Letter to the editor

Letter to the Editor:

The Indian Act Protects Indian Land From Land Speculators

Ever since I was a young Indian boy on the Caughnawaga Indian Reservation located right beside Montreal, Canada’s second largest city, greedy land developer-speculators have used Federal politicians in their many attempts to scrap the Indian Act. To steal Indian lands, land-hungry speculators know this protective legislation must be scrapped.

Right now the Federal Government is legally bound to protect Indian lands. Section 91(24) of The BNA Act gave the Federal Crown this responsibility, and under this Constitutional power the Indian Act was passed. Privy Council decisions in Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th Century interpreted this to mean that the Federal Government has protective administrative responsibility over Indian lands. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was seen by the courts to mean The Federal Crown is a trustee. A legal fiduciary, obligated to protect Indian interests.

Its no different in the USA. The American Federal Government also must protect Reservation lands. In the 1950’s the U.S. Congress passed The Termination Act. In a very short time over 100 Indian Tribes lost tribal lands. Usually the land was stolen by land developers. The Indians were kicked off their land and became “slum dwellers” in major U.S. cities. Slowly these Indians began to die as a race.

This was U.S. government policy, until Presidential Richard Nixon, said “enough is enough”. In effect he said “We the American people are going to stop killing off Indians by driving the off their lands.”

Right now Indians across Canada are living on many valuable pieces of real estate, worth Billions of dollars.

The Sarcee Reservation butts up against a fast expanding Calgary, Alberta, North Vancouver Reservation and the Musqueam Reservations are both inside Vancouver city limits. St. Mary Reserve in New Brunswick is part of Fredericton, the capitol city.

These lands are valuable, and the Federal Government wants to stop protecting these lands.

The Feds want an “open season to allow greedy Carpet Baggers to steal Indian lands.” Once destroyed the Indian Bands never come back together again. The People are scattered, to die miserable deaths as lonely isolated people for away from ancestral lands.

It’s a tragedy in the making, by an all powerful Majority Government, which equates everything in dollars and cents. Legal responsibility means very little to politicians when greed walks by, and seduces them into acting inappropriately. Under the guise of doing the Indians a favour, by telling Indians, “We are freeing you from the hated Indian Act”, a scam is concocted.

The Indian leaders are no better. They are talking of co-operating in this new advance in land-use development.

Christie Blatchford, a Nationally known newspaper writer, has recently been writing articles revealing how a small cabal of Indian politicians have gained control over the Indian reservations. Maybe they’ll be the real estate agents organizing the sale of Indian Lands ‘real cheap’ to these Billionaire land developers.

What is really interesting is how the world’s Super Rich protect their wealth, to benefit their future generations, by using Trusts documents. They keep land and wealth protected under the watchful eyes of trust companies, and trusted friends. We Indians have this protection legislatively, and Constitutionally. Why give up this protection, unless we want to sell our land, and rob our children.

Yours truly,

Frank Taiotekane Horn

Caughnawaga Mohawk