"Anishinawbe" - A Political Manifesto

Political Manifesto of the Anishinabek Nation

"A Political Manifesto"
By Grand Council Chief John Beaucage
and Bob Goulais

ISBN: 1-896027-63-6

© 2006 Union of Ontario Indians
Nipissing First Nations, Ontario CANADA

All Rights Reserved.

Endorsement

Eyaabay n’dizhinkaaz. Mukwa n’dodemun. Wasauksing ‘n doonjibaa.

Ahnee-Boozhoo kina Anishinaabeg minwa bimaazijig.

WHEREAS the Anishinabek Nation, under the authority of the Creator through the Grand Council Chiefs-in-Assembly and the Office of the Grand Council Chief have endeavored to assert the inherent rights and reestablish the jurisdiction of the Anishinabek Nation; and

WHEREAS despite signing treaties with the Crown, the Anishinabek Nation has never given up its sovereignty and has worked collectively and judiciously towards achieving autonomy; and

WHEREAS the Anishinabek Nation has always had guiding principles that provided direction and vision to its leadership;

THEREFORE as the duly-elected Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation, I affix my signature to this Political Manifesto as a statement of vision and principles that will guide my leadership.

I AM HONOURED AND HUMBLED to fulfill the role of Grand Council Chief, based on these noble and sacred principles stated herein.

Signed at Nipissing First Nation on this 17^th day of May, 2006.

John Beaucage
Grand Council Chief, Anishinabek Nation

Witnessed:

Philip Goulais
Chief, Nipissing First Nation

ARTICLE 1

Definition

This document shall be known as the Political Manifesto of the Anishinabek Nation. By definition, the Political Manifesto is a statement of vision and principles that shall guide the leadership, through the office of the Grand Council Chief, in planning and carrying out the political, social and governance agenda of the Anishinabek Nation over the next seven generations.

ARTICLE 2

Sacred Law of the Anishinabek

The Political Manifesto, as well as the vision and actions of our governments are based on the teachings and authority granted to us by the Creator and are based on the unwritten Sacred Law of the Anishinabek that is inherent within all of us.

ARTICLE 3

Seven Grandfather Teachings

The Political Manifesto, its objectives, initiatives, concepts and relationships identified herein shall respect the Sacred Laws of the Anishinabek, and the teachings that have been given to us.

Nbwaakaawin ~ To cherish knowledge is to know WISDOM.

Zaagidwin ~ To know LOVE is to know peace.

Mnaadendmowin ~ To honour all the creation is to have RESPECT.

Aakdehewin ~ BRAVERY is to face the foe with integrity.

Gwekwaadziwin ~ HONESTY in facing a situation is to be brave.

Dbaadendiziwin ~ HUMILITY is to know yourself as a sacred part of the creation.

Debwewin ~ TRUTH is to know all of these things.

Benton-Banai, Edward. 1979. The Mishomis Book. Indian Country Publications. Lac Court Oreilles, WI.

ARTICLE 4

Anishinabek Nation Bundle

We are dedicated to enhancing the Anishinabek Nation bundle that is representative of the Sacred Law of the Anishinaabe. The Bundle is both literal and figurative, physical and spiritual, real and symbolic. The act of adding an eagle feather to this Bundle will bind a community and people to the Anishinabek Nation past, present and future, both on Mother Earth and in the Spirit World.

ARTICLE 5

Anishinaabe Thought

We are committed to promoting and the development of Enendamowin, Anishinaabe thought and worldview, including the reemergence of Anishinaabe philosophy and intellectual property. This includes the proliferation and protection of these concepts to and for Anishinaabe.

ARTICLE 6

Anishinaabe Mno-Bimaadziwin

We are committed to the sacred concept of Anishinaabe Mno-Bimaadziwin. We will live in harmony, health and well-being through our individual and collective balance of the Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual self.

ARTICLE 7

Official Language

The official language of the Anishinabek Nation is our original language, Anishinaabemowin.

We hereby acknowledge that English is the language of the Crown and a working language of our people.

We shall encourage our citizens and civil service to learn and develop Anishinaabemowin through opportunities for learning. Each member of the Anishinabek Nation civil service will be granted two weeks of Language Development Leave or development of official workplace language programming.

