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The top grand chief in Manitoba says he has been given a mandate to push for the abolishment of the Indian Act.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said in a Facebook posting that member chiefs of the organization passed a resolution Wednesday authorizing the campaign to scrap the Indian Act.
“The chiefs in assembly in Manitoba passed a mandate to me to begin a critical deconstruction of the Indian Act and call on the government of Canada to work with us towards the abolition of the Indian Act,” said Nepinak, in the Facebook posting.
Nepinak said in the Facebook post that he planned to attend the next Assembly of First Nations (AFN) annual general meeting this summer to push for the abolishment of the Indian Act. The AFN is meeting in Niagara Falls, Ont., this year.
“The legal fiction is monetized and commodified under Canadian law and capitalism to create money to contain and deny the true identity of the original peoples,” said Nepinak, in the Facebook post. “It is likely the most well-kept secret in the history of the rise of the nation state concept that Indigenous peoples are not legal fictions, but actual living, breathing human beings still living in our ancestral lands and capable of self-determination and self-government from outside colonial frameworks.”
Nepinak could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Indian Act is legislation that governs life on First Nation reserves.
Currently, the main pathway for First Nations to come out from other the Act is through Ottawa’s comprehensive claims process.
Over the years, the First Nation leadership has expressed concern about moving to scrap the Indian Act before first creating a framework defining the relationship between First Nations and Crown that would replace the legislation.
In his Facebook post, Nepinak said the historical treaties signed between the Crown and First Nations define the relationship.
“Treaty freedoms have nothing to do with the Indian Act containment system. That hoax is up too,” said Nepinak. “Our treaty freedoms remain intact. Our freedoms are not the limited suite of programs and services that are administered by an iron fist by the Indian Act bureaucracy.”
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“top grand chief” ????? There are no top grand chiefs. There are simply three grand chiefs in this province. The AMC is a provincial political organization representing member First Nations, some affiliated with the two regional political organizations SCO and MKO, each with their own grand chief. And the headline is a complete mess in terms of syntax and grammar. Egads!