First Nations Voice

PAGE 2 • JANUARY 2016 ADVERtiSiNG mAtERiAl SpECiFiCAtioNS First Nations Voice creates an opportunity for advertisers, businesses and all levels of government to reach First Nations audiences in Saskatchewan, Manitoba andt Ontario. With a focus on training, education and employment opportunities, this publication serves to showcase opportunities available to First Nations and all Aboriginal people. All digital advertising files, whether on disk or delivered electronically, should be Mac compatible. Please include all files necessary for output. Call the Winnipeg Free Press pre-press department, 204-697-7020, for more information about file types accepted. The Free Press can also build your ad. Please contact your First Nations Voice ad sales rep for details. NEXT ISSUE: JANUARY 30 , 2016 The advertising deadline is January 19, 2016 For your ad placement and contents CONTACT TREVOR GREYEYES (204-282-6341) tgreyeyes@shaw.ca Toll free 1-800-542-8900 Alan Isfeld (204-256-0645) / e-mail: rdeagle@mymts.net HoW to CoNtACt US pUBliSHER Al Isfeld (204.256.0645) EDitoR Trevor Greyeyes (204.282-6341) tgreyeyes@shaw.ca All Rights Reserved. Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Scanterbury, MB R0E 1W0 Phone 204.256.0645 E-mail rdeagle@mymts.net 100-per-cent First Nations owned — Distribution: 100,000 copies No material in First Nations Voice may be reproduced without permission of the copyright owner. First Nations Voice is published monthly by the First Nations Voice. All payments for advertisements in the First Nations Voice should be directed through the Winnipeg Free Press office. No out of office sales rep will collect cash outside of this office. Please direct questions to Trevor Greyeyes 204.282-6341. 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, MB Canada, R2X 3B6 Advertising Sales Laurie Finley, VP Sales and Marketing / laurie.finley@freepress.mb.ca Barb Borden, Manager Niche Publishing/ barb.borden@freepress.mb.ca Subscriptions $26.25 annually, payable to First Nations Voice c/o Winnipeg Free Press 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, MB Canada, R2X 3B6 I t's really a no-brainer to say that education is important. I add that ignorance is not bliss because it can lead to, among other things, racist comments. So let's get educated on Indigenous issues. And that's what this publication is all about. Presenting positive stories that I hope will illuminate that Indigenous people aren't those simple stereotypes that so many people think we are. Just look at this issue there's a story about the Indigenous Education Blueprint (IEB), a piece from Winnipeg School Division and a post from the Engineering Access Program. Recently, I read a column by National Post columnist John Ivison, Trudeau's embrace of First Nations laudable, but throwing money at their problems isn't the answer (Dec. 8, 2015), where he questioned: that lawyers, journalists and teachers would all be obliged to learn about aboriginal history; that schools would be required to provide lessons on aboriginal spiritual beliefs... I especially like that "obliged to learn" because it's funny. No, Mr. Ivison you are not obliged to learn anything and from reading your columns I can see you live that philosophy as well. Next thing you know, Mr. Ivison will be whining that children are "obliged to learn" the alphabet. Now to be clear, Canadian citizenship is not easy. To comment intelligently and without a hint of racism on Indigenous issues takes what I call a certain amount of Canadian citizenship literacy. Here's an example. Over the summer, I was at a non-Indigenous person's residence for a barbecue. Just enjoying a beverage waiting for the burgers to be done when I was approached by this non-Indigenous guy looking to engage me in a discussion. He started off stating that he always votes Conservative stating that he "never even graduated high school" or knew anything about history or Indigenous rights but wanted to tell me a few things. I have him my best incredulous look asking him why he would start off an argument by telling me how ignorant he was on a subject. Well, I knew where he was going with an opening like that because many non-Indigenous people have started off so many lame attempts to clue me into their way of thinking with that one. When someone states that I know the individual is going to say "I" do not come with any preconceived notions about Indigenous issues but then will go on to use Indigenous stereotypes. That is just wrong. Here's another teaching moment, as an elder would say. Let's look at a spurious claim made by Thomas Flanagan in "Support for UN declaration on native rights may spell trouble for Canada's resource sector (Globe & Mail November 23, 2015) when he writes that the "declaration (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People) is inconsistent with well-established principles of Canadian property law." It is an established principle in Canadian property law that goes back to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that states quite clearly that the Indigenous peoples had title to the land. It is from that original proclamation that treaties were signed and extends to modern court victories for the Indigenous side, and by Bill Gallagher's count now stands at 225 . So remember that the land was already occupied and it was not free. The treaties are still in effect, constitutionally protected and have no expiration date. That my friends and readers is the new reality that Indigenous people and their rights as one of the founding nations of this country are going to take their rightful place in this country. WhY EdUcATIoN IS ImpoRTANT ANd IgNoRANcE IS NoT blISS By Trevor Greyeyes

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