Navigation of a New Sagkeeng.

Just a few of the issues facing our community:  Housing, school, culture, leadership election, north south, greed, good , children, adults, old people, welfare, community, long term, hydro, erosion, banning, police, support funerals, citizenship, best practice, comunities round table, communication for community,business support, dependency on Band, language loss, religion, land use, individualism versus collective.

Aaniin Indinawemaagan

Greetings Relations,

Fixing the Sagkeeng Problem:                           February 18, 2015

What is the problem with Sagkeeng? Is there one? Is it the Chief and Council? Is it the people?

Elections are coming up very soon and nominations are taking place this week.  Exciting times I would think. Elections are always exciting. Who is going to run and for what position? Who is going to nominate who and who is supporting who? All kinds of talks go on when it is election time. Everyone has an idea on who should be Chief and what should be done in the community. I have some ideas and opinions just like everyone else. I am taking the time to write them down and share with you. You may agree or you may think I am full of Moo. That’s cool. I get that. The messenger is also scrutinized as much as the message is; fair enough.

So where to start?

The easiest and best way to start with anything is to ask this question: “How will this benefit the community?” This should be the first question every person in the Band should ask before anything is decided.

Communication: Let’s start with what everyone seems to see and talk about, our Chief and Council (whoever it is going to be) and past practices.  It is essential, essential that Chief and Council communicate with the people. I don’t mean a Band meeting to announce what they did or a news letter to be used as tool at election time, but by talking to people. Letting them know what is going on.  How do they do that? Use the radio station and tell people what is going on, Where the Reserve is financially; Where the housing situation is at; what are plans of development and all that goes on. Use regular news letters to talk about the C & C’s activities (look at Peguis regular news good and bad). The social media is big now. Chief and Council have the means to communicate with people that way. The Web site of the Band is horrible. No way to contact anyone to give feedback. No way to communicate with Council or Administration. Build a Web site that the Reserve can be proud of. An excellent example of openness is Alderville First Nation web site. http://www.aldervillefirstnation.ca/ The web site is a window to your home community and our window is embarrassing.  That is an easy fix to one of the biggest concerns for the Reserve-communication.  Just tell people what is going on. No excuse for it, because there are so many options and avenues for passing information to the people. You should embrace the openness. It is an ally to the Chief and Council. One of the biggest assets to a strong community is the communication with people. Dictator countries filter communication.  That is not what being a community, a Native community should be about.

Leadership:  People are leery of who is in Council or who is in administration/management for the Band. That’s just the nature of any community. Who are our Leaders and managers?  That distrust is not helpful for the community. We have to believe our Leaders and Managers are there for the best interest of the WHOLE community. How do we gain back trust? First thing is to start with Administration. Make our workers accountable. Do regular assessments of their performance on the job. Do they arrive on time? Leave early? Miss any days for work? Do they adhere to confidentiality? Are they doing a good job? Do they return calls and inquiries in an appropriate time? Are they demonstrating good work citizenship behavior, do they have good work habits? Its starts at the main manager and all the way along the job trail of what should be good job behavior. They must know that all funds transferred to the Band are on the behalf of ALL the people so in that sense they work for the people. The people all should be respectful and understand the role they have as well. So really it is about doing the work and doing it well. Need to ensure that it is being done. If someone is not performing then time to let someone else do the job, simple.

