Document Information

Date: 1983-03-15
By: David Ahenakew
Citation: First Ministers’ Conference on Aboriginal Rights, Opening Remarks for Presentation by Dr. David Ahenakew, National Chief, Assembly of First Nations, Doc 800-017/028 (Ottawa: 15-16 March 1983).
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).

DOCUMENT: 800-17/028
NATIONAL INDIAN BROTHERHOOD
ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
222 QUEEN STREET, SUITE 500, CAPITOL SQUARE BUILDING
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, K1P 5V9
(613) 236-0673 TELEX 053-3202
OPENING REMARKS
FOR
PRESENTATION BY
DR. DAVID AHENAKEW
NATIONAL CHIEF
ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS
TO
THE FIRST MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE
ON ABORIGINAL RIGHTS
15 MARCH 1983
OTTAWA

THANK-YOU PRIME MINISTER
WE, AS THE FIRST NATIONS OF THIS LAND, ARE ASSEMBLED
WITH YOU THIS MORNING TO BEGIN THE NEXT STEP – A
PAINFULLY-OVERDUE AND LONG-NEGLECTED STEP – IN THE ON-GOING
PROCESS OF NATION-BUILDING.
WE ARE HERE TO FORMALIZE THE UNIQUE AND HISTORIC
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FIRST NATIONS AND CANADA. THE
CONSTITUTION ACT 1867 MENTIONS THREE DISTINCT PEOPLES—THE
INDIANS, THE FRENCH, AND THE ENGLISH. UNTIL NOW, HOWEVER,
ONLY TWO OF THESE PEOPLES EVER PARTICIPATED DIRECTLY AT FIRST
MINISTERS’ CONSTITUTIONAL SESSIONS. IT IS, THEREFORE, NO
ACCIDENT THAT CANADA’S CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER HAS EVOLVED TO
THE DISADVANTAGE OF INDIANS.
HOWEVER, WE ARE ENTERING A NEW ERA IN CANADA. WE ENTER
THAT ERA IN A SPIRIT OF GOOD WILL AND COOPERATION.
WE DO NOT INTEND TO JUDGE CANADA’S SINCERITY AND
EXPRESSIONS OF GOOD WILL OTHER THAN BY CANADA’S ACTIONS –
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD.
WE ARE THE FIRST NATIONS. OUR DISTINCTIVE ABORIGINAL
RIGHT T0 TITLE, AS RECOGNIZED BY THE ROYAL PROCLAMATION OF
1763, STILL EXISTS.

..3…
SECONDLY, WE NEED TO CLARIFY THE PRESENCE AND
INVOLVEMENT, AT THIS CONFERENCE, OF THE PROVINCES IN RESPECT
TO SECTION 91-24. A
AS EARLY AS 1763 OUR NATIONHOOD AND RIGHTS WERE
RECOGNIZED BY THE SINGLE, INDIVISIBLE CROWN. WE HAVE NEVER
SURRENDERED OUR TITLE NOR OUR RIGHTS. NEITHER AGREEMENTS NOR
TREATIES HAVE EXTINGUISHED OUR TITLE AND RIGHTS.
OUR RELATIONSHIPS CONTINUE TO BE WITH THE UNDIVIDED
CROWN.
HOW YOU DIVIDE YOURSELVES UP INTERNALLY, FOR YOUR OWN
PURPOSES, IS YOUR BUSINESS.
OUR RELATIONSHIP IS WITH CANADA RATHER THAN WITH ITS
PARTS.
WE VIEW THIS CONFERENCE, AS FAR AS INDIAN ISSUES ARE
CONCERNED, AS CONSULTATION BETWEEN THE INDIAN GOVERNMENTS AND
CANADA.
IN RESPECT TO INDIAN ISSUES, IT IS CANADA’S BUSINESS TO
DECIDE WHAT ADVICE IT REQUIRES FROM ITS VARIOUS PARTS.
HOWEVER, HISTORICALLY AND UNDER SECTION 91(24) OF THE
CONSTITUTION OUR RELATIONSHIP IS DIRECTLY WITH CANADA.

