[IPSM] Support for Protesters at Poundmaker First Nation

[hhazel at gmail.com]

---fowarded message---
Greetings everyone,

This email is a request for help on behalf of a group of people on the
Poundmaker First Nation near North Battleford, Saskatchewan. They are
asking for assistance in their struggle to hold the existing band council
accountable for going ahead with a number of destructive initiatives
including the the construction of an Industrial Waste Dump on Poundmaker
Treaty Entitlement Lands. The group is currently camped-out outside the
band council office and have been there for over 2 weeks. The group is
requesting that the current Band Council resign and a new election be
called, regulated under strict guidelines to prevent corruption. The type
of support that the group is requesting is letters of support and financial
donations to buy food and supplies for those camped out.

I have included a number of articles and updates on the situation below to
help give some context on what is going on. Monetary donations for the
Poundmaker First Nation Working Group can be dropped off at Turning the Tide
Bookstore at 525 11th Street East (behind Lydia's Pub on Broadway). I am
accepting donations by cash, cheque as well as Visa/Master Card/AmEx. If
you live outside Saskatoon, credit card donations can be accepted over the
phone (11am - 6pm - Tuesday to Saturday) at (306)955-3070. Cheques can also
be mailed to the bookstore also at 525 11th St. East, Saskatoon, SK, S7N
0G1.

If you need more information on the situation, please contact Tyrone
Tootoosis at 343-7210 (home), 931-1848 (work) or tyrone45 at nativeweb.net.
You can also contact the protest camp directly at 306-441-0714.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Solidarity,

Peter Garden


============================================

>From Tyrone...

Peter

Tansi and hello!

I am in the middle of fighting a project by my so-called Chief and Council
on Poundmaker. The project is to build a IWD Industrial Waste Dump on
Poundmaker`s Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) Lands . Potential locations are
near Wilkie, Neilburg and Manitou Lake(near Marsden). We have TLE Lands in
these areas.

There are some people camping outside the Band Office going on 2 weeks now
and I am in the process of trying to get some money together so that I can
go and buy some supplies at Cost-co. I have membership there.
Do you know of how I could.....

#1. Get the word out amongst individuals/groups located near these potential
locations who would listen and to Sk.Environmental Groups and ask for
letters of support,ideas and suggestions to fight the IWD project.

#2. I would like to make a request for monetary donations to these
individuals and groups so that I can make a trip out there to the protest
camp on Wednesday or Thursday to deliver camp supplies.

My ph.# is 343-7210 and/or 931-1848 if you need to call me and or just
e-mail me. I like to keep a record of everything I do.

Ekosi
Tyrone Tootoosis
Poundmaker Working Group
612 McPherson Avenue
Sktn.,Sk.
S7N OX6

===========================================

http://www.aptn.ca/forums/index.php?showtopic=402

Protesters occupy Poundmaker office

By Darren Bernhardt

The Star Phoenix

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The problem-plagued Poundmaker Cree Nation is experiencing more tumult after
dozens of band members took over the office of the chief and council on
Tuesday, saying they plan to remain there until a new election is called.

Many band members allege the results of last year's vote, which gave Chief
Ted Antoine his fourth consecutive term, are erroneous.

"There's no election regulations in place. There's no order," said Eric
Tootoosis, spokesperson for the protesters, who call themselves the
Poundmaker First Nation Working Group.

He is concerned about Antoine's leadership, particularly as the band enters
an agreement with the Department of Natural Resources for the oil and gas
under Poundmaker, 60 kilometres west of North Battleford.

"We want that in adequate hands, to be controlled by proper minds. We don't
want anybody going crazy on our money and misusing it," said Tootoosis.
"We've already made too many people into millionaires as it is."

Antoine couldn't be reached for comment. In the past, he has collected
hundreds of thousands of dollars for untendered contracts while other
councilors have received band contracts from him. Accounting records from
1998-2003 indicate more than $304,000 from provincial gaming revenues and
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) flowed to councilors, some band
members and Antoine -- who used it for vehicle insurance and spending at a
local store, rather than improving life on the reserve.

