Olive Branch?... gas for cash?

“Enbridge offers billion-dollar olive branch to natives.

Company seeks to win favour with communities along the proposed route of Northern Gateway pipeline with 10-per-cent stake.”

The above noted headline appeared in the GLOBE AND MAIL published February 10, 2011 and written by a Nathan Vanderklippe.

“Olive Branch?...

A symbol of peace, an offering of good will, as in They feuded for years, but finally the Hatfields came over bearing an olive branch. This term is alluded to in the Bible (Genesis 8:11), where the dove comes to Noah after the flood with an olive leaf in its mouth.

Money?...an olive branch? So, what’s new?

Two centuries ago, Judas accepted some silver in exchange for information on the whereabouts of Jesus; a friend of mine accepted financial compensation from a local school board as she threatened to sue the board for wrongful acts. Mahar Arar accepted 12 million dollars from the federal government after alleged abuse by the Syrian government.  Recently, in 2008, Prime Minister Harper apologized to all former Aboriginal students who attended the residential schools and offered an olive branch...in other words?    MONEY!

Now, Enbridge has extended an olive branch in order to build their pipeline…one billion dollars… a symbol of peace?  Seems too, through out time, money does talk, or does it?

“Some first nations say they won’t support the Enbridge pipeline, no matter the financial benefits.”

“au contraire,”


Enbridge says, “We would like to show that there are a lot of first nations that are supportive of this project when we get to the hearings.” “Eight of forty native communities have signed commercial memorandums of understanding with Enbridge, which spell out local construction benefits.”

Based on experience, the National Energy Board will approve Enbridge’s application to build their pipeline. After all, the “olive branch” is nothing new, it’s a sign of peace...especially when it involves money.  Seems, the olive branch will allow gas for cash.

Lost in Transaction?

Two aboriginal masks could fetch millions at art fair

JAMES ADAMS

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011


(commentary on the above noted article by Angus, your Native Perspective.)

That old adage: “Art will fetch what the market will bear.”  It’s also known too, in the art world, if you’re a dead artist, your art is worth a lot more. Most of us are familiar with artists like Da Vinci, Monet, the Group of Seven, and Michelangelo and their respective artworks and what they command and demand “in the market.” While aboriginal art in any form is a large part of cultural expression around the world, it is two masks from Alaska, this time, garnering a lot of attention. Why?

Photos posted in the GLOBE AND MAIL
“What makes the masks so valuable are their provenance and historic import, their museum-like quality and relative rarity and, oh yes, their beauty.”

The Yup’ik native masks are from Western Alaska. Typically, from an American perspective, the people there are known as Eskimo/Native American while in Canada, they could be considered as Inuit. An Erico Donati had acquired them in 1945 for $325 and $160. Now, the asking price?...2.1 million dollars for one and around 2 million dollars (US) for the other. Mr. Donati won’t be basking in the windfall though. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 99.

“Instead, it’s Donati’s heirs – and the Canadian art dealer working for them – who stand to be showered by a cascade of cash…”

While major artworks are attached with names,... names to these masks are unknown, long lost in transaction by a deceased trader who acquired these masks shortly after 1905 subsequent to witnessing ceremonial dances. Who knows what those aboriginal dancers received in trading those masks in what the 2011 antique show in Manhattan is now considering could be the cream of the crop.

Common practice though,...in this type of auction is the irony: whoever acquires these masks will want anonymity…names also lost in transaction. What goes around comes around?

Canadian Rangers...Lone Rangers?

“Canadian Rangers tackle native youth suicide

Tragedy that has ravaged isolated northern regions hits too close to home for some members”

So read the headline published in the GLOBE AND MAIL January 04, 2011 and written by a Christie Blatchford.

Canada’s former residential school system has been attributed to a lot of the current social challenges in Aboriginal communities across the country. One of the challenges as noted in the above noted article is the high rate of suicide amongst the youth of today.

As some of you may know, the Canadian Rangers are comprised of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis who, mainly for sovereignty reasons, patrol their respective isolated areas: largely with intentions of reporting any peculiar/suspicious activities by unknown/foreign parties to federal officials.

Scientists say our bodies are wired for self-preservation…a need to survive…be alive. There are many true to life stories of those who persevered through dramatic and traumatic experiences in order to stay alive. No wonder there is a mystery to suicide. Some say it’s very difficult to define and a complex event.

I, as one who did experience 13 years of residential school, know a number of my former friends who did end their life by suicide. Still, I think it’s too simple to attribute the effects of the former residential school experience as the sole cause.

Grand Chief Stan Beardy of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) of northern Ontario says, “we (have) lost one youth every ten days. He said the most obvious culprit (of suicide), is what he called “the greatest evil in all this,  “are the devastating after-effects of the federal government’s residential schools policy, which saw seven successive generations of NAN Aboriginal youngsters removed from their families and communities and institutionalized, the purported goal being their assimilation.”

While not true regarding all residential school Survivors, the Chief goes on to say, “…you never see them showing affection, and you probably know that children need constant reminders that they’re important, that someone cares. I never hear that from residential school survivors.” The Chief is right on with that ethic.

While a Board member on the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, an organization attributed to dispersing funds to Aboriginal communities who wanted to address the legacy of physical and sexual abuses in the former residential schools, I adamantly argued the need to ensure projects fulfilled the inner needs of people especially their sense of significance. In fact, I wanted to amend the criteria for eligible projects to outline how they would fulfill that need. Too bad, that idea was voted down. Apparently, suicide is alive and well.... an oxymoron?

