CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 4^th Session, March 12 – 30, 2007

Agenda Item: Report of Rodolfo Stavenhagen, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights 

Thank you Mr. Chairman

We welcome this opportunity to thank Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, for his unwavering commitment to address the pervasive violations of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights.  We also thank this Council for its commitment to prioritize Indigenous Peoples' Human Rights in its methods of work and expert advisory structures.

Human rights violations carried out against Indigenous Peoples are too often ignored and disregarded by the judicial systems of states whose actions are in many cases directly responsible.  As an example, we present the following excerpts from a statement by Chief Victor Buffalo of the Samson Cree Nation in Alberta Canada, which was submitted in its entirety in a written intervention under this agenda item:    

“With the encouragement and support of our Elders, in June of 2000, an event of great historical and legal significance took place on the ancestral lands of the Samson Cree Nation.  For three weeks, the Federal Court of Canada moved the Federal Court to our land to hear from our Elders, in our language, the oral historical account of what took place when Treaty No. 6 of 1876 was negotiated and concluded.  They testified that the Treaty is sacred and spiritual.  The Treaty was entered into not only with the Crown and the Great Nation of the Plains Cree but also with the Creator.  To violate the Treaty is to break promises made to the Creator.

Secondly, the Elders emphasized that we were promised that we would be able to live the way we always had.  We never gave up our rights as Peoples.  Their testimony confirmed that we did not give up our right to self-determination.  We continue to this day to assert our sovereignty as a Nation.

Thirdly, the Elders told us that we agreed to share the land and to live in peace.  We did not give up our rights to the natural resources.

Finally, the Elders stated that the Crown’s representatives agreed that the Treaty was sacred and spiritual, that we were not giving up our rights as Peoples and that they only wanted to share the land and did not come for the resources.

In final written and oral closing arguments from the Canadian Government, demeaning and disparaging descriptions of the respected Cree Elders and their testimony was put forward.  The Government of Canada, through its lawyers, attacked the integrity of our Elders and showed outright contempt for our culture, protocols, spiritual beliefs and traditions.  Correspondence was sent to the Prime Minister of Canada to register our outrage and dissatisfaction about the treatment afforded our Elders.  We stated we had difficulty believing that the Prime Minister of Canada could possibly endorse such dishonorable and shameful conduct or that a majority of Canadians would support the unethical behavior of Canada in this case.  The Prime Minister of Canada never responded to our correspondence. This is just one example of the judicial system in Canada and how the Government of Canada uses its policies, legislation and courts to undermine and thwart the legitimate claims of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada.

However, through all of this, we have continued to uphold our agreement to Treaty.

Canada would not exist as a country without the Treaties.  Nonetheless, Canada continues to violate its own rule of law by failing to honor and implement the Treaties as they were truly negotiated as understood by the Samson Cree and in their original spirit and intent.

It is time that Canada should be accountable to the international community for its disrespect and fundamental disregard of the Treaties.  The historical inequitable treatment must be redressed and the true spirit of partnership between the Indian Nations and the Crown must be restored.”

Thank you.