The Chief and Council must know and conduct themselves as our Leaders and NOT managers. Don’t spend your time administering money to people.  That is your managers’ duties. Let them do that job. Chiefs-Councils have to know what Leadership is. I am sure that many do not know or have an idea of what that entails. I bet many wonder what they should do on a day to day basis. “Should I go into office today?” “What should I do there today?” Leaders have be looked at as leaders and not “fixers”. You are not there to fix the door of every band member. Nor are you there to give pamper money to someone who spent their money!  Ask yourself, if I come and ask you for $50 for gas money to get to Brandon hockey tournament, “how is that going to benefit the Reserve?”  If it is not a benefit for the Reserve, don’t give it out! That money is on Behalf of the Whole community and not as your personal fixer fund. Leaders have to have the will to say NO! To all these requests for financial aid/gifts/loans. Simple!  If you are having a hard time to say no, let people know what is going on. Every individual that approaches you for help from Band funds should be aware that is part of the public’s right to know. You let people know that I am at the Band office asking for money. Maybe it will curb my appetite for getting money from the Band. But if you want to lend or give me money from you OWN wallet, well that’s your decision. Money from the Band is on behalf of all members – On and Off Reserve. So go back to the communication fix and let people know. In Traditional Native Affairs, the affairs of the community are done in the open, not in secret like a church confessional.

Oath to Office:  Our Reserve lacks the protocols of Leadership acknowledgment.  We have no public record of our Chief and Council. We have no Oath from them that they will, in the eyes of Creator perform their duties as best as they can, with a good heart for the People. We need to have Ceremony of acknowledgment when a New Leadership is chosen. Why is this not a community event?  I would like to see the Leaders announce to everyone there that they are going to do the best for the people.  Like in an Ogichidaa initiation ceremony, you announce to the Creator, in front of witnesses that you are going to do right for the people. A simple thing but the meaning is significant. Maybe if this was done more, people would start treating and recognizing our Leaders as Leaders and not fixers to their wants.

The role of the Community/People:  The People in our community have a duty. A duty to their families and to our Home. That is to behave in a fashion that benefits the whole community. Because if the whole community is doing well, then our individual families are doing well. Simple as that. However, we have become less of a community and more of a group of individual pockets. All these pockets wanted only what is best for them. So with competing interests that doesn’t help the whole community. When you and I go and badger the Chief and Council for a house, for money, for repairs, how does that benefit the whole community?  It surely does not.  But everyone has been getting free stuff so I should as well. That is not a mindset of community needs but thinking of myself only. That must stop. How to stop it? Simple, no more free stuff. No more social housing/free house. No more money gifts, or loans from Band. No more by-passing the finance manager to go to a Councilor for money. People have lost their sense of identity. They have become less than the community and more about me, me, me. That is one of the biggest problems on Reserve.

“Oh, you don’t live on Reserve, so you don’t know.”  Where should people live? There are no houses, no jobs. So they have no choice but to look outside of the Reserve. Does that make them less of a Band member?  Of course not. That is selfish thinking and mindset that there is a divide between off and on Reserve. That was one of the policies of government and we are using it on our own people now. Or worse yet the divide of North and South.  It is the drive of selfishness that continues that debate of north and south. For what purpose? It is for personal gain, plain and simple. People say but the north side gets nothing. Perhaps there is truth to that complaint. So as a community, a whole community we should fix it. First make a community land use policy. As it is now, there is no open Band land in the Reserve, everyone has a claim on the open parcels. So bad in some cases where a road had a toll to use it? Not sure if that was true but you hear the stories. If there is open land for new development, maybe it would happen.

People have to stop saying “I never get anything from the Band.”  Do you see how ugly that is? Are we as a community so used to getting hand outs that it is now our battle cry? “I don’t get nothing from the Band.”  Do your kids go to school? Get on a school bus? Does any of your siblings/parents/children/grandchildren live in a Band house? Do you have running water? Do you have garbage pickup? All of these things are from the Band. And the Band is all of the people. So when the Band does these things, it is for All the Band, not just me or you. So that is the thing we need to stop. That attitude of wanting to get stuff from the Band. Do you know how much pressure we put on our Leader, our managers with our constant demands? How would you feel? If every single time you met one of the community members and they asked you for something?  Awful right?  Well that is the role of the community. To start acting like a community and to treat Leaders as Leaders. Ask yourself, ‘what do I want from a leader?’  Do I want at leader to give me stuff? To give stuff to others? Or do you want a leader to fight for your Rights as a Band member and a member of Treaty?

