A Tipping Point for First Nations

The Assembly of First Nations' Shawn Atleo wants to make sure Ethan Yellowbird didn't die in vain.

The shooting death of 5-year-old Ethan Yellowbird on a native reserve south of Edmonton has rattled the country, shedding light on the violence lurking in First Nations communities across the country. Postmedia's Christie Blatchford travels to Hobbema, Alta., to try to make sense of the little boy's death and the tricky politics that govern reserve life. “The vaunted code of silence that often surrounds violence that is suspected to be street gang-related ... on reserves is something of a two-headed beast,” writes Blatchford, “an infinitely more complicated phenomenon, with people unwilling to be seen as troublemakers and reluctant to contribute to a negative portrayal of their community in the media.” We won't get into the details, other than to credit Blatchford for taking it upon herself to publicize Hobbema's travails when so many others would just rather whisper “what a pity” and move on to the sports section.

The Edmonton Journal's editorialists view Ethan's death as “an extreme symptom of a failed system that has been with us since Canada signed the first land treaties in the 19th century.” The gang violence that plagues First Nations communities is a product of a scarcity of resources, the editorialists write, that, in no small part, has arisen because of treaties signed by governments decades ago in less than good faith. Thankfully, Shawn Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, seems determined to reform the treaty system wholesale to give more leverage to First Nations in negotiations. “After 135 years of failure, Atleo is offering us - Canada and its First Nations - another chance at success,” say the editorialists. “Think of it as a legacy to Ethan Yellowbird.”

Atleo is “a perceptive and thoughtful politician,” as The Globe and Mail puts it, and his ambition to reform the Indian Act is laudable. But the Globe challenges Atleo to back his goals with a detailed proposal of how to bring better governance to reserves. “First Nations communities might well benefit from greater flexibility and freedom than the Indian Act provides for – in their memberships codes, their forms of self-government, their handling of property rights and many other matters,” write the editorialists. But without a plan for a suitable replacement to manage Ottawa-First Nations affairs, “the breakup of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs could result in a dangerous neglect of aboriginal policy,” they warn. Rare has it been in Canadian history that so many parties – federal and provincial governments, First Nations, and the general public – have been so united in the desire to reform. Atleo would be wise to capitalize on the momentum.

Related Link: Shawn Atleo on Harnessing Canada's Indigenous Potential