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The National Post today apparently
unknowingly catches Stewart Phillip, Grand Chief of the Union of
British Columbia Indian Chiefs, in a fine bit of unintended irony.
Responding to Jean Chretien's recent
suggestion that some people in Attawapiskat First Nation might be
better off if they move, Phillip responds, “We're not bison. We
shouldn't be herded around on the whims of a racist nation.”
This serves as a timely reminder. The
Cree were in fact historically a nomadic people. They had no fixed
settlements. Moving from place to place was their way of life.
Moreover, the Cree, meaning individual
Cree in many cases, spread over the past few centuries from an
original base near Attawapiskat to as far West as the Peace River.
Once on the plains, they indeed moved just like the bison, for they
were literally following the bison as their source of sustenance.
If they really value their ancestral
culture, what are they doing sitting there in Attawapiskat in front
of their wide screen TVs? Why aren't they going where the jobs,
today's game, are? Are they no longer worthy of their ancestors?
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