First Nations situations

Last week I watched CTV's production of "One Dead Indian", based on Peter Edwards' book about the Ipperwash crisis and the murder of Dudley George by an OPP police officer. It was truly moving to see a Canadian broadcaster bring this despicable story to the public at primetime, and further, to find that the representations of all the parties involved were fairly accurate.

To add to the dejection I felt after watching Dudley's story and the ongoing struggle of his family and the Stoney Point community with Mike Harris, the contents of the CTV news that followed the film clearly demonstrated the position of First Nations people in this country. I learned that a young native woman in Calgary was the victim of a hit and run, hit by three seperate cars, none of which stopped or called for help.

I also learned that Donald Marshall Jr. is in the news again. He's being charged with attempted murder, but first is being submitted to a psychiatric assessment. You don't say? I imagine being jailed for eleven years by a racist judicial system for a murder you didn't commit would drive you crazy.

Then I learned about the PUKATAWAGAN community in northern Manitoba, where families are living in overcrowded, contaminated houses because the federal government has continually failed to act on its promise to clean up an oil leak that happened in the area in the 1950s!

Coming so soon on the heels of Kasechewan and their contaminated water-supply, it is evident that most northern First Nations communities live in "Third World" conditions, are completely left out of the Canadian infrastructure, and are made promises that are not kept. Unless the federal government is willing to grant these communities sovereignty, then it must act now to improve the living situations of these communities.

At least these items make the news, however perhaps that only indicates an increase in violence and poverty. Maybe one day I'll see a news item about a First Nations person that isn't about death, sexual violence, or an impoverished and sick community.