WUN FEATHER – Education, training, and long-term sustainable employment opportunities are what we need. But then don't all Canadians need that?
I have had a few Elders ask me to write about how important the Treaties are to my people, and to explain that a very high percentage of us -- if not every Indigenous person who is at one with the earth -- holds the environment very dear to our hearts. The air, and the soil and the water mean everything to us. We would never do anything to damage the pristine nature of our planet. During treaty talks, our ancestors made sure that if we were to share the land, our fishing, gathering, trapping, and hunting rights must also be integral within the treaties. And they are. That being said, no matter how hard you search for clauses that include welfare in the treaties, you will not find those words. You might also look to see if you can find anywhere that it is written in the treaties that we Indigenous people cannot utilize technological advancement. It does not say that we have to use bows and arrows or spears to hunt with. In fact, under the treaties, ammunition is included! ...