The Indians are screwing with us, folks!

 First Nations protestors from the “Idle No More” movement block the border crossing between Canada and the United States in Sarnia, Ontario, January, 5, 2013. REUTERS/Geoff Robins

Dear Readers;

We’re getting fucked!

First of all, Chief Theresa Spence is not on  a hunger strike kids…………………………, she is on a diet!

AND!

As far as that other thing goes,  she didn’t even kiss us first!

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Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence will not attend Friday’s “working meeting” between First Nations chiefs and Prime Minister Stephen Harper unless Gov. Gen. David Johnston changes his mind and decides to attend, a report from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network says.
The APTN report quotes Spence’s spokesman Danny Metatawabin as saying: ““If [Johnston] is not going to be there, Theresa is not going to the meeting. We are going to take it day by day.”
Earlier, Johnston’s spokesperson had characterized the Friday session as “a working meeting with government on public policy issues,” differentiating it from the nature of the 2012 Crown-First Nations gathering in which Johnston did participate as the Queen’s representative in Canada.
The key demand of Spence, who has been declining solid food since Dec.11 as a form of protest, is a meeting between the Crown and First Nations to discuss what she characterizes as “treaty issues.”
Spence had been expected to attend the meeting announced by Harper last Friday, as part of a group of chiefs from across Canada co-ordinated by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo.
She had left it open as to whether that meeting would be sufficient to meet her demands and end her hunger strike.
On Monday, a much-anticipated audit of the Attawapiskat First Nation’s finances by accounting firm Deloitte was leaked to the media. The report revealed a significant lack of documentation and a “lack of due diligence” for the band council’s expenditures of some $104 million of federal government funding between 2005 and 2011.
The audit also raised questions about whether federal officials provided sufficient oversight for the troubled community, whose administration has been under co-management with the federal government for more than a decade.
Spence characterized the release of the audit as a “distraction,” with her camp suggesting its information may be wrong and its release timed to discredit her.
Former national chief Phil Fontaine met with Spence on Tuesday, telling reporters afterwards outside her camp on Victoria Island on the Ottawa River that he was there to show support for her cause.
Fontaine did not comment specifically on Attawapiskat’s finances, but said simply that Spence continues to have a lot of support. He is not attending Friday’s meeting, and denied earlier reports that he was considering returning his newly announced Order of Canada as a form of protest.
During a joint news conference on Parliament Hill with Thomas Boni Yayi, president of the Republic of Benin and chairman of the African Union, Harper told reporters Tuesday afternoon that his government “has a record of moving forward clearly step by step on a lot of issues,” including the aboriginal file.
“I know that there are great challenges in certain aboriginal communities and we will continue through legislation, through meetings – not just the meeting this week, but the meetings we have had in the past, the meetings we will continue to have – to identify ways to move forward in the same way that we want to move forward for all Canadians: with the creation of growth, jobs and long-term prosperity for all communities,” Harper said.
The Assembly of First Nations began holding strategy and planning meetings in Ottawa Tuesday to prepare for Friday’s meeting. On Wednesday and Thursday, the AFN is expected to hold ceremonies and other forums to engage its membership and consult in advance of the talks.
Also on Friday, the grassroots protest movement Idle No More announced Tuesday that it’s organizing a “one-day national dialogue” with indigenous chiefs to “discuss water, land, sovereignty and treaty relationships” at Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan’s Treaty 4 Governance Centre.
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If you’re still in the dark about what all the fuss is…………………………….. read this!
It dates back just two months but a grassroots movement called Idle No More has gained a serious following and significant media attention through rallies, teach-ins, and social media.
Here are answers to some questions about Idle No More.

What’s the goal of the Idle No More protests?

The movement says it wants to “stop the Harper government from passing more laws and legislation that will further erode treaty and indigenous rights and the rights of all Canadians.”
The mission statement reads, “Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution which honors and fulfils Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water.”
The Idle No More Facebook group, which has about 45,000 members, says its purpose is “to support and encourage grassroots to create their own forums to learn more about Indigenous rights and our responsibilities to our Nationhood via teach-ins, rallies and social media.”

How did Idle No More get started?

In late October, four women in Saskatchewan began exchanging emails about Bill C-45, which had just been introduced in Ottawa. Jessica Gordon, Sheelah McLean, Sylvia McAdams and Nina Wilsonfeld were concerned the bill would erode indigenous rights.
Members of the Haisla First Nation march in Kitimat, B.C. as part of a rally in support of the Idle No More movement on Dec 30, 2012. (Robin Rowland/Canadian Press)
They decided to organize an event in Saskatoon, set for Nov. 10, and to help spread the word they turned to Facebook. They chose to call the page “Idle No More” as a motivational slogan.
A week after that small meeting, there were events in Regina, Prince Albert and North Battleford, Sask., and Winnipeg.
A movement was born. Exactly one month after that first meeting Idle No More held a National Day of Action in locations across the country.

What is Bill C-45?