-5-
CANADA MUST RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE;
THIS IS OUR COUNTRY:
WE HAVE NEVER HAD, AND WILL NEVER HAVE, ANOTHER
COUNTRY;
AND INDIANS ARE NOT GOING TO DISAPPEAR OR “GO BACK TO
WHERE WE CAME FROM”.
THIS IS WHERE WE COME FROM.
I ASK, PRIME MINISTER, THAT NO ONE MISINTERPRET OUR
POSITIONS, STRONGLY HELD, OR OUR WORDS, NO MATTER HOW STRONGLY
SPOKEN, TO MEAN THAT WE ARE SEPARATISTS – SEEKING TO DIVIDE
CANADA AND ASSERT THE STATUS OF FOREIGN NATIONS.
TO THIS DAY, TENSIONS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND FRENCH HAVE
OFTEN LED GOVERNMENTS TO REFUSE TO EVEN LISTEN TO OUR
POSITIONS.
I EMPHASIZE THAT WE HAVE MORE INVESTED, AND MORE AT
STAKE, IN THE FUTURE OF THIS NATION THAN ANYONE ELSE. AWE ARE
COMMITTED TO STRENGTHENING AND BUILDING CANADA – NOT TO
DISMANTLING IT.

-7-
IN THAT CONTEXT, WE SEEK RECOGNITION AND ENTRENCHMENT OF
WHAT WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD – AND CONTINUE TO HAVE – AS A MATTER
OF RIGHT.
OUR GOALS FOR THIS CONFERENCE ARE CLEAR, STRAIGHT-FORWARD
AND SIMPLE:
1) WE WANT AGREEMENT TO FULLY RECOGNIZE AND ENTRENCH
ABORIGINAL TITLE AND ABORIGINAL AND TREATY RIGHTS IN THE
CONSTITUTION OF CANADA; AND TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE FULLY
IMPLEMENTED.
2) WE WANT AGREEMENT TO ENTRENCH AN ON-GOING PROCESS OF
CONSTITUTIONAL CLARIFICATION TO DEFINE AND DIRECT THE
DETAILS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE FIRST ORDER OF
GOVERNMENT – INDIAN GOVERNMENTS – AND THE MORE RECENT
ORDERS OF GOVERNMENT – FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL – IN
CANADA.
WE VIEW OUR PRESENCE AT THIS TABLE AS RECOGNIZING OUR
ROLE IN THE BUILDING OF THIS FEDERATION, AND AS A SIGNIFICANT
HISTORIC SIGNAL.
A SIGNAL THAT CANADA MAY FINALLY BE PREPARED TO
RECOGNIZE, ACCEPT, AND ENTRENCH CONSTITUTIONALLY, ABORIGINAL
RIGHTS, ABORIGINAL TITLE AND TREATY RIGHTS.

-9-
WHEN WE SAY “SOVEREIGNTY”, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT
EXTREMES. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT RECOGNITION AND ENTRENCHMENT
OF INDIAN SOVEREIGNTY AND JURISDICTION WITHIN CONFEDERATION.
WE ARE NOT SEEKING TO ESTABLISH OUR OWN ARMIES AND OUR
OWN FOREIGN RELATIONS.
WE ARE, HOWEVER, ASSERTING THAT INDIAN GOVERNMENTS HAVE
JURISDICTION OVER INDIANS, INDIAN LANDS AND RESOURCES.
WE ARE SIMPLY RE-ASSERTING THE JURISDICTION THAT HAS
ALWAYS BEEN, AND CONTINUES TO BE, THE INHERENT RIGHT OF INDIAN
PEOPLE.
SUCH CONCEPTS ARE NOT UNFAMILIAR TO MORE RECENT
CANADIANS, WHO CLAIM VARYING DEGREES OF SOVEREIGNTY AND
JURISDICTION FOR THEMSELVES AT THE SAME TIME AS THEY DENY OUR
POSITION.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE PROVINCE OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, WITH
FAR LESS LAND AREA, WITH 1/3 THE POPULATION THAT INDIANS HAVE,
HAS SOVEREIGNTY AND JURISDICTION OVER CERTAIN AGREED UPON
MATTERS AFFECTING THEIR CITIZENS.
LEGISLATE, TO MAKE ORIGINAL LAW, TO EXERCISE SOVEREIGNTY,
THEY ARE EMPOWERED TO
WITHIN AN AGREED-UPON CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, ON MATTERS

