Anishinabek discussing draft constitution

[marcel]

UNION OF ONTARIO INDIANS
Head Office: Nipissing First Nation
P.O. Box 711 North Bay, Ontario P1B 8J8
Phone: (705) 497-9127 Fax: (705) 497-9135
E-mail: in...@anishinabek.ca http://www.anishinabek.ca
Immediate Release

SAULT STE. MARIE (February 28, 2008) - Delegates from 42 member
communities are one draft constitution closer to a distinct
Anishinabek form of self-government.

Political leaders, Elders and citizens from across the Anishinabek
Nation in Ontario are providing direction on how their nation's
constitution will be implemented and ratified. Delegates will also
review and provide direction on the draft dispute resolution
structures, policies, and procedures that have been developed to date.

"We are nations, we have always been nations and we have the right to
govern ourselves in our own way," Anishinabek Nation Deputy Grand
Council Chief Glen Hare said today in his remarks to the Chi
Naaknigewin Maawanjiidiwin Conference on the Anishinabek Nation
Constitution and Appeals System. "Our citizens have said we have to
move forward on self-government, assert our jurisdiction, and 'just do
it.'"

"We cannot wait for other governments to recognize our nationhood and
our governments - no one can give us self-government. This is
something we have to do. If we don't recognize our own governments, we
cannot expect others to recognize them," Deputy Grand Council Chief
Hare told conference delegates. Some of the discussion centred around
how the traditional Anishinabek Dodem (Clan) System can be re-
established through modern-day governance institutions, such as a
written, national constitution, including a culturally-relevant
process for appeals.

"Anishinabek citizens have told us that they want to move forward with
sovereignty and nation-building by creating a constitution for the
Anishinabek Nation," said Hare. "Also, the Harvard Project on American
Indian Economic Development found that native tribes who exercised 'de
facto sovereignty' through their own constitutions and forms of
government are more successful than those who do not."

"With our own governance systems in place, we will have moved a long
way toward Anishinabek self-government. That means being Anishinabek,
and not being 'Indians' any longer. No more running to Indian Affairs
and the courts to solve our internal problems or make decisions for
us."


UNION OF ONTARIO INDIANS
Head Office: Nipissing First Nation
P.O. Box 711 North Bay, Ontario P1B 8J8
Phone: (705) 497-9127 Fax: (705) 497-9135
E-mail: in...@anishinabek.ca http://www.anishinabek.ca

Grand Council Chief John Beaucage and Deputy Grand Chief Hare have led
an aggressive campaign to replace the 132-year-old Indian Act with
Anishinabek self-government and revive the nation-to-nation
relationship with Canada.

The conference agenda includes an address by Ontario Regional Chief
Angus Toulouse of the Chiefs of Ontario on the "Importance of Unity
for the Anishinabek Nation", and a presentation about aspects of a
tradition-rooted dispute-resolution system by Tuma Young, CEO and
legal counsel for the Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia.

The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians as
its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 42 member
First Nations across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians is the
oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back
to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European
contact.
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For more information: Marci Becking, Communications Officer
Union of Ontario Indians
Phone: (705) 497-9127 (Ext. 2290)
Email: bec...@anishinabek.ca
In Sault Ste. Marie:
Esther Gilbanks, Chiefs Committee Coordinator
Union of Ontario Indians
(705) 477-4321
Linda Seamont, Legal Assistant
Union of Ontario Indians
(705) 840-8512
UNION OF ONTARIO INDIANS
Head Office: Nipissing First Nation
P.O. Box 711 North Bay, Ontario P1B 8J8
Phone: (705) 497-9127 Fax: (705) 497-9135
E-mail: in...@anishinabek.ca http://www.anishinabek.ca