MLA Cathy Sproule Responds to Phone Campaign for Idle No More, Harper Spence Meeting, and Provincial Responsibilities toward Treaty

Hi Sheena!

First of all, I want to say thanks to you for getting engaged in this discussion! It is heartening to me when citizens take time to show they are concerned about issues of the day. And Idle No More is definitely one of those issues that seems to have touched a nerve, a good nerve, in thousands of Canadians, both indigenous people and settlers and newcomers.

Before I ended up in politics, I worked as a federal government lawyer for seventeen years in the Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement implementation. I worked with many First Nations who were signatories to the agreement and really enjoyed working as a team with them, provincial officials and federal officials to move over 700,000 acres of land to reserve status. That experience has given me many insights and perspectives about the Treaty relationship in Saskatchewan and the complexities and difficulties facing First Nations people today. It would be difficult for me to begin to put my experiences in words in a short response to your question - so I won't even try to do that!

In a nutshell, I see the Treaty relationship as one that is gaining strength in many ways, and the Idle No More movement is a good expression of the growing awareness of the Treaties and their role in Canada and especially in the prairies, where we have the "numbered" treaties. When I think about what I knew about the treaties before I went to Law school (which was nothing, zero, zip) and now, I am both sad to know that we did not honour the treaties in the last century but optimistic that they are now being regarded in a more respectful way. We are all treaty people, after all.

I hope this is ok, I would be happy to discuss more with you anytime, if you'd like. Say hi to Moira!

Cathy Sproule
MLA Saskatoon Nutana

Hi Cathy,

I believe you returned my phone call, but I wasn't here, and my husband didn't take down your name... so... after some interrogating and deduction, I believe it was you :) Sorry to be so long responding.

I'm so happy to hear that PM Harper will meet with Chief Spence, so that is the first thing I was asking our provincial MLAs to advocate.

However, since we've begun a conversation, I'd love to hear your response to the Idle No More movement, the meeting with Harper and Spence, and our provincial responsibilities toward treaty.

If you like, you could respond by email, and with your permission, I'll post your thoughts on my blog www.treatywalks.blogspot.com

All the best, Cathy, and I do remember you fondly from meeting you at the Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party when you were Moira's piano teacher :)

All the best,
Sheena Koops

Note: I'd called and left messages before Christmas with all Saskatchewan MLAs...
http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/12/settlers-in-solidarity-with-chief.html

after sending each Saskatchewan MLA a copy of my open letter to Premier Brad Wall.
http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/12/open-letter-to-premier-wall-to-utilize.html

Ethics, Mystification, and Idle No More

After facebooking with Cindi, Loreen, Michael, Jeremy and Sherry last Friday http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2013/01/great-news-pm-will-meet-chief-spence-on.html Jeremy asked for my email address. I met Jeremy a long time ago, while he was attending Western Christian College and living in my sister's basement in Regina. He's from Ontario, and we only sometimes hold that against him.

Hi Sheena

I hope you accept these reflections for what they genuinely are: A concern for Right.. the exploration and building up of an ethical approach, one that wrestles with a great deal of mystification.

In many ways it would be simple to reduce Idle No More to a treaty issue. In this way one may simply ask: “Have treaties made by the crown or those representing it been honoured?” But of course it’s much more complex than this. Even the article on your blog points out that many treaty partners had difficulty understanding the language of European treaty or were not even consulted when land decisions were being made. Now throw into the mix issues of disease, forced internment and Christianization, not to mention the systematic attempt to erase First Nation’s culture by the Catholic Church (not every representative of it of course) without interference (and perhaps its blessing) from the State, and you have quite a complex situation.