-11-
INSOFAR AS THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REGARDS ITSELF AS THE
SUCCESSOR TO THE IMPERIAL CROWN, CANADA CANNOT UNILATERALLY
RE-DEFINE OUR ABORIGINAL AND TREATY RIGHTS. IN OUR VIEW, ALL
THAT SECTION 9l(24) OF THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ACT 1867 DID
WAS TO TRANSFER ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS TO CANADA. THE
CHALLENGE TODAY IS TO DETERMINE HOW CANADA WILL HONOUR AND
IMPLEMENT THE SPIRIT AND INTENT OF THE CROWN’S OBLIGATIONS IN
DEVELOPING A CONSTITUTIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FIRST
NATIONS.
THERE IS A WIDE RANGE OF OPTIONS AS TO HOW WE CAN, WITHIN
THE CANADIAN FEDERATION, EXERCISE OUR JURISDICTION AND
ESTABLISH OUR OWN POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS.
THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT MUST AVOID THE TEMPTATION TO IMPOSE A
UNIFORM “FORMULA” ON ALL INDIAN GOVERNMENTS IN CANADA
WE ARE ASSERTING THE NEED TO INITIATE AND ENTRENCH AN
ON-GOING PROCESS AND BEFORE WE GET SIDE*TRACKED ON A DEBATE AS
TO THE “HOWT”, WE MUST FIRST MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE CANADIAN
PARLIAMENT UNDERSTANDS, ACCEPTS AND CONFIRMS THAT WE HAVE
TERRITORIAL, POLITICAL, SOCIAL, CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS AND
ECONOMIC SOVEREIGNTY AND JURISDICTION.

-13-
BEEN IN CHARGE. THEY HAVE BUILT MASSIVE BUREAUCRACIES, SPENT
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THE RESULT HAS BEEN THE POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVASTATION OF INDIAN PEOPLE AND
OUR COMMUNITIES.
I ASK YOU TO ADMIT THAT WHILE YOUR GOVERNMENT’S
INTENTIONS MAY HAVE BEEN GOOD, THEY HAVE FAILED.
I ASK YOU TO ADMIT THAT INDIANS CAN DO THE JOB WHERE
OTHERS HAVE FAILED.
I ASK YOU TO ADMIT THAT TO DO THE JOB, WE NEED
RECOGNITION OF THE CLEAR JURISDICTION AND AUTHORITY TO SOLVE
OUR OWN PROBLEMS. WE ACCEPT THAT RESPONSIBILITY.
THIS WILL NOT BE A NET COST; IT WILL NOT BE A LOSS TO THE
PROVINCES OR TO ANYONE ELSE.
SURELY, EVERY CANADIAN WILL GAIN BY THE UNLEASHING OF
INDIAN ENERGIES, CREATIVITY AND PRODUCTIVITY.
I SAID EARLIER THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT, IN ORDER TO
EXERCISE OUR JURISDICTION AND FULFILL OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO
OUR PEOPLE, WE MUST HAVE A LAND BASE AND OUR FAIR SHARE OF OUR
NATURAL RESOURCES.

-15-
IN CONCLUSION, LET ME EMPHASIZE THAT WE WERE BORN WITH
OUR ABORIGINAL TITLE, OUR ABORIGINAL RIGHTS AND OUR TREATY
RIGHTS. WE PASS THESE RIGHTS ON TO OUR CHILDREN. THAT IS
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE INDIANS;
TO BE THE FIRST NATIONS;
TO BE THE FIRST ORDER OF GOVERNMENT IN CANADA.
CANADA IS NOW FACED WITH THE CHALLENGE AND THE
OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE THE INDIAN FACT OF THE CANADIAN
FEDERATION.
IF CANADA IS UP TO THE CHALLENGE,
IF CANADA WILL GRASP THE OPPORTUNITY,
CANADA WILL BE THE BETTER FOR IT.