Anishinaabemowin fluency and immersion for early learners, elementary and secondary schools shall be the official educational policy of the Anishinabek Nation. Ojibwe as a second-language or Ojibwe language instruction shall be phased out in favour of fluency programs for school-aged children.

The vision of this policy is to ensure our people will once again think in Anishinaabemowin which will be the language of our social and working lives.

ARTICLE 8

The Anishinabek Declaration

The Political Manifesto shall reinforce the concepts and statements of the Anishinabek Declaration:

These principles we have agreed upon and our minds our united:

We are Nations. We have always been Nations.

As Nations, we have inherent rights which have never been given up.

We have the right to our own forms of government.

We have the right to determine our own citizens.

We have the right to self-determination.

We, through our governments, shall have full control of our land. “Land” includes water, air, minerals, timber and wildlife.

We wish to remain within Canada, but within a revised constitutional framework.

The negotiations to revise the Canadian Constitution shall have full and equal Indian involvement at all levels and stages of negotiations.

The rights of Indian Nations as Nations must be entrenched and protected in the Canadian Constitution. These rights include aboriginal rights.

In the treaties, our Nations placed themselves under the protection of the Crown. While, in establishing this protectorate relationship, they share some of their powers, they did not give up or surrender their sovereignty.

Our treaty rights must be entrenched and protected in the Canadian Constitution.

We seek to end our economic dependence on others. To this, we need enough land and resources to provide an economic base for the present and future.

Our governments have the right to share in all the revenues from this and its resources. A sound financial base is required for the full operation of any government.

Neither the federal government of Canada nor any provincial government shall unilaterally affect the rights of our Nations or our citizens.

ARTICLE 9

Anishinabek Citizenship

Only our traditional governments have the right to define our citizenry and criteria for citizenship for our communities and within our Nation. We reject the Indian Act in its attempt to legislate and define who an Anishinabek Nation citizen is, and as such, we reject the concept of Indian Status.

As per Article 8.4 (“We have the right to determine our own citizens”), we shall establish and ratify citizenship codes as part of an Anishinabek Nation Constitution and community constitutions.

We shall work towards having our citizenship codes and definition of citizenship recognized by the Crown to replace the Status Indian policy and definition sections of the Indian Act.

ARTICLE 10

Traditional Governance (Community and Communal Government)

We are dedicated to the rebuilding of traditional governance in our Anishinabek Nation government and community governments. These principles include, but are not limited to:

Re-definition of community governments (First Nations) as determined by each individual community through development of their own, ratified, community constitutions.

The establishment of a central, communal government of the Anishinabek Nation, whose powers and responsibilities are defined by the community governments through the development of a ratified, Anishinabek Nation Constitution.

a.   This communal Government shall be overseen by the Grand Council of the     Anishinabek Nation;

b.   The day-to-day executive and administrative branch of the Government shall rest with the duly-elected Office of the Grand Council Chief and the Union of Ontario Indians.

c.   The legislative branch of the Government shall rest with a duly-elected Anishinabek Nation Legislature.

d.   The judicial branch of the Government shall rest with an Anishinabek Nation Centre for Justice.

The re-establishment of consensus decision-making within a modern context and within the governance structure of our community governments and Anishinabek Nation government.

The re-establishment of the Three Fires Confederacy through building alliances with other Anishinaabe nations across Canada and in the United States.

The re-establishment of the Clan System and the divisions of powers held within. The re-establishment of the Clan System shall take place in a modern context within governance structure of our community governments and Anishinabek Nation government.

The establishment of a Woman’s Commission, a Youth Commission, an Elder’s Commission and an Urban People’s Commission.

ARTICLE 11

Elimination of the Indian Act

We shall work collectively towards the elimination of the Indian Act within 10 years.

ARTICLE 12

Sovereignty

We are Sovereign Nations. This sovereignty was granted to us by the Creator and bestowed in the Sacred Law of the Anishinabek. This sovereignty has never been given up.

We will work towards the necessary constitutional change that will accomplish the following:

Recognize our traditional, community and communal governments as the third order of Government within Canada;

Recognize the sovereignty of our Governments by the Crown;

Fulfill the aforementioned objective in Article 8.7: “We wish to remain within Canada, but within a revised constitutional framework.”