Now, in many ways, and perhaps every way, none of this is new. Since the beginning of recorded history this has been the pattern of conquest. You are familiar with the Jewish diaspora(s) related in scripture, and there are a great many more diasporic events in just the Middle East alone. Throughout time, it would seem, man (and I do use the gendered pronoun purposely) has been a wolf to man (and women and children). I tend to view the events of European colonization of North America within this history of conquest, sometimes events which were quite amicable, other times quite violent. But of course it’s not just a story of conquest. This is why I commented on Facebook about the use of “settlers” vs. “immigrants.” I don’t know about your ancestors, but mine were part of the “Great Migration” from England in the early 1800’s (before this they had immigrated from Norway- our original surname was spelled Fröst or Frosst, and later anglicised). They were victims of a now booming Industrial Revolution. They were unemployed basically, having been replaced by machines. During this time an influx of the Irish also immigrated because of failing potato crops. So Canada was a place of hope, a place to build a life. They were settlers in the older sense that they were settling in a new land, but any claim they had to this land came through their application to the crown. In other words they didn’t kill anyone to get this land, they didn’t steal it or deceive anyone to get it. In fact, the place they settled had not been settled by First Nations at all, but was rather a kind of hunting ground it seems. Canada after all, is a rather large piece of land and was by no means completely covered by First Nations people, as it is not even to this day heavily populated.

It has been pointed out before that European colonizers did not invent brutality or oppression. It has been shown that war among tribes was not uncommon before European arrival. This was later used by the colonizers to their great advantage come war time or when developing trade relations with various tribes. Not that far from here the Iroquois attacked the Huron people after making a deal with the Dutch for furs, and subsequently trapped their beaver practically out of existence. They turned on the Huron who had a better trapping area, and ended up pushing them out of their territories in a move that was only to be mirrored later by Europeans in search of natural resources. Between subsequent disease and war the Huron were almost completely decimated and left homeless.

Despite inter-Aboriginal conflict, however, was there a kind of complicity involved on the part of the European immigrants? After all, my ancestors may not have directly acted deceptively or cruelly, but the crown from which they purchased their land certainly had been involved in highly questionable relations with native populations, if not in my ancestor’s immediate vicinity, then elsewhere. Here I have to agree that there was a kind of complicity (even if my ancestors could not know extensively the maltreatment of the native populations), and by proxy, I’ve benefited from it in some way. So there seems I have an ethical duty to respond. The content of this duty is far from clear however.

Now in addition to this I have a concern. I am concerned about the status of First Nations people as “victim.” This is especially troubling when one considers the web of power relations in which such a designation comes about. There persists today a notion that First Nations people are inherently special victims, and it seems to me this is a racist notion if there ever was one. On the contrary, they were victims of “ordinary” status. Their oppression (oppression as such) was no different than the Iroquois oppression of the Huron.. What was different were the agents. This in itself indicates the privileged status predominantly white commentators continue to give themselves. Here I am suspicious of a kind of liberal-humanitarian narcissism in which the victim only serves to reinforce this status of privilege. The challenge for me then is to walk the thin line between the narcissistic political ideology of humanitarianism and what amounts to an authentic concern for fellow human beings. If Idle No More represents the former, I have to reject it as a reinforcement of elitist (and ultimately racist) norms. If it’s the expression of the latter it’s something to be embraced. Unfortunately it is no doubt a combination of the two.. its complexity increased by the fact that the very people designated “victim” may reinforce this status. This is why I’ve said before that one’s orientation toward the movement should be one of brutal critique. Not for the sake of critique, but in order to discern its true –human- potential.

This would have been very difficult to say on Facebook. Thanks Sheena.

 

Hey, Jeremy. I am just prepping for tomorrow morning's classes, but here's a real quick response.

1. Awesome discussion. Thank you so much.

2. Would you be interested in me publishing it on my blog with my response, and maybe we could have some back and forth dialogue-blogging... you raise excellent points, ideas, etc.

3. I am walking into Idle No More through relationships that I have developed (Kate and Sue as settlers) and many, many FN friends and people I admire at a distance (like Elder Mike Pinay). So, yes, it is very complicated and I don't understand it all, but, I do believe in the people I am walking beside, and like the "Wallstreet" movement of last year, this has a bit of potential to mean what each local group wants it to mean, sooooo... kinda sounds like cofC autonomy ha ha...

More later, but I really appreciate the "push back" and also, I am the queen of ambiguity, so I don't know if I believe in one "Right" when there are so many complexities. This is where I walk in faith that God has prepared me for such a time as this, to be a bridge, be a conduit for healing, be whatever it is He is calling me to...

Let's talk more... ah, only forty-five minutes before the school alarm will kick me out.

Blessings, brother,
Sheena

 

Kate, Daisy and Sue say, "Settler Descendants are Idle No More"

Today 12 noon to 3pm. 

Pilot Butte turnoff on #1

Idle No More Peaceful Slow Down. 

