Seeing beyond the Indian Act through self-governance

Notes for an address by  Lance Copegog, Beausoleil First Nation 

Anishinabek Nation Governance Gathering July 30th, 2019

Good afternoon, youth, Elders, leadership, delegates and community members, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for that very kind introduction. I certainly acknowledge the sacred items in this room.

Noodin-e-giigidood n’dizhinikaaz. Mkwa n’dodem. Chimnissing n’donjiba. Anishinabe nini n’dow.

My name is Lance Copegog. I am the Anishinabek Nation’s Youth Representative for the Southeastern Region, serving the communities of Beausoleil, Rama, Georgina, among others. I currently sit as a member of the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council. It has also been my honour to have served as the Deputy Youth Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation Youth Council.

For the past number of years, I have worked alongside Quinn, Pierre, and many of you in this room. It has been a great privilege to represent you – the youth of the Anishinabek Nation – at the provincial level with the Chiefs of Ontario and the national level with the Assembly of First Nations. I am looking forward to learning more about the needs of your community and how I can better amplify your views at these different tables.

I would like to begin by thanking our hosts, Batchewana and Garden River First Nations, for welcoming us to Sault Ste. Marie this week. Iwant to affirm that the land on which we are gathered is Anishinabe territory.

It is a great privilege to have been invited to speak on governance today.

When the European settlers first arrived, they imposed their interpretation of the law on our pre-existing legal traditions. They brought with them their institutions and proceeded to colonize our people. At the same time, they did not recognize that we already had our own laws, systems of governance, and institutions. Despite our treaties and the two-row Wampum belt, over time, Western legal traditions and the dominance of settler society overpowered our own systems of governance.

By the end of the 19th century, we had been moved onto reserves and governed, in large part, by the federal government. The Indian Act solidified the government’s role in the lives of our people, and still affects us to this day.

There isn’t anyone in this room who doesn’t see the Indian Act for what it is – a patriarchal, colonial document that has no place within the lives of Indigenous people. But for some, the idea of repealing the Indian Act is a daunting – and often frightening – concept.

Some people associate the Indian Act with guaranteeing the rights of our communities, that it is a modern legal tradition that must be protected in this country. Many of our nations, particularly those that suffer with severe socio-economic issues, are dependent on the Indian Act for the survival of their communities. This is because Canada still has a fiduciary responsibility to our people.

In the late 1960s, Canada attempted to abolish the Indian Act in a proposal laid out in its White Paper. The proposal was to assimilate Indigenous people into mainstream Canadian society and to strip us of our identity as a distinct group. The White Paper had no plan beyond the Indian Act and no recognition of our right to self-determination. Our leaders of the day stood up accordingly and stopped the White Paper’s plan.

Today, across the Anishinabek Nation, and indeed across the country, Indigenous communities are taking back control of our systems of governance. We are beginning to envision a world after the Indian Act – one where our people are free from its constraints.

That is why this Anishinabek Governance Agreement is so vital.

Last week in my community of Beausoleil First Nation, we voted to ratify our custom Land Code. This means we have freed ourselves from certain aspects of the Indian Act, especially as it relates to how we control and care for our own territory.

In moving beyond the Indian Act and taking back control, I believe that our communities must take bold actions.

If we actually want to make transformative change – the change that is required – we must truly lead the way in building capacity in our nations and doing the hard work. This means taking a good look at the state of our communities and asking ourselves hard questions.

Bringing about transformative change will mean revitalizing our culture and language…

Ending the culture of dependency on the federal government through innovative economic development means…

Doing away with colonial laws, and writing our laws based on cultural beliefs and the needs of our people…

Taking back control of our institutions and systems of governance…

And finally, organizing ourselves in a manner that is consistent with our role as rights and title holders.

Ultimately, I believe that it is the youth that will do the hard work.

And we’re seeing it already. Having served as a young leader in my community and in at different levels, and having worked alongside other young leaders – I can say with full and complete certainty that we are willing, ready, and able to move our communities forward.

Instead of allowing ourselves to be complacent, we are moving to bring about changes in our communities. Instead of being scared to venture into a world beyond the Indian Act, we are thinking of ways to create systems of governance that truly reflect who we are as Anishinabek.

Not only are the youth leaders of today demonstrating a generational shift, but we are demonstrating a complete shift in thinking.

We know what needs to be done. We know how to get to where we need to go. And most importantly, we have the solutions. We have the tools.

When we think of where we need to go – we look to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Truth and Reconciliation Report, and studies upon studies that have been done on our nations. Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution is a full box of our rights. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People sets a global standard for engagement with our people.

In Canada’s own courts, we have won in case after case. The Tsilhqot’in case set a major legal precedent in this country – industry must consult with our people. Our challenge now is to translate the legislation that supports us, the court cases that affirm our rights, and our knowledge of our inherent rights and responsibilities into meaningful progress on the ground in our communities.

The work that we are already undertaking in our communities – whether it be moving out from under the Indian Act or undergoing other transformation processes – must accelerate. Each of our communities must come up with our own ways to improve our governance and make it our own. It is up to us to think outside of the box – or outside of our own Band Office.

Most importantly, our communities must overcome their fear of life beyond the Indian Act. Another challenge that I see when moving beyond the Indian Act are those people who – in the name of protecting our rights – oppose any effort to move forward, even if that advancement means a better future for their community.

These are the people that foster fear and mistrust among our community members – pitting those who want a better future versus those that only use inflammatory rhetoric for their narrow-minded goals.

We must reject those that seek to stop our progress. So, I stress that unity – seeking to build consensus, bridging divides, and coming up with common solutions – will be a major component in the governance work that we are undertaking.

It is gatherings like these – where we have the opportunity to come together to share ideas – where that unity will be built.  And it is gatherings like these that will build capacity among the youth to go back to our communities to do the hard work.

Our goal must be this – transforming Indian Act governance into our own governance. We must also ensure that our own governance is good governance. And it will be up to each individual nation to – mine included – determine the path forward – on own terms.

But let us not forget – moving beyond the Indian Act is not the end in itself, but rather a means to an end. That end being more prosperous nations, where all of us are playing active roles in our systems of governance, with our people enjoying a better quality of life, and where our culture and language thrives. Let us not lose sight of this objective. While considerable work remains, I know that we are well on our way to realizing the vision of our ancestors – a world beyond the Indian Act.

I wish you all well in our deliberations over the next few days, and I hope that we will emerge with outcomes that can be implemented back home in our communities. I look forward to working with all of you, and I want you to know that I remain committed to doing the hard work.

Miigwech.