ARTICLE 13

The Rights-Based Agenda

The four pillars of the Rights-Based Agenda are:

The inherent right to govern ourselves and survive as Nations in our own way;
Recognition by other sovereign Nations that we are Nations
Recognition of our rights within Canada’s Constitution
The on-going definition of rights by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The understanding of the Rights-Based agenda begins by understanding that the rights that we enjoy as the First Peoples are derived from the rights and responsibilities provided to us by the Creator.

Our primary political, social and governance agenda will be to secure and implement our inherent, aboriginal and treaty rights.

Our rights include, but are not limited to the right to self-government, self-determination, harvesting (gathering, hunting, fishing and trapping), health care, education, social needs, housing, natural resources (forest, minerals), revenue sharing, etc.

A solutions-based approach to implementing the rights-based agenda means to implement a practical, effective and measurable means of accomplishing our strategic rights-based goals. These include political initiatives of our community and Anishinabek Nation governments, relationships/agreements/partnerships with other governments, entities and individuals, and legal approaches.

ARTICLE 14

Mother Earth ~ Shkaakamikwe

At the time of Creation, Anishinaabe was given the responsibility to protect and look after Shkaakamikwe, our Mother Earth. This was established in the form of a sacred covenant. Anishinaabe’s descendants, the Anishinabek, are the stewards of the land, the water and the air. We carry this responsibility to this day.

We are the bona fide owners of the Great Lakes. The rights of the lakes and lakebeds have never been ceded to the Crown.

Our role includes the primary responsibility towards protecting the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes watershed including the water use, management, and ensuring protections of the quality and quantity of Great Lakes water.

Our role includes the responsible use of the resources including the need to define traditional harvesting laws and conservation practices for the benefit of the seventh generation.

We are committed to the concept of co-management. We will manage natural resources on behalf of our citizens in co-operation with the Crown, and acknowledge their responsibility in managing the resources on behalf of their citizens.

Our Women have been given the primary responsibility for protecting and speaking for the Water. As such, our Governments will support this role through the establishment of a Women’s Water Commission. This secretariat will operate on the traditional teachings and values-based principles rather than a focus on policy.

We will take a lead role in the environmental community in protecting and speaking for our Mother Earth. As such, our Governments will support this role through the establishment of an Anishinabek Nation Environmental Secretariat. This secretariat will operate on the traditional teachings and values-based principles rather than a focus on policy.

ARTICLE 15

Poverty

We shall collectively work towards the elimination of Anishinabek Nation poverty in 20 years.

ARTICLE 16

Building an Anishinabek Nation Economy

The key to a prosperous, stable and healthy Anishinabek Nation is the establishment of a self-sustaining Anishinabek Nation economy.

We continue to assert that the Crown has a fiduciary duty to finance our governments, a concept that is based on our treaty rights. However, we can no longer rely solely on Indian monies and government revenues to finance our community and Anishinabek Nation Governments and social needs.

Therefore, it is a primary goal of the Anishinabek Nation to support the coordinated approach to the development of an Anishinabek Nation economy. A long-term Anishinabek Nation Economic Strategy will be developed and will act as the foundation for a new economic outlook for our Nations.

The Economic Strategy will be based on obtaining and sharing benefits from the whole of the Anishinabek Nation territory, including sharing and equalization of resources and benefits from each of the four Anishinabek Nation regions.

The Economic Strategy will aim to establish cooperative relationships and formal roles and networking between community governments, the Anishinabek Nation Government, Tribal Councils, First Nation governmental organizations, business and economic development corporations.

Resource Revenue Sharing Agreements must be negotiated and implemented with the Crown as part of the Anishinabek Nation economy.

Impact Benefit Agreements must be negotiated and implemented with business and industry within Anishinabek Nation territory as part of the Anishinabek Nation economy.

The right to tax exemption of all Anishinabek Nation government revenues, business and personal income of our citizens, is a policy that will be maintained as it is consistent with our collective aboriginal and treaty right to tax exemption. This right to tax exemption applies to all foreign, unilateral taxation imposed on us by the Crown.

ARTICLE 17

Legal Rights

Nothing in this Political Manifesto is meant to be legally binding nor affect the rights and autonomy of any member community governments and First Nations.