The Role of the community member is as and even more important than the Leader. Your Leader takes direction from you. If you want a leader that is going to be a fixer of minor financial woes, than that is what you will get. You want a leader that is going to be a leader and act on behave of the whole community, well you have to back them like that.

Housing, Education, employment, economy, fire department, policing, child family, social, religion, Elderly, Land use, Shoreline, public works:

The areas of concern are many.  Lot of areas for the community and the Chief and Council to address. It all starts with communication. Open the lines. Board appointments. Housing lists and repair lists. Get rid of free housing. People complain about mold in their house. Elders should be the exception for repairs. But most people should have responsibility of maintaining their homes. They call them “Band houses” and expect the band to look after that home for ever. None of the responsibility but having all the privilege of ownership. How does that benefit whole community? If people are not willing to look after a “Band house” then they should know that Band will give it to someone who will appreciate it and maintain it. Simple.

Start to ask for Elder input on the use of Land. Who had what, where and when. Get rid of all trivial land claims by greedy individuals. The Band belongs to all. If you want to own land go and purchase some out of the community. Simple. But don’t expect the Band to supply you with unlimited amount of Land. Where in the heck are the Children and Grandchildren, Great-Grandchild going to build? The people have to look at and understand the Intent of what the Old people wanted for the community. It was not about the individual. That is the greatest threat to Sagkeeng. Becoming an place of individuals as oppose to a community.  Ask yourself when did it change and how come it changed? 

I will not address all the issues now, but you see the intent behind this letter. It is to start discussion, to open dialog, and maybe get beyond the crisis of community splitting (figuratively and literally). Look at what used to work and what could work for the best interest of Sagkeeng.

 http://rightojibwe.blogspot.ca/

Hey!  Sagkeeng Candidates and Sagkeeng Voters:

Consider this when you are at the polls.  And please share.

The Issues:

1.       Housing – Sagkeeng needs to do a true account of the housing situation and needs of the people, both on and off the Reserve. Do a survey of how many home owners are there, how many share in the house, how fit is the house, how old is the house, how was the house gotten, has the house been repaired, etc., how many houses are needed in the community. How many people outside of the Reserve are renters, how many people own a house?  It might be an idea to ask people if they would be interested in home ownership through purchase. Consider ending free housing. Have contracts for home owners to keep care of their home. Ask for ideas on the housing situation.

2.       Economic Development – Sagkeeng needs to network with the communities in the East Side of Lake Winnipeg. Meet ad hoc to start off with various people from each community to brain storm about business development in the area. How to increase traffic for business in each community. Look at the potential of traffic from Island Lake areas and the all weather road. What kind of industry can work in the area? Etc. It may be a good idea to start supporting more local entities and get rid of jealousy factor.  When the local gun store was targeted by the police and the courts, what action could or should have been taken by the Band to assist in the business?

3.       Funerals – Funerals are a big cost and getting bigger to the Band. Everyone has the right to choose their own Funeral Director and place of business. However, the Band should support local. If people want to choose someone outside of the Band, than that is their prerogative, but not a Right for the Band to pay for that choice. The Band should limit its support to local providers.

4.       Schools – The education system is in need of a review. Language and identity should be paramount in the schools. Discipline and strict adherence to respect; of school mates, teachers, property and rules. No more of sitting in the hallways and showing no regard for the school. Parents to be held accountable for the actions of their children. Make them sign contracts of conduct. Have more Cultural events and content in schools. The Harvest Week should be attended by more than the school children but by the community as well. Teachers to be treated with respect and they also conduct themselves in a professional manner-both in the way they present themselves and the way they teach. No free time in gym, shops etc. More Parent information and presentations. Start an active Teacher parent group.

5.       Information – This is vital to the community. No more secrets. Let everyone know about the activities of the Band. Is there a Band list for services? Have it posted. Have people been asking for loans and receiving them? Post it. Going for conference? Have whoever goes; make a presentation on what took place, the networking and how it will benefit the Band. Open up the communication. Let the community know of the abusers of the Band office, staff and leadership.

