WE STAND ON THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS PDF
Preview WE STAND ON THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS
KEENEBONANOH KEEMOSHOMINOOK KaESHE PEEMISHIKHIK ODASKIWAKH - [WE STAND ON THE GRAVES OF OUR ANCESTORS] NATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF TREATY #9 WITH ATTAWAPISKAT ELDERS A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada c Copyright by Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt 1997 Canadian Heritage and Development Studies M.A. Program May 1998 1*1 National Library Bibliothèque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington ûttawaON K1AW OtEawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seiî reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/tilm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT - Keenebonanoh keemoshominook kaeshe peemishikhik odaskiwakh [We Stand on the Graves of our Ancestors] Native Interpretations of Treaty #9 with Attawapiskat Eldess Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt This thesis tries to rnake aware that in relations between people from different cultures 'facts' cannot be interpreted as such by merely referring to a set of values based in one of the two societies. Instead, knowledge and understanding as interpreted by Native societies have to be considered as well. In regards to the interpretations of treaty #9, I present the view of the Cree people of Attawapiskat, gathered in interviews among elders, political leaders and professionals in the community. Using the interpretations of the way of llfe by the elders of the cornmunity as a bridge to the time when the treaty was signed, this thesis explains why the people of Attawapiskat understand that land was never given up with the signing of the treaty, and that a surrender of land could not have happened due to the people's relations to the land that was given to them by Ki tche Mando. TABLE OF CONTENTS - TRADITIONAL HUNTING AND TRAPPING AREAS ......................... Attawapiskat-Winisk 1910 mxm ............. The Problems with Indian Claims to their IJande The Place of Aboriginal mowledge within the academic .................................................... Context - Historical Context What was written about the Treaty .............. and how it was perceived ........................... ... ......... Historical Background ......... Involving the Province - The Struggle for Terms.... ........................... Treaty 'Negotiations* in 1905/06 The Treaty Text ............ The James Bay Treaty - Treaty #9 (1905/06) ....................... Adhesion to Treaty #9 (1929/30) ........................ Why did the Government seek Treaty? .............. What the Natives wanted by signing the Treaty ..................... How Treaties are interpreted by Courts ................. What the Treaty means to me - A Conclusion - The modern political Basis How Native political Organizatfons of the Treaty #9 Region interpret the Treaty .................................. The Nishnawbe Aski Nation 61 ....................... Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 61 Land under Water - ................. A legal Case about a forgotten Clause 68 .................... . ............... The Mushkegowuk Council 70 How the Treaty is seen - Spirit and Intent ............ 71 .... Government Relations - Aboriginal Title and Rights 77 - Field Research in Attawapiskat Developing Reaearch Questions and finding a Method ..................... to research in a Native Community 81 - ...... Books and Archives How the Thesis Project developed 82 - A joint Venture Finding Research Questions, struggling with the holistic Approach, and combining several Projects in one . e . . . . . . . . . C . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 The Conflict - How to approach Elders in an academic mannar that does not interfere with their cultural ............................ Understanding of Behaviour 91 - The Words of the People Analysis of the collected Data and anewering the .................................... Reeearch Questions 96 - .. Relations to the Land What does Land mean to our Lives? 97 ..................................... Freedom and Peace 98 .....................................-... Spirituality 99 ............................................. Health 103 ........................................ Responsibility 106 ........................ Harmony, Values, and Relations 108 iii Land Use . What do we get from the Land. how did we live. .................................... where did we live? 115 Concepts of Land Ownership . Who owns the Land. can Land ......................... be owned. can it be given up? 125 Motives for living on reserve . What did we expect from ........................................... the treaty? 136 The Role of the Government in Relations with Native People . ........................ Can the Government control us? 145 Spirit and Intent .............. The literai Interpretation of the Treaty 155 ................... The Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 157 ........... The Indians' Understanding of Terms and Concepts 158 .............. Land. Land Use. Land Ownership. and 'The Law' 158 .............................,........... Benefits for what? 161 ......... Who owns the Land in the Attawapiskat River Basin? 162 ............................................ Primary Sources 164 .......................................... Secondary Sources 165 Elders ........ Questionnaires (Interviews with Interview Schedule) 169 ........................................ Intenriews on Video 205 Profesaionals and other Community Meabers ........................................ Interviews on Video 219 - Setting the Stage The Problams with Indian Claims to their Lands. During the years at University, having taken Native Studies, 1 always came across discussions about land claims of Indian people who were not covered by a treaty. Negotiations with the Indians were started by the government only when the Natives had signed or agreed to the clause of ceding and surrendering their lands to the governrnent. Being a traditional Native person from Northern Ontario, 1 always shivered hearing these words of surrendering lands, which, in my opinion, was not possible. The other concept that 1 could not relate to was that the government owned the land, or that we had to ask the government for land to live on, which, of course, was the reality on our reserves. Hearing about land claims, 1 saw the chance to maybe get the fndian point of view over in this issue, however, for our people, the Cree of James Bay (on the Ontario side), the possibility of claiming or reclairning anything seemed vexy small, because, as it was pointed out, we had signed a treaty, treaty #9, and by the treaty signing our people had surrendered the land to the government. This was pointed out to me, and the fact that the Indians were just whining to get more out of the government. The r~iationsw e had to the government were always interpreted in a way that we just were the takers and the government were the givers. This is, by the way, also the widespread opinion among my non-Native fellow countrywomen and men, as we do not pay taxes etc. The claim that we were 'whiners' could also easily be underlined by the facts, legally and scientifically, that there was indeed a treaty signed, and that we, for giving up our lands, did receive so many benefits, among them the one that actually brought me to post-secondary education, namely my free university education, 'freel here used as free of charge. And the treaty is a fact. There is no doubt about it, as well as the 'benefitsl that came with it. in this regards, it was also referred to me that we could not have it both ways, getting the benefits that came with giving up our lands, and then coming along and 'pretending, that the land was indeed never given up. That this whole thing was a legal matter became obvious once 1 followed reports on T.V. on land claims, and claims by Indians in general, because there were always lawyers involved. Indians who tried to claim lands and their Nationhood were referring to 'laws', like the one called the Royal Proclamation, and for matters concerning Indian claims, court decisions were quoted etc. It is indeed a very complicated matter, and there are always the 'factsf, something that is written dom, like in a treaty, and the Ifact' that there are signatures on it. Naturally, when you get these facts presented al1 the time, you start to believe them. The only possibility for Native people was in the interpretation of these facts, or in finding some legal h o p holes. The latter was my first thought when 1 started to think about the treaty. There were, however, other things that finally made me
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