From the North Bay Nugget:
Message from Grand Council Chief John Beaucage–
Prior to contact, the Anishinaabe lived in peace and harmony with each other, living off the bounty of our Mother Earth. We acknowledged each other- our distinct bands and traditional territories. We respected our boundaries — not borders — out of respect for our neighbours. We harvested only what was needed, always mindful of sacred law and ensuring our food sources — the plants, animals, birds and fish — would remain abundant for seven generations into the future.
We governed ourselves according to that same sacred law. The Creator gave us the Clan System as a means to govern our day-to-day affairs, set priorities, and look after the needs of the community as a whole.
Collectively, we met regularly as part of the greatest confederacy on Turtle Island, the Confederacy of Three Fires. We sat together as Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi people. We welcomed and honoured our allies, took part in great discussion and debate, shared great feasts, and joined together for ceremonies.
There was a place for our Clan System within the Three Fires as well, where each clan had a place and a role in the great lodge.
However, the Clan System was much more than a governance model. It was the basis for the entire social structure of our nation; integral to the formation of families, communities and the Anishinabek Nation as a whole. Each clan knew exactly who belonged. Each child was born into a clan which, for the Anishinaabe, is determined by our fathers; this was our one-parent rule. Essentially, it was through the Clan System that citizenship was determined.
On occasion, inter-marriage or transfers took place from other communities. However, the vast majority of those people knew their clans and were simply invited to sit with the same clan within their new community.
Adoptions were usually done within each clan, and as such, their clans would remain the same. When intermarriage or adoptions took place from other Nations — Waabsheshii, the Marten Clan — stepped forward to welcome these new citizens. Once you were accepted into a clan, you belonged with that family. As such, you belonged to the community, band, and nation.
Fundamentally, this is about formal sanction, acceptance and belonging. Eee-ben-DAWG-zi-jig. We all had a place -we all had that sense of belonging.
It is now time for us to take that back.
The Indian Act is irrelevant to us; however, many of our people are still administered by this anachronistic piece of legislation. The one critical area that still undermines us is Section 6, the definition of Indian status. Our reality is our inherent rights, nationhood and governance. As such, we are working towards sweeping changes towards self-government, and need to continue to believe in ourselves and each other. I can affirm that our goal of eliminating the Indian Act is well underway.
In 2005, I was re-elected as Grand Council Chief based on a collective vision that I expressed through the Political Manifesto. An important part of that document was the need to reclaim our jurisdiction with regard to citizenship.
In Article Nine on Anishinabek Citizenship it states that:
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.”
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.”
We have sought and received a mandate from the Anishinabek Chiefs-in- Assembly during our Grand Council Assembly in 2007 in Alderville First Nation.
We sought to develop an Anishinabek Nation Law respecting Citizenship that would incorporate our sovereign approach to self-government in the following areas: Implementing a One-Parent Rule, eliminating the second- generation cut-off rule, establishing an Anishinabek Nation and First Nations registry, enabling First Nation- based citizenship codes, and producing Anishinabek Nation citizenship cards and a new, revised Anishinabek Nation passport.
The bottom line is that we will determine who our citizens are.
It is important that we distinguish between Indian status and citizenship. All things considered, we outright reject the concept of Indian status. The concept that the Government of Canada can solely determine who is an Indian and who is entitled to membership is simply a one-way ticket to extinction, if we continue to use those criteria to define who we are.
It is not my status card that tells me I am Anishinaabe. It is the legacy of my forefathers and belonging to my family, my community and my nation. It is the blood that pumps through my veins. It is the songs and language I still hold in my heart that define me as Anishinaabe.
The Indian Act will never take that from me.
Turtle Talk 