More News From Kacheshewan
As though people don't deserve better. Our Aboriginal communites live in disgraceful conditions, yet our government is wedded to the quaint notion that this is what they want. It's true that native Canadians do want to preserve their reserves with all the positives, as they see it, such as living under their own rules, not having to pay taxes, being provided with housing, medical and health services and being able to enjoy a traditional way of life. Of course none of this is true exactly. Well, scrub that: it's quite true that reserve Canadians of native origin don't pay taxes. It's the taxes that all other Canadians pay that accounts for their ability to live their carefree, idyllic lifestyles.Carefree? Idyllic? Whoops, guess not. And certainly not a traditional lifestyle. Is thumbing your nose at the necessity of death and taxes' inevitability worth all the deprivation that native Canadians really do live with? Especially the death part; it seems to enjoy visiting native communities far more frequently than it does 'traditional' urban communities of all those other Canadians.
Of course because Canadians of aboriginal descent really don't live a traditional way of life, and do live a kind of ersatz in-between life of indolence (high unemployment rate) on the public dole, absorbing through the medium of television all of the unsalubrious lifestyle elements foisted upon the rest of us, like the fast-food life, a life dedicated to booze, and gaming, and interminable television-watching, their health has suffered collectively. That is to say, physical health. The very fact that so many aboriginals are not gainfully employed, thus leaving a gap of fulfillment in their lives weighs heavily on their well being, even if on a subliminal level. The lifestyle breeds discontent and boredom leading young people to forge into a world without promise, without an enticement to a better, self-earned lifestyle. An alarming rate of suicide appears to be the only way some young native people are able to deal with their intolerable lifestyles.
Older native peoples have become addicted to alcohol, addling their brains, taking their attention away from their responsibilities toward their children. The children in turn, absent parental involvement and guidance, let alone emotional support, look elsewhere for comfort and all too often that comfort is found in a blur of drug use. And guess what? We're supporting this hellish way of life, because we're addicted too - to the stupid belief that we're doing our best, our duty toward our native populations.
Take Kacheshewan, although there are plenty other examples. An evacuation of hundreds of people was undertaken a scant several months ago, because of a concern of tainted water on the reserve. The chief blamed the federal government, said that there is insufficient funds forthcoming to enable him and his administration to operate effectively. Living up near James Bay potable water can be a concern, and there was a water purification system in place which, if operated properly, did the trick. But the band council in its wisdom did not quite see the necessity to ensure that someone should be responsible for its operation, nor did it see the necessity for adequate training. And no, they don't want outside help necessarily, for they prefer to operate their own business. When expert outside assistance was brought in due to the crisis it was found that simple operating errors had brought about those deleterious results. Still, the chief insisted he hadn't adequate operating funds and the federal government better smarten up. Both the provincial and federal governments sat up and took notice big time and both scrambled to make amends. Because apprehension is truth and truth is whatever reserve chiefs maintain it is in far too many instances.
Last week two young men in that very same reserve burned to death. They had been incarcerated "for their own protection" while in a state of inebriation by reserve police. Trouble was, the reserve jail was in appalling condition, and a fire had somehow started, and the police, desperate to release the men from their burning grave, found themselves unable to unlock the doors, secured by old padlocks. Then it was made public that three mobile units which were completely fire-proof, meant as jail replacement as well as a fire station, were sitting unclaimed and unwanted at the reserve's air strip. The chief rejected these trailers because he insisted he wanted to have built a solid two-story building which could be multi-functional. And, he said, the reserve was under-funded, he needed more money, and it was the fault of the federal government.
Some early rumblings of discontent have been heard from other residents of the reserve, finally questioning the responsibility of reserve administrators. It's a start. A chief of a neighbouring reserve recounted for the media the fact that he had established a training course for fire fighters, and he had sent around notice for reserve volunteers to be trained as effective fire-fighters, but there had been no response from Kacheshewan. The Kacheshewan chief said, gee, he couldn't recall having seen such an invitation. And he repeated: the reserve is under-funded and it's the fault of the federal government.
Actually, he's wrong: it's our fault, the Canadian people at large. It's our fault because we're content to let things go on the way they always have. We don't seem to care enough about our native brothers and sisters, fellow Canadians, to insist that all the representatives of our native populations who insist they know best what is good for Canadian aboriginals and that all the decisions be left with them, be accountable for the dreadful conditions in which our native communities live. We're shirking our responsibilities in our complacency; we're not demanding of our federal government that something finally be done to bring our native brothers and sisters into the 21st century and Canadian life, as full members of our communities.
posted by Pieface @ Monday, January 16, 2006
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