 

If you live in Canada it matters to you.  

Please come out and join us to support this effort.

 

-- Kate Hersberger

 

 

 Kate sent me a quick facebook message.

 

"We were with Elder Mike Pinay. There were about 200 (guessing).  The little signs and buttons I passed out and made attracted attention from the media. I was interviewed by Sun, french CBC TV , and CKRM. Don't know if they aired anything, and can't tell you what all I said, but I tried to get across the importance of all people being involved in this movement. Daisy was interviewed once too."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ottawa Citizen Unpacks 500 Years of History Leading up to Idle No More Movement

Dan Bellegarde emailed me this afternoon with a link to this awesome article at the Ottawa Citizen.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/treaty+relationship+must+evolve/7777079/story.html

Great News -- PM will meet Chief Spence on Jan 11th -- Followed by Facebook Discussion

Slept in this morning. Didn't get those letters written yesterday that I'd said I'd write to the MP's in Ottawa. I'm dragging my feet, but I log onto my computer before going downstairs. I have an email from John Bird. He says that Harper will meet Spence on January 11th and attaches this link to CTV news.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/spence-continues-hunger-strike-despite-jan-11-meeting-1.1100774s

I lean back on my chair, tears filling my eyes. Right on. Right on.

I forward the article on facebook with this note: "My heart is so thankful. This meeting is a new chapter in treaty relations and awareness. Let's all join Chief Spence and Prime Minister Harper at that table in solidarity for the nation to nation work ahead of us."

I go downstairs to make coffee. I do some laundry, Christmas clean up, and a load of dishes.

When I go back upstairs there is rich conversation unfolding beneath my post.

Cindi Roberts Praying for open minds & open hearts!!

Jeremy Frost Sheena I'm curious about your take on Chief Spence's reported misuse of tribal funds. Just last night I was reading an article in the Toronto Sun about her $250,000 income. It seems that many members of the movement are distancing themselves from these traditional tribal authorities. From your perspective what actual representative power does Chief Spence have within the movement? (with corrections) Article here: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/03/documents-show-plenty-of-money-flowing-through-spences-reserve

Jeremy Frost Just be be clear, I'm trying to understand why some founders of the movement would distance themselves from Chief Spence IF the movement's main concern involves treaty issues. From that perspective it seems Spence would be just as representative as any Aboriginal treaty subject. So why distance yourselves from her? If the movement involves both treaty issues and Aboriginal leadership issues, what actions are being taken within communities to hold people accountable?

Michael Ensley The above "documents" are not based on a forensic audit....which would be the best way to settle this issue..

Jeremy Frost Absolutely.. However, that doesn't change the fact that members of the movement have distanced themselves from Spence.

Michael Ensley The "release" of the documents" fits the hanger strike which the Govt is trying to discredit...I doubt this is accidental just saying..

Michael Ensley the "release" of the documents" fits the hunger strike which the Govt is trying to discredit...I doubt this is accidental just saying..

Jeremy Frost I think overall the question for me is, where do I fit in to all this? In what way and where should my support be placed? There is no question of reservation poverty.. if there are treaties that were made and have not been honoured, the government is not free to ignore these. So how to cut through the mystifying field of propaganda? Is Spence a representative of the movement or not? In what capacity? Why have some founders of the movement distanced themselves from her? Where is tribal authority accountability? What do the grassroots want or is this ambiguous due to the very nature of the organization of the movement? The protests are happening in our backyard and even across the world and yet all of this is far from being very clear!

Michael Ensley The issues are systemic in nature...for sure.

Loreen Husband And because they are systemic in nature, both sides need to be open and transparent in their dealings. BOTH sides also need to decide what their priorities are and speak with a united voice. I am very afraid that whatever transpires next will be fraught with disagreement because of unclear leadership and priority setting. I agree with you Jeremy that there are really 3 fronts happening here - Chief Spence, Idle No More and the national aboriginal leaders. That has been a chronic problem for First Nations ever since the treaties were signed. They have a hard time speaking with one collective voice and therefore it is hard to negotiate our way out of this mess. We need to be astute in all of this, acknowledge that what is in place now is definitely not working and then commit to figuyre out how to make things work better. Agruing intermitably about whose fault it is and where the corruption lies only keeps us making the same mistakes we have always made. Let's get beyond that and move on with finding solutions for everyone.