That’s the number of the bill introduced by the Harper government on Oct. 18 with the title, “A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012, and other measures.”
The bill passed and then received royal assent on Dec. 14 and is now known as the “Jobs and Growth Act, 2012.”

That doesn’t sound like something that would spark a protest movement, especially an aboriginal rights movement. What’s the issue?

C-45 is better known as the second omnibus budget bill. The act changes the legislation contained in 64 acts or regulations. The act itself runs over more than 400 pages.
The changes that most concern the Idle No More movement are the ones to these acts:

• Indian Act.
• Navigation Protection Act (former Navigable Waters Protection Act).
• Environmental Assessment Act.

In addition to the changes, those involved in the movement were angered by what they call a lack of consultation with indigenous peoples. The movement has also expressed concern about other acts and bills from the Harper government.

What are some of the movement’s key objections to the changes to those 3 acts?

Indian Act: First Nations communities can now lease designated reserve lands if a majority attending a meeting called for that purpose vote to do so, regardless of how many people show up. Previously, approval required the support of a majority of eligible voters.
Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, drums at the centre of the Idle No More protest on Parliament Hill Dec. 21. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)
The Aboriginal Affairs minister can call the meeting to consider surrendering band territory. The minister can choose to ignore a resolution from the band council that’s in opposition to a decision at the meeting.
Idle No More says these changes allow “for easier opening of treaty lands and territory.”
Navigation Protection Act: Under the act, major pipeline and power line project advocates aren’t required to prove their project won’t damage or destroy a navigable waterway it crosses, unless the waterway is on a list prepared by the transportation minister. Idle No More claims the amendments remove that protection for 99.9 per cent of lakes and rivers in Canada.
Environmental Assessment Act: The first omnibus budget bill had already overhauled the assessment process and the second one reduces further the number of projects that would require assessment under the old provisions. Idle No More objects to the faster approval process.

What’s the connection between the hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence and Idle No More?

It was on that National Day of Action that Spence, chief of the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, announced in Ottawa that she would be starting a hunger strike the next day.
Her hunger strike has helped generate media attention for Idle No More and she has become an icon for Idle No More activists.
Substandard living conditions in Attawapiskat attracted widespread media coverage after Spence declared a state of emergency in late 2011 due to a housing crisis in the community.

What is #IdleNoMore?

That’s the Twitter hashtag being used to spread information about the movement and to organize its actions. Twitter users add “#IdleNoMore” (upper or lower case) to their tweets and others follow or search for that hashtag.
The first tweet with that hashtag was sent Nov. 30 by Tanya Kappo, an aboriginal activist in Edmonton, who tweets prolifically as @Nehiyahskwew.
For the record, here’s the text of her tweet:

Tweeting up on Sunday, December 2, the #IdleNoMore event in Alberta. Lets get it trending! Here is the FB event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/294147797368645/

Kappo was one of the event organizers. Within weeks #IdleNoMore was trending on Twitter.

What’s the connection between the Assembly of First Nations and the Idle No More movement?

A large group performed a Round Dance at the Cornwall Centre in Regina to raise awareness of their Idle No More campaign on Dec. 17, 2012. (Submitted to CBC)
The movement is grassroots. “It’s all volunteer and we have no finances,” according to co-founder Jessica Gordon.
It has been compared to the Occupy movement that began in 2011.
So there is no formal connection between the AFN, which represents First Nations citizens in Canada, and Idle No More.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo has publicly expressed support for Idle No More.
“Through the ‘Idle No More’ movement, we have seen a tremendous outpouring of energy, pride and determination by our peoples in recent weeks,” Atleo said in a Jan 3 media release. “This level of citizen and community engagement is absolutely essential to achieve the change we all want,” he added.

What has been Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s response to the Idle No More movement?

While Harper will meet with an AFN delegation on Jan. 11, that was a demand from Chief Spence in connection with her hunger strike rather than a demand from Idle No More.
Harper was asked at a press conference on Friday in Oakville, Ont., if he is worried whether the movement will snowball similar to the Occupy movement. He responded, “People have the right in our country to demonstrate and express their points of view peacefully as long as they obey the law, but I think the Canadian population expects everyone will obey the law in holding such protests.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/01/04/f-idlenomore-faq.html
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And finally, we have this report;

The case of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence and the aboriginal protest movement called Idle No More gets curiouser by the day.
First of all, Chief Spence is not on a hunger strike. She’s eating broth every day and drinking juice and medicinal tea.
As recently as three days ago, Spence was videoed walking about her compound on Victoria Island in the middle of the Ottawa River smiling, waving and greeting visitors. She was too spry for someone who has been starving herself for nearly a month.
More importantly — and this is true of the larger Idle movement — Spence shows no interest in taking ownership of the issues she is in Ottawa to protest. There is no recognition that much of the plight of Canada’s aboriginals is self-inflicted. In her mind and Idle minds, everything is the fault of government and non-aboriginals.
http://www.lfpress.com/2013/01/08/theresa-spence-shows-no-interest-in-taking-ownership-of-issues