Analysts say a lot more people feel the desire for suicide but very few act upon that feeling. Those who do commit feel expendable and alienated and that on one will care and therefore, the best solution is death. So, who cares?

“The Rangers got involved (with NAN First Nations), Sergeant Peter Moon told The Globe and Mail, because in the past year, instructors recognized that two of their own – they were Junior Canadian Rangers, the group for 12-18 year-olds – were suicidal and we’re able to save them. “We feel we have a duty of care to the Rangers and Junior Rangers and to our communities,” Sgt. Moon said. We’re not social workers…But we want to know how to help…”

Unlike the Aboriginal Healing Foundation who has spent over 400 million dollars trying to address the issue, the Canadian Rangers are affecting Aboriginal youth by merely telling them that they are noteworthy. Good for them.

TooToo Train...Who's to Blame?

(Hockey Addictions)

Jordin TooToo’s big step

So read the headline in the Comment section on the December 29, 2010 issue of the GLOBE AND MAIL.

As some of you may know, Jordin TooToo is from Rankin Inlet in Nunavut. Jordin was the first Inuk (Inuit) to be drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL) and now plays for the Nashville Predators. The 27 year old checked himself into a Rehab Centre under the NHL substance abuse program. Good for him.

As some of you may also know, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) was established in 1998 to address the legacy of physical and sexual abuses in the former residential schools. Since then, the AHF has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to Aboriginal communities across Canada to address the legacy. The AHF has defined the legacy as, amongst other things, substance abuse by Survivors of residential school.

Interesting how Jordin TooToo who never attended residential school has suffered the same effect of substance abuse of those who did attend residential school. So what gives?

While, as a board member on the AHF, I argued with the other board members that physical and sexual abuse in the former residential schools were merely the acts that affected the “person.” Those inflicted abuses affected the sense of security experienced by each person. Insecure people will display behavior that is largely negative and detrimental in him/herself.

While Jordin has his sense of significance intact; i.e. he feels noteworthy and feels value within an organization who pays him 1.3 million a year, his actions of substance abuse, for some reason, are a sign of insecurity.

The article goes on to say that Jordin is somewhat of a role model to the Inuit of Nunavut. Now, “Mr. TooToo is playing a game more important than hockey, and if he can succeed, others can too.”

Let's hope he regains his sense of security.

Trigger happy?...a native shot.

“Tape depicts elements of carver’s death.

Video shows Seattle police officer approaching Vancouver Island artist John T. Williams; audio captures warning, sound of gunshots.”

So read the headline in the GLOBE AND MAIL published December 20, 2010 and written by Ian Bailey and Brennan Clarke.

As an Aboriginal (Inuit), I have been on hunting excursions for the purpose of killing caribou, ptarmigan, geese, muskrats, seals, polar bears, wolves, and foxes. This practice, of course, consistent with culture as a means for subsistence and a way of life.

Police officers in any city, of course, carry firearms for another purpose. An Inuit Elder once said to me, “ I can’t believe people carry guns to shoot other people.”

The GLOBE goes on to say, “It was Aug. 30…Just after 4pm., John Williams was shot four times on the street by Seattle police officer Ian Birk.”

John Williams was a native wood carver from the west coast of British Columbia who had regularly carried a knife as a tool to create his intricate carvings. That August day, while his video and audio camera running, officer Birk had seen John carrying a knife and stopped his car and ran over and confronted the native artist. While the actual shooting of four shots can be heard, the video did not capture the confrontation.

“The Seattle Police department’s firearms review board as well as the city’s police chief, John Diaz, concluded in October that the shooting was not justified. The Seattle Times has reported. However, a decision on the point is on hold pending the outcome of the inquest.”

Perhaps the young officer Birk, trained to use his handgun, had that “trigger-happy” attitude and found a human target. Who knows? Hopefully, the inquest will address the unanswered questions most people in Seattle are talking about.

Immigrants!...Indigenous?

How many different languages you now hear when you are in a major urban center? The last time I was in downtown Calgary, I heard Spanish, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, French, Arabic, Congolese, Estonian, Norwegian, Icelandic, Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Figian, Hawaiian, German, etc. I guess these immigrants were not enforced not to speak their language when entering Canada: unlike us, the Aboriginal people through the government funded residential school system, were not allowed to speak our own language. Where is the justice?

Whistle-Blower...does it pay?

"WikiLeaks persists, founder locked up"

So read the headline in the GLOBE AND MAIL published December 8, 2010  and written by Elizabeth Renzetti and Doug Saunders.

It is written, "A whistle-blower is taken to be someone doing good, unleashing information that is publicly important, at some danger to themselves."

I remember a couple of years ago, I was involved in an oil and gas project. During that time, I felt it important to disclose information to upper management about questionable expenditures and activities that went on. Apparently, telling the truth is not always beneficial. I was perceived as a trouble-maker and immediately "let go" of that project.

Now, on a world-wide scale, the founder of WikiLeaks is now paying the price too. Julian Assange has been charged with sexual assault, totally unrelated to WikiLeaks. Apparently too, authorities/management don't like the truth and will make whistle-blowers know that it is clear and present danger.