In 2001, the day before a number of files were to be turned over to federal
officials conducting a band audit, the band office was burned down. The
audit, intended to verify the propriety of payments, was ordered by INAC at
the request of the RCMP.
People on the reserve "have had enough of the state of the band
dictatorship," said Tootoosis. An appeal was launched immediately following
the May 17, 2004, election but there has been no action.

"The time for negotiations is gone. We're staying here (in the band office)
until a meeting is set to deal with our appeal," said Tootoosis.
Some of his own relatives are councilors and shouldn't be, he said. Although
he also ran for council in the May 17, 2004, election and lost, Tootoosis
maintains, "I'm doing this for the people."

The reserve is split about 50-50 between those who support Antoine and those
backing the working group, he said. Poundmaker has about 1,200 members,
fewer than half of whom live on the reserve.

About 30 members took part in Tuesday's sit-in, although Tootoosis expects
more to join. At the band office, the group met no resistance. Antoine and
most of the councilors were at off-reserve meetings. If they didn't know
about the working group's plan, "they know now," said Tootoosis.

The federal government has stayed out of the dispute because Poundmaker's
elections are not conducted under direction of the Indian Act, as is the
case with many other bands. The federal government is only involved in the
band's financial affairs, said INAC spokesperson James Parker.

"It's up to them to sort it out," he said.


===========================================


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>From 1885-2005
The once oppressed have become the oppressers

The sad state of oppression continues on the Poundmaker Cree Nation. The
Indian Act`s 'Election of Chief and Council Process' has slowly eroded Cree
Band Custom Governance by replacing the original Cree 'Leadership Selection
Process'. Poundmaker Cree Nation`s been imposed with this NEW Election
Process a few decades and it has failed to provide a leadership who will act
in the best interests of the Band.

In an unprecedented, symbolic and commemorative act Poundmaker Band Members
who have had enough of the state of Band Dictatorship have agreed to
undertake a series of actions with the objective of shedding some light on
our political situation. our People will walk from an 'Encampment
Site'(Jacob`s),a place that has much historical significance. On May
2nd,1885, the last major battle fought in Western Canada between Indian and
White people was on Poundmaker land. From Jacob`s Encampment,members will
continue the walk and proceed to the Chief Poundmaker Historical Centre
which today serves as the Poundmaker Band Office.

The Members will stage a sit-in and will remain inside the Band Office until
the Election Appeals are dealt with.

For more information, please contact;

POUNDMAKER FIRST NATION WORKING GROUP
Spokesman-ERIC TOOTOOSIS
HOME PH.# 306-398-4072
CELL PH.# 481-1007
HOME FAX# 306-398-3788

============================================

http://www.aptn.ca/forums/index.php?showtopic=402&st=0&#entry4429

May 22nd,2005
Brief update on the Poundmaker situation;

* Despite minor disruptions, threats, lateral violence and other actions,
the Poundmaker People`s Camp continues. There is now a greater percentage
of Band Members willing to sign a petition which reads...

"We, the people of Poundmaker Cree Nation,under recognition of BAND CUSTOM,
understand that we hold full power and authority and give support for a
RE-ELECTION and the implementation of an ELECTION LAW."....

* The Poundmaker Working Group has commenced planning and preparing for an
upcoming outdoor Membership Assembly to be held at the POUNDMAKER POWWOW
GROUNDS.All Poundmaker Band members, and all other non-Band members whose
descendants were in the Battle of May 2nd,1885 are invited to this
gathering.

* There is another caravan planned for May 28th which will proceed from the
Chief Poundmaker Historical Centre to the Chief Poundmaker School and
back.Another Commemorative Walk from Jacob`s Foxhole/Pitt(a place of
historical significance to the May 2nd,1885 Battle of Cut Knife Hill)will
also be held on May 28th.