6.       Jobs – Have a review of performance. Start with a management round table of all the heads of various departments. See what their activities are, what they expect the year to be and where they see the department in the next few years. Measure performance.  How many clients/customers/patients seen in the last period (yearly, quarterly, monthly)? How has been their attendance? How is their attitude to the job? What is their conduct? Have the CEO be the eyes, ears, voice of the Band office.

7.       Band endeavors – What are the current projects of the Band? What are the benefits/costs and implications? What are outstanding issues/projects/lawsuits?

8.       Band Councilors/Chiefs – Do they have the skills to do the job? Do they know what the job is about? Are they there for a paycheck? Do they share information? Do they have adequate knowledge level, skill level to be a representative of all the people of Sagkeeng?

9.       Policing – Is there adequate policing for the community? Who over sees their conduct and performance?  How can it be better?

10.   Fire Department – Who is the oversight? What are the performance measures of doing a good job? How many recruits have been made? What is the daily routine of the fire department? What is the maintenance schedule for the trucks? How can we do better?

11.   Land – what is the current land use plan of Sagkeeng and its Traditional area?

12.   Hydro – new ideas or status quo?

13.   Traditional activities – Hunting fishing?  What is the current situation? Is there a need for future planning and conservation initiatives?

14.   Infrastructure – Schools, Buildings, Roads, water pipes, sewage system etc. What is the current situation? What are the plans for up keep and maintenance.

15.   Emergency – Who does the planning and what are the plans and for what type of emergencies?

16.   Recreation – What are the plans for recreation? Who is the main driving force behind kids activities? The Parents, the School, the Band? How can the community support the kids?

17.   Older Population – Who supports the Elderly beside the Care Home? What is the situation and what else needs to be done?

18.   Gaming  - need an open account of activities, expenditures and revenues and what is supported with monies from gaming.

19.   Health Centre – Needs to move secondary services from new building to old building and put primary services like the doctor offices/dental/nursing into the new building. Put support services in the older complex.  Wasn’t that purpose of health center anyway?

20.   Respect and Kindness – It should be our go to place when dealing with each other - Our first position, our default spot if you will. Sure everyone gets angry and that is normal. But we should start dialog with kindness first. Have healthy discussion rather than heated uncontrolled anger. The nomination meeting was an example of anger displaced. The anger was at the situation but was directed at an individual. Is that how we want our community to go forward?

Everyone has ideas; there should be a productive respectful and open way to convey those ideas. Emotions are hard to control and we are very emotionally invested because it is about our community, which means our lives and the lives of our relatives. So it is understandable to be upset at the situation and sometimes the players in the situation. Still it is our people. We can be a very strong and good place if we just start with that outlook. Nothing wrong in disagreement.

Penis Size... Oh what a way to attract an Audience.

Listening to CBC radio and one of the things that researchers have discovered is that the Penis is a subject that everyone is interested in.  Well the size I guess is what got 15000 men to let their penis be felt measured both soft and erect. But the thing I am interested in is the amount of traffic that labeling your post with the word penis is sure to attract. The radio jock said that one of the most looked at topics was the penis.  So I thought hey?!? (Lightbulb going off in my head, and not those soft light kinds either, like the new compact fluorescent lightbulbs, but like the old incandescent lightbulbs with sheer brightness)

I have been posting stuff for about 5 years and the amount of traffic volume is just not there. I need validation, God Dammit!!! If exposing a penis or two will let me recieve validation, well let's expose the penis in all its wonderful glory. Come see the penis and all that it has to offer good readers.

I believe that I do have something to say, whether or not it means anything or nothing. I just like to talk; to express myself; to share my demons; my angels and my words. Call me big mouthed (but I really shouldn't bring the mouth subject into this post because of context and content; it might be taken out of context or it may be taken literally) but I do like to share my opinion.

