Sam McKay from Prison

>
>  
> www.samuelmckay.myknet.org
>  
> April 9th, 2008 from Thunder Bay prison
> We had a conference call yesterday discussing the appeal with our
> lawyer. We want out of jail but not just for the sake of getting out
> of jail. How we resolve this is crucial in settling the groundwork in
> dealing with First Nation issues in the future. The way I see it, we
> are at a crossroad in KI's history. We have to make a choice in how to
> proceed for future generation. We are at the same important crossroad
> as when our elders signed the Treaty in 1929.
> I am not making a negative judgment on our elders who signed the
> Treaty at the time because they did the best they could with the
> knowledge they had back then. They also signed a document in English,
> a language they could not read or understand. In their teachings, our
> elders encouraged us to uphold that treaty and to always continue to
> have a peaceful and respectful relationship with the Ontario
> Government for 'as long as the sun shines and as long as the grass
> grows…"  (That's a direct quote from the Treaty of 1929 and it is on
> many of our billboards).
> Because of our relationship as a Treaty partner, we thought we would
> live in friendship and co-habitation in sharing the land with our
> Treaty partner. A two-way partnership.
> But obviously, from the Ontario Government's persective: the Treaty
> simply meant that we surrendered everything except what is within the
> small boundaries of the reserve.
> But that wasn't our perspective when we signed the Treaty. And it is
> these two perspectives that we are living right now.
> In 1929, our leaders thought the Treaty was in the best interest of
> our people, at the time and for future generations. I certainly don't
> blame them for the decision they made back then.
> But now this Treaty is coming to a head. We are sitting in jail as a
> direct result of the government's interpretation of that Treaty. They
> really do believe that we simply surrendered everything.
> I had a frank discussion with Phil Fontaine when he visited us on
> pushing a Memorandum of Understanding between First Nations and the
> mining industry.
> Interestingly, in his home community of Saugeen First Nation in
> Manitoba, the leaders in generation past sold a portion of their land
> to a pulp company. At the time, they thought that this would benefit
> the community and it did for a few years (just like it would for us
> with Platinex)… but now that the trees are all gone and that the river
> is polluted as a direct result of a decision made in the early 1920s.
> Today, Phil Fontaine was born into the direct consequences of no clean
> water, no trees and of course: no wildlife. All that community has to
> sustain itself is education and money. Their choices are limited.
> But in KI, we have a choice. We still have pristine water, land and
> animals. We don't want to jeopardize this with the potential of our
> lake being drained for an open mine pit. Yes, we know, sooner or later
> pollution and global warming will catch up to us and we may no longer
> have pure water, trees and animals. At that time we can look at other
> options such as open pit mine. But that's not up to us to decide right
> now, it will be up to future generations.
> We are not looking for a perfect solution to this problem just the
> best decision for the future of our community. That is our mandate,
> right now as leaders of our community. And that is why I am sitting in
> jail: to protect our future.
>
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