APTN Aboriginal People` Television Network has visited the camp and the
story will be broadcast in the next few days.(last week in May). The April
21st,2005 Poundmaker Designation Vote has now been officially appealed.

* As you know the April 21st,2005 Designation Vote involved the huge sale of
approximately 400,000 metres of Band Aggregate (Gravel) to the Sk.DHT Dep`t
of Highways and Transportation. I find it interesting that in previous
purchases and prior to this Designation Vote, the DHT have never even
bothered to get permits from INAC such that they could 'legally' remove
Poundmaker Band gravel!!!

* The Designation Vote also included the IWD Industrial Waste Dump project
with Canadian Environmental.Now,some of the potential locations for the
Industrial Waste Dump are the Poundmaker TLE lands situated near
Neilburg,Manitou Lake and Wilkie.

For more information,please phone the Poundmaker Working Group at
306-441-0714.

==============================================

An excerpt from an article by Janice G.A.E. Switlo
Full document can be found at http://www.switlo.com/opinion.php?selected=53

May 30, 2004
Omni pro lucas
Anything for money
Janice G.A.E. Switlo

Randy Burton, in his article, "A return to old-style politics," The
StarPhoenix, May 20, 2004, expressed some surprise about the recent election
results for the Poundmaker Cree Nation:

"Chief Ted Antoine has become a symbol of the worst of old-style band
politics.

Here are just a few of Antoine's past transgressions:

- In 1998, some band members demanded an investigation into Poundmaker's
finances after it was revealed that for his chief's duties, Antoine was paid
more than $200,000 in salary, contracts and expense money in the 1997 fiscal
year;

- In the 2002 fiscal year, chief Antoine sold his truck, front-end
loaders and some trailers to his own band for $200,000. There was no outside
evaluation of the equipment and Antoine was in a position to approve the
purchase of his own equipment. At the same time, the band council also paid
$120,000 for a grader it purchased from Antoine's brother Duane, who is also
a band councillor;

- Ted and Duane have also received hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of untendered contracts for band services over the years. Other band
councillors have also done very well through contracts of their own;

- ... Chief Antoine and his council had approved the [hog farm] project
without the support of a majority of band members, who eventually forced the
chief to back out of the deal;

- Late last year, two Poundmaker employees who handled social assistance
were acquitted on charges of burning down the band office. The fire started
the day before the files were to be turned over to federal officials
conducting a band audit. One of the accused, Marcia Keller, pleaded guilty
to defrauding the Department of Indian Affairs of $20,000. Judge Lloyd
Deshaye dismissed the arson charges because while he was satisfied the blaze
had been deliberately set, he couldn't tell which of the accused had started
it. [Judge] Deshaye also [said]

'I found him to be either a very obtuse witness or not forthcoming as to
his knowledge of the workings of the social development finances,' ...
'Indeed, it seemed that he was complicit in and perhaps actively involved in
efforts to cover up the fraud being perpetrated by Ms. Keller. He was a very
unreliable witness and could not be believed,'

- More recently, Antoine and his council have failed to provide band
members with any accounting for hundreds of thousands of dollars received as
their share of Indian gambling profits in recent years.

Most mortal politicians would have been sunk by even a fraction of these
misdemeanours, yet Antoine seems to thrive on it. This week, he was
re-elected chief of the Poundmaker band, along with all of the other
incumbents but one, a feat which has dumbfounded even some of the band's own
members. ...

With the election in the bag, it's back to business as usual on the
reserve, where the band and council controls the federal largesse and
parcels out financial favours to its supporters."

Last year I reviewed the paper work on more than a few of those issues that
Burton refers to, and the facts and evidence clearly support his statements.
Perhaps I can help to demystify the situation. Why is it that time and time
again, corruption is rewarded on reserve? How is it that Antoine can thrive
where provincial and federal politicians cannot (at least theoretically)?