Michael Ensley The James Bay Treaty signed in 1905...provides for conditions to be met by the Govt...The main condition after reading the above Treaty is the provision for education...equal to the provincial funding...This reminds me of the debate in the USA over civil rights where separate but equal was not done thus leading to the Supreme Court to strike down desegregation ....in Brown Vs Topeka in 1954...The sad result in this case is the funding for schools is just over half of the funding provided by the province..per pupil...not to mention the reserves should be given mineral rights on their own land like our provinces...So, this must be a Nation to Nation meeting with results which upgrade FN ability to provide education(which is a Federal responsibility and not Provincial) and to insure their development of their own natural resources..

Sheena Koops Lots to think about and consider here. Thank you for the rich discussion. First, Jeremy, I've heard the term "politics of distraction" (read a great article from an academic on the Idle No More site which unpacked this for me) and I believe the refusal to take responsibility for unimplemented treaty rights by pointing fingers at real or alleged "corruption" is hillarious, if it weren't so effective. The irony of a government who cannot live up to its own contracts and then point fingers is the real issue of accountability that I want to address.

Sheena Koops I also believe there is a lot of fear talk going on. The "issue" of unimplemented treaty has been going on for generations and many Canadians are just waking up to this fact, while people who have been oppressed by unimplemented treaty have been living with the racism, inequity, poverty, injustice... for generations. So, "mainstream" Canadians who are just waking up (myself included) are afraid because we have sooooo much history to learn and re-learn, we are so mystified because we thought we were pretty nice people, we feel trapped because we didn't know we are part of a system which has oppressed people for generations. Where do we fit in? We need to be quick to listen. We need to be humble as we reeducate ourselves. We need to be patient with our brothers and sisters who haven't woken up yet. We need to be non-indigenous treaty leaders. I'll attach a blog where I outline how to start this journey :) http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/11/so-youve-just-found-out-youre-treaty.html

Sheena Koops http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/11/so-youve-just-decided-youre-not-okay.html

Jeremy Frost And as one political thinker once said, we need to be brutally critical of not just the government's position, but of the new movement (here the comments were made in regard to the Arab Spring). That is, we must be careful not to attribute some quality to a revolutionary movement which lends to mystification, to mythologizing, or the forces of nostalgia. In the midst of all this are many people I'm sure who simply want to make a principled stand, not on the principle of protest, but that which inspires political action.

Jeremy Frost I'll definitely read your blog. Thanks Sheena.

Sheena Koops Loreen, you are bang on in your analysis, but let's take our fear and pray on it, use our fear as a prayer list and take this to our Creator.

Sheena Koops I'll leave the forensics and in-depth research to great minds like Mr. Ensley (who has already a great handle on our Canadian history which I'm trying to catch up in.) I guess I think our debt to FN folks is so deep, no misued money can compare in any way...

Sherry Mebs So glad Prime Minister Harper is coming to his senses and hopefully will be sensible in his listening and responding.

Sheena Koops Cindi, Jeremy, Loreen, Michael, and Sherry, do you mind if I copy and paste this exchange for my Treaty Walks blog. I think it's rich discussion that may be helpful to others down the road.

Jeremy Frost long live public discourse.. it's fine with me

Sherry Mebs That is fine with me Sheena.

Dad's Birthday, Wedding Dress Shopping and Les Miserables

Victoria riding shot gun, with Moira and Arwen in the back seats of Michael's new truck, we are bombing to Regina. I hand my cell phone back to Arwen and she dials the farm.

"Happy Birthday, Grandpa," we yell.

"What's that?"

"Happy Birthday, Grandpa," we say again, and then burst into song.

Last year we were at the farm on the second, and Dad took me to the Heritage Lands by the valley to see if we could find where he left a set of antlers he'd picked up walking.http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/01/day-eighty-two-dads-birthday-pictures.html

It was good to be home, just north of the Souris Valley, south of Macoun. I am so thankful for the land I grew up on. I thank the First People of Treaty Four for sharing the land with me and my settler ancestors.

Today is a girls' day out, wedding dress shopping with my daughters. Moira will be the maid of honour; Arwen will be a bridesmaid, too. Victoria and Tyler have set at date, July 11th, 2013.

