‘The time is finally here to do what we have been saying we wanted for so long,’ says Dokis citizen on Governance Agreement

By Lisa Restoule

DOKIS FIRST NATION— Over the last nine years, I have worked as the Anishinabek Nation Governance Administrative Assistant. I have worked with the Anishinabek Nation negotiation team which includes  Martin Bayer, Governance Chief Negotiator; Fred Bellefeuille, Anishinabek Nation Legal Counsel; Jide Afolabi, Fiscal Relations Support Advisor; and many other dedicated individuals over the years.  I could not be more proud to have been a part of this amazing team and this historic process.

In my role as assistant, I saw firsthand the negotiations, the hard work, the long hours, the traveling across the Anishinabek Nation, and the commitment the negotiation team put into this process.  All of this done on behalf of the Anishinabek Nation as directed by the Chiefs-in-Assembly and all for the betterment of the Anishinabek Nation. Although I was part of the negotiation team and currently am in the capacity of the Lake Huron Regional Communications Coordinator, I am still a citizen of the Anishinabek Nation. My unique situation allowed me to ask questions and give opinions that, I believe, reflect those of the Anishinabek Nation citizens. Their voice, their concerns were with me and the negotiation team as the Governance Agreement evolved and shaped into what we have today. The majority of the negotiation team has been made up of Anishinabek Nation citizens.  So as the late great Chief Joe Dokis once said, “Who but an Indian knows what’s best for an Indian?” This is very true in that who but Anishinaabe knows what’s best for Anishinaabe?

This Agreement is one step forward in moving closer toward self-government and getting out of the Indian Act.  Over my lifetime, I have heard and I have been taught that this is what Anishinaabe people wanted, to look after ourselves and to make our own decisions for our own people and to exercise our inherent rights— the rights we never gave up.  Well, under this Agreement with Canada, Canada is recognizing our inherent right to make our own laws, meaning that they have been educated to understand that we never gave up our inherent right to govern.  And Canada has agreed to the funding amount that was negotiated by our team to operate our First Nation governments.

This has been a long time coming and so many First Nation citizens have been involved in this process over the years, many of which have moved on to the Spirit World.  But they are the ones who laid the ground work for the future.  Well… that future is here. That future is NOW.

It is time for all Anishinabek Nation citizens to come together, to ask questions, to get informed and to vote. The time is finally here to do what we have been saying we wanted for so long, to look after ourselves.  The Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement is an opportunity to move forward.  Now it is up to each and every one of us to have a say, to VOTE.

For more information, please visit the website:  govenancevote.ca or call the toll-free number: 1-833-297-9850.