Some People Are "Special"

No doubt about it!:

Bill C-38 aims to restore Indian status to thousands of First Nations people who lost it because a male family member gave it up under a process known as enfranchisement.

Revoking one's Indian status and treaty rights was considered voluntary by the federal government, but the plaintiffs argue their families were coerced as it was the only way to obtain certain rights like Canadian citizenship or the ability to vote and own property.

 

Now about that: 

The Diefenbaker government’s key achievement in Aboriginal affairs was the extension of the franchise (or the right to vote) in 1960.  First Nations people before this time, as federal “wards” were not allowed to vote in federal elections. Following the two World Wars, veterans were enfranchised, but only if they gave up their Indian Status  – only 250 voluntarily accepted the offer.  Diefenbaker felt strongly about providing all First Nations people the right to vote, as was his government, especially Senator James Gladstone (the first Aboriginal person appointed to the Senate). In 1960, his government changed the section of the Indian Act which denied First Nations people the vote.  

However, some members of the First Nations community viewed enfranchisement negatively.  They believed that by voting they would be giving up their distinct Status and become assimilated.  In particular, they were concerned that gaining the franchise would lead them to lose the reserve lands which were guaranteed by the Crown.

Numerous leaders and Chiefs wrote to the Diefenbaker administration, objecting that the changes were taking place without the First Nations people’s consultation and endorsement.  In response, the Diefenbaker government reassured the First Nations people that the right to vote was in fact an additional benefit to living in Canada; nothing would be taken away from them.  It was a personal choice whether or not to vote and, regardless of their decision, none of their rights would be altered or rescinded.  This characterization of Indigenous rights was later summed up in the phrase "Citizen Plus."

Once the franchise was granted to First Nations people, they were able put their new right to vote to use for the first time in the 1962 Federal Election.  Despite the concerns certain leaders had raised, First Nations people went to the polls in higher numbers than expected.  This step by the Diefenbaker government was the precursor to many more which attempted to correct the historic political marginalization of Aboriginal people in Canadian history.

 

I guess some people would rather aboriginals shut up and take hand-outs than vote as free men.

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The federal archives must release all relevant records to determine how many children died at Indian Residential Schools, the Senate Indigenous peoples committee said yesterday. The recommendation follows contradictory evidence regarding “unmarked graves.”

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Every day that passes without exhumations casts more doubt about the validity of the Kamloops story. If the narrative is true, then refusing to confirm it is an outrageous offense against the indigenous children lying in these graves. If false, then it is an outrageous offense against any indigenous person who reports a true atrocity in the future and is received with greater skepticism due to Kamloops. If false, then Kamloops also provides shade for real genocides around the globe. The CBC reportedon June 22, 2021, “On the same day Canada helped to launch an international effort at the United Nations to demand that China allow free access to Xinjiang to investigate reported human rights violations, China and its allies have called on the UN to investigate crimes against Indigenous people in Canada.” When genocide becomes a game of political chess, it loses its connection to truth or justice.

The politicization of Kamloops also prevents genuine healing for those involved because healing rests on understanding, not lies. As it stands, there is deepening antipathy on the part of the main parties: the white Christians accused and the indigenous people. Since May 2021, at least 33 Catholic Churches have burned to the ground, with 24 being confirmed as arsons.The Catholic Register on June 5, 2024, noted, “Over 100 Canadian Christian churches have been vandalized, damaged by fire or outright burned to the ground since the Kamloops’ claim first came to light.” (A map of vandalized or destroyed churches is here, valid as of February 2024.) To some, it feels like open war has been declared on Christianity, especially Catholicism.

For their part, how can indigenous people join hands with white Christians when the latter are portrayed as the murderers of their children who bury the evidence in unmarked graves? The residential system has ceased to be the historical shame it truly is and has become, instead, a multigenerational burden of guilt that stretches forward forever.

It does not have to be this way. The continuing turmoil is created by those to whom it brings power and money. The Epoch Times is correct in stating, “It’s absurd that people can claim a site contains the bodies of hundreds of murdered children yet refuse to allow further investigation into the issue. Only when we have confirmed what did or didn’t happen in Canadian residential schools will we be able to close the door on that chapter of our national history. Until there are excavations at the Kamloops site, the myths will continue to be spun and national healing won’t happen.” In the most literal sense, it is time to start digging for the truth.