Today, my heart is light, even as I remember Chief Spence on her hunger strike, I know I have to be where I am, be a mother-of-the-bride for a day, and trust that people are rising up to support Chief Spence in Ottawa. 

We go to two shops. I fall in love with one dress at the first shop, but it's 500 dollars over budget. In the second shop, everything Victoria tries on fits and looks great. Arwen has been keeping track of every dress in her note pad, giving each dress a rating out of 10.

We all have our favourites, but Victoria finally chooses one, the only one I pulled from the rack, and the only one Arwen gave a 10. Victoria puts down half the price and there we go, we have a dress, that easy.

We walk to Michael's favorite restaurant, Langs, because we're only a few blocks away.

I'm kicking myself that I'm not wearing a homemade pin that says something like, Harper meet Spence, or just Idle No More. I want people on the street to know that I'm in "solidarity" but I take a deep breath and remember to be in the moment, be mindful, here with my girls.

We all order fresh rolls, Arwen orders won ton soup; Moira, Victoria and I order rice vermicelli bowls and green tea.

I drop the girls off at Chapters -- Arwen has a gift card -- and I go to the Southland Theatre to get tickets for Les Miserables. I park the truck up a snowbank, mostly for fun, and go in to get the girls from Chapters. They're all embarrassed. Mission accomplished, I think.

Don't judge me, but I've never read Jean Val Jean. Yes, I know, I'm an English teacher, but I've heard the basic plot, and I always thought it would just be heartbreaking, so why go there. This is how I enter the theatre, a little sad to be going to a downer, when I've been so light hearted today.

Not a word is spoken; every word is sung. It's not beautiful singing, it's raw heart-talk, right from the opening scene. I'm transfixed, feeling the desperation of the days deeply. The plot is tragic, but then the light starts sneaking in, through irony, through grace, through surprise, and Jean Val Jean's life is transformed, but his challenges are not over.

I am weepy from mid-show right to the end.

We are getting into the truck; the girls are chatting about the story, it's power and impact. One of the big girls are telling Arwen that this story is fiction, set a long time ago.

"But it's still happening," I say. "It's happening today." My voice breaks into cry-speak. "People are born into desperate situations, and then as they fight to survive, they get cornered, and spend the rest of their lives trying to reclaim their identities and their hope." I'm thinking of friends I've met, many through the Outreach Centre, and I am wondering what they think when they see a movie like this. People who have been caught in the justice system, been labeled, done their time, and each one has oppression in his or her history, at least one of the following: residential school, colonialism, racism, poverty, broken family structures, cycles of addictions, or loss of language and culture, to name a few of the circumstances I know nothing about.

On the way out of Regina, the Queen City, we stop at Tim Horton's for small hot chocolates and vanilla cappuccinos.

What would Jean Val Jean do with all this privilege and grace?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria and Tyler's Engagement Photo Shoot



Tyler popped the question on the seventeenth in our living room. Victoria inboxed me just after midnight because she saw I was on facebook. I came down in my housecoat, I got to see the ring, and we talked until after one, on a school night.

 

Today is New Year's day and Victoria has planned an engagement photo shoot, so she has us up and out of the house, hoping for a sunrise, with an actual sun, but it's a dull morning, soft pinks up top (that's how we say, out of the valley) but there's only a few seconds of sunshine before the clouds take over.

 

I try to have my artist cap on -- or more like my artist's toque, it's cold -- but it's hard watching my baby, all in love in the lens of my camera. So I just keep snapping. Some things just aren't about me.

 

I remember Michael and I talking about what people are going to say, they're so young -- because we're thinking it too -- and we committed to stand behind our kids. We would bear witness to and support their decision, their love, their friendship, their covenant, their family. 

 

My grandma Lavine once told me that the reason you invite people to your wedding is so that they are witnesses to your marriage, so that when things are tough, you have a community to support you, to hold you accountable, to cry when you cry and laugh when you laugh.

 

So, here I am, on the front lines, witnessing right from day one. 

 

Michael's good buddy, Steve, once told me, "Well, the way they used to make treaties was to marry people off to each other."

 

So, here we go, my treaty walk with a twist, but then I remember, this isn't my treaty walk, this is about Tyler and Victoria and the road they will travel.