a lot of cases. Many are stereotypical, unkempt, social problems galore.
My dog was found on one of the worst reserves in northern Ontario with 3 brothers & his mom. They were tied up on 3 foot leashes and left. One of his brothers was dead when he was found. My boy was full of worms, had mange, fleas, and was starved. He had a host of social problems. Now he's shiny, healthy, beautiful, and obedient. But sadly, that's common out there and most reserves have stray dogs running around, amongst the things I listed above. Maybe off topic, but paints a picture of how some of these reserves have deteriorated over time. Look up Attawapiskat - that's an example of poor management by the band at its finest. The members living in unsanitary conditions, in tents or like 30 people crammed into a mobile home while the chief wasted money on luxury cars and expensive clothes. Whoever made the comment of "one lady driving an SUV" - you need to read more into this case. The problems she caused by mis-management of funds are nothing short of staggering. I worked with a lady in northern Ontario who provided maternity services in Attawapiskat for two years. She lived there for two full years (she is not First Nations). Some of the stories she told me about the living conditions, social problems, things she saw including violence and drug & alcohol abuse, blew my mind.
Ugh. I could go on about First Nations issues all day.
Ugh. I could go on about First Nations issues all day.
So could I. Apparently, if I don't give money or cigarettes to natives on the streets of Lethbridge, Alberta, then I am a racist bastard. According to them, I, personally, stole all their land; and I owe them.
No. I, personally, owe them nothing. The Canadian government is who they have a problem with. But it doesn't stop them from threatening me on the streets of Lethbridge. As they so often do.
There are many professional FNs whom I respect: lawyers, social workers, those who work and contribute to our community.
But the street natives who are never sober, who have no jobs, who try to take advantage of "white guilt," and who accuse me of "racism," when they meet me on the street--go to hell. Help yourselves to all that the federal government allows--a free education, and so on--and if you fail, you fail. But it's not Whitey's fault if you screw up.
Hardly. If you consider the total amount of taxpayer & private sector $ that have been shoveled into the Attawapiskat moneypit, it means only one thing. These people have no excuse (other than blaming corrupt leadership) for living the way they do. The same per capita spending dumped into any honestly administrated community would make them ALL millionares; not just the (starving?) ones cruising around in Escalades.
This is an absolute ignorant and rascist post. It very much reminds me of the American RWNJs and their fables about the rich baby mommas milking the taxpayers.
I'll bet you have never been on a remote reservation
...and you see WHAT???? One freakin lady riding around in a SUV.
There are many first nations in Canada that have never even seeded sovereignity to the crown. If I were in their shoes I would threaten to leave Canada completely if the country would not get serious about developing my nation in the way I see fit.
You see, along with the massive natural resources Canada can and will develop there is a human resource that goes right along with that, developing one and neglecting the other is criminal and the very worst kind of colonialism.
I've worked alongside many people from extremely remote reservations and, as noted, have visited some who have never ceded sovereignty to the crown, so I think it's fair to answer some of these while sidestepping the ad hominem.
What youthinkso posted may have been crass, but it wasn't entirely wrong.
The nepotism, corruption and sheer incompetence within reservation politics would make Robert Mugabe blush and to think that we, as outsiders, can fix it, is to me extremely naive. It goes far, far, far beyond one lady in an SUV.
During that lone meeting I mentioned in my earlier post I learned that the band council had created a company to do the impact assessment in house. However, no assessment was ever done. Several million dollars had evaporated with no report or even paper trail to follow.
Several attendees made reference to voter intimidation and fraud in band elections, and though I can't say for certain whether the allegations were true, the allegations were far worse than any thrown out during any election I've ever been part of. Apparently (and there was some evidence to support this) the former band treasurer was more or less illiterate, though remained treasurer for several years.
It was alleged as well that the band council and the proposed drilling company had negotiated the contract in such a way that the drilling company paid out extravagant bonuses to the band council, but had a very low offer approved for the contract itself (Again, not being privy to anything I can only repeat what was alleged by other band members).
Those are just the issues aired in one three hour meeting on one reserve. To brush off accusations of political corruption within First Nations politics is extremely naive.
My perception was (and is) that there's a general attitude of victimhood among many First Nations that we, as outsiders, cannot fix. It's certainly true that they were hard done by. On the other hand, so were many other ethnic groups who've regrouped and made a second go of it (without losing their culture or identity along the way). We can throw as much money as we like at reserves, but it'll never fix the problems. I'm all for helping, but until people are ready to help themselves, I see little hope.
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