Native Issues:
Introduction to Winter 1983/84 issue of the Connexions Digest
(Volume 8, Numbers 3-4)

Most of us are well aware of the critical and chronic problems facing Canada’s Native people. Land claims settlements are far from being resolved. Multinational resource corporations continue to explore and stake claims in the North, despite warnings of vast and irreparable ecological and social damage. Natives continue to be governed by the Indian Act – a piece of legislation “dedicated to the subservience of (Native) rights under arbitrary authority.” (CX 2828). The consequences of the institutional racism and class structure of Canadian society continue to adversely affect Native people. This is reflected in rates of unemployment, numbers of suicides, incarceration and infant mortality that far exceed the national average. Yet most Canadian non-Natives are largely unaware of the diversity and intensity of the efforts of Native people to address these issues. Key questions remain unanswered: Are Indians Canadians or citizens of the Indian Nation? Are Indians and traditional territories to be governed under Indian Law or Canadian Law, or both? Is Canada part of the foreign policy of Indian Nations, or are the Indian Natives part of Canada’s domestic policy? (CX 2829).

We hope that the 41 abstracts in the NATIVE ISSUES section of this edition of CONNEXIONS will leave our readers better informed about the current concerns, struggles and hopes of Native people. Much is happening across the country. Concrete proposals for self-government and self-determination have been developed as Native people seek a new relationship with the rest of Canada. Governments are being pressured to resolve land claims. Native centres are placing increased emphasis on preserving Native culture, heritage and language through radio stations, videos, oral history projects, artisans networks and social activities. Native people have gained more control over information and education. Economic development projects, based on Native traditions and priorities have been developed. The prison system is being challenged to allow Native religious ceremonies, with elders to receive funding in the same manner as chaplains of other faiths.

Such efforts challenge those of us who are non-Native to support these efforts in all ways possible:
- by lobbying governments for swift and just settlements of territorial issues;
- by working in solidarity with Natives through groups such as the Kahnawake Development research Project (CX 2845) to forstall the imposition of the “Project Archipelago” hydro development by Hydro Quebec;
- working side by side in the Solidarity Coalition in British Columbia, recognizing that Native people will be especially hard-hit by the loss of the Human Rights Commission, cuts in Social Services and the other legislation passed since the July budget;
- naming places and peoples as they call themselves; and
- not denying the validity of traditional Native spirituality.

Those of us challenging economic structures oriented to profit (with little to no regard for people) also need to recognize that we have a personal stake in the success or failure of Native efforts to foster community economic development. The promotion of self-reliance and ecological harmony will benefit us all. We have much to learn from such efforts. We cannot work in isolation; jobs created by national resource development have a serious negative affect on us all.