Coming together – sharing the governance journey

By Kirk Titmuss

TORONTO – Two First Nation delegations – Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations and Treaty 4 – travelled from Manitoba and Saskatchewan respectively, on a fact-finding mission, to meet with an Anishinabek Nation delegation in Toronto, Ont., to learn more about the Anishinaabe Aadziwin (way of life) by way of the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement Act.

In their introduction, Treaty 5 Elder, Robert Wavey, explained his delegation’s goals.

“We are interested to hear about your views, experiences, and advice about the process and stages leading to the Agreement, the Agreement terms, and Agreement implementation.”

Treaty 5 Cultural Advisor, Jennifer Flett, called the Anishinabek Nation’s self-governance achievement a “milestone” and said Treaty 5 was “looking to make the same dream become a reality”.

“We started in 2017 under the Nation Rebuilding program, the recognition of Indigenous rights and self-determination agreements. This work has really got the ball rolling for us where we’re really making great strides,” she said.

Questions were directed at various Anishinabek Nation representatives. The first came from Treaty 5 researcher, Dr. Jennie Wastesicoot, who asked how negotiations between Canada and the Anishinabek Nation transpired.

In response, Anishinabek Nation Restoration of Jurisdiction Department Director, Dave Shawana, provided Treaty 5 delegates with a brief history of the Anishinabek Nation’s governance process. He spoke of the Chiefs-in-Assembly tabling their declaration of inherent rights in 1980 – which included self-determination and self-governance – and how Canada officially recognized those rights.

“In there, they were very significant and about making the statement that we have the right to govern ourselves and that’s always been the mandate and a vision of the Anishinabek people, Anishinabek Nation,” he said.

Shawana outlined the four governance pillars of the Agreement – elections, culture and language, citizenship, and operations management – and how they are a key step to eventually moving Anishinabek First Nations out from under the Indian Act.

He also spoke of the importance of the Chi-Naaknigewin (Big Law or constitution) proclamation of June 6, 2012, that was developed based upon the preamble, Ngo Dwe Waangiizid Anishinaabe (One Anishinaabe Family), and how its principles laid the foundation for the Anishinabek Nation.

“It was a very significant achievement. Unfortunately, we lost our mentor, Elder Gordon Waindubence-baa. He was very instrumental in bringing forward nation-building as it was referred to back in the day and he really emphasized the importance of our teachings in this process.”

Governance Agreement Negotiator, Martin Bayer, noted the important role the preamble plays in the Anishinabek governance process.

“The first thing you see in our Anishinabek Nation Chi-Naaknigewin is the Ngo Dwe Waangiizid Anishinaabe and the other thing we did with it, it’s the first thing you see when you open our Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement and a lot of our communities have been developing their Chi-Naaknigewins also put it in their Chi-Naaknigewins.”

Bayer also recommended to Treaty 5 delegates that simplicity was the way to go with Chi-Naaknigewin creation and getting buy-in from their citizens.

“When you’re developing your constitutions, they don’t have to be complicated. You want to state things real simple and keep it in a way that your band members can understand what it means.”

He also advised Treaty 5 to develop a set of negotiation principles with Canada and/or Manitoba so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to reaching an agreement on governance.

Fiscal Negotiator Jidé Afolabi advised Treaty 5 on negotiating flexibility into governance funding so communities can use the money and any surplus as they see fit as was established in the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement Act.

“So, the governance amount is the most open amount because you can use it in all kinds of areas that is premised on the idea of the administration of First Nations deciding on what’s good to do.”

Treaty 5 Grand Council Chief Walter Wastesicoot appreciated the open exchange of information from Anishinabek Nation representatives and said that it would greatly help Treaty 5’s governance journey. He added that what he heard only reinforced his feelings on dealing with Canada.

“It confirmed to me that Canada is not here to help us; they offer appeasements and it’s up to us to be certain that we stay focused on what it is that we need to do to ensure our future for future generations of our people.”

After an exchange of gifts and appreciation to Treaty 5 for their questions, delegates with Treaty 4 arrived with questions focused more on starting out on the Governance Agreement process.

Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod shared his community’s self-governance experiences calling the Agreement a “very useful tool”.

“We’ve been one of the leading communities in this whole process to get us out of the Indian Act. We had already been doing a lot of the work. As I said before, you don’t need this Agreement, you don’t need to be under the Indian Act if you don’t want to, you don’t need a Status Card if you don’t want it, but there’s consequences, right? So, this was a way to get out of parts of the Indian Act without those consequences. In fact, it allowed us to have more financial resources to be able to work properly and hire the right people.”

Chief McLeod stressed that it is important for leaders to understand that the money is helpful but maintains a financial dependency between First Nations and Canada.

“Until we get to a point where we either have the sovereignty through our own source revenues or we have our treaties fulfilled through, I guess litigation would be the only way that Canada would actually recognize—is to be forced to recognize—because they have such a strong position, and they assume jurisdiction, they have no willingness to sit down and negotiate those terms with us according to our treaties.”

Chief Felix Thomas of the Kinisten Saulteaux Nation of Saskatchewan said his key takeaway from the meeting was the importance of action.

“What happens if we do something? But more importantly, what happens if we don’t do anything? So that’s the big thing as we move forward.”

His provincial counterpart, Chief George Cote of Cote First Nation, valued the information on “community engagement” and the “transparency on setting up the government structure”. Chief Cote also expressed surprise at the outcome of the Anishinabek Nation’s governance funding negotiations.

“I didn’t know there was an increase in that, and I see what’s provided out there will give us the resources that we need so that we can move forward.”

Members of Treaty 5 will be holding a governance meeting in Winnipeg on January 30 and 31 to hold further discussions on exploring the Governance Agreement process.