Everyone likes a good penis story and this one has been going around the Reserve for some years now. Its told to me by the Morrisseau boys about one of their relatives, Clarence I believe. It does have to do wth the size issue (the penis size survey) in the news recently. You know the study on penis size?  The average penis is about 5 and a quarter inches (lot of collective whews and rubbing sweat of the foreheads out there). I know I told this story before but it belongs in the Penis post so...

Clarence was having a party, drinking beer with his buddies in the little kitchen of an apartment. Friends sitting around boozing it up with Clarence the host and the king of the castle. Clarence, He was the man! So he says to his wife, "Get me a beer before I give you the nine!".  Clarence's wife glances back at him and she retorts, "that's not nine, I've had nine before and that's not nine". 

Clarence had a fight with his wife.

I put this joke out there on this Indian forum and the Women on that forum pretended they didn't know what the reference was to.  Come On!, everyone knows the Nine and what it refers to.

The penis envy will always be there unless it becomes more of an open thing. Television is shy to show penis on tv, but full frontal nudity for Women is becoming the norm.  Just watch any cable show and you can get all the viewing you want. I think if you want to see a hint of a penis on tv, you might get a glimps of two on those cable shows or you can watch a movie with that guy from "How I met your Mother", he likes to whip out his penis.

I think the penis is relative to the body size of Women. I mean that Women are seen to be attractive if they have a certain body size, you know, like all those tall skinny models. So men have to have a large penis in order to be attractive. Crazy I know.

Why can't you be judged of performance and not size? Why bother to have a giant magnificant penis if you have no staying power?  Anyway,  I asked my friend if he was still trying to be sexual active at his age. I said you drink all the time, you take lots of pills, you smoke like crazy, your don't do no exercise, I mean how can you even think of doing anything?"

He kind of got mad at me.

The penis the start of many a fight.

If you go the our Rez you may hear a phrase or two with the word or words; enaugh or enuck, kinaugh or keenuck, wiinaugh or weenuck.  That is someone saying "penis, your penis or your (collective) penis.  It is used as a comment of surprise, disbelief, or slang like 'get out of town'. If you are telling a story someone might answer with "ah eenuck"; meaning that they are either laughing at the story, not believing your or saying your full of shit.

Thing is penis is never far away from the mouths of people.

Driving Your Car To Heaven Or Are You Walking?

Hey, are you driving your car to Heaven?  

I think you are.  I think you are on that highway just cruising, listening to tunes, with the window open, the sun shinning, you with your Ray Bans, a cigarette in your mouth, a babe or hunk beside you, and the road is smooth like glass, your gas tank is full. 

But you don't want to go to heaven? You don't believe in Heaven. Then why are you headed that way?  You are an Athiest? Don't believe in Heaven? Well where in the heck are you driving too? Oh, I see you are a Tradionalist and you think Heaven is a white thing?  Okay, I get that. Still you are on that highway now, aren't you? A Muslim?  Holy Heck and your driving straight to Heaven. Sheesh. Lot of people on the Road to Heaven.  All in differen cars too?  I see some of them are walking, biking and jogging to get to Heaven. 


 "... Lord my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it when I reach the end..." 

It doesn't matter what you drive or where you think you are going, you are all on the same road. Sure some of you drive first class and some have to push a cart with no wheels, but you are going to the same place. 
That place whether you call it Heaven, or the grave, is where we are all going. Just that we are in different vehicles and different roads, but make no mistake you and I are going to get there. That place where we all are going or where want to end up is called the "Good Life". 

We all want it and use different fuel to get there. Some use the Christian Bible as fuel. With all that goes with it. Some use the Sundance or the Sweat Lodge or the Sacred Mountains or some people just believe in the social customs. That is their car.  They use the norms as fuel to get to where they are going. They don't call it Heaven, they call it Retirement and Legacy. 

In any case, drive safe, walk sure and keep your eye on the highway,  Lot of crashes out there. Just look at the Jails, now that is hitting the ditch and doing a 180 on the highway to Heaven.

I like to think we are all going to the same place with our own vehicle. But you know how it is, Some people just don't know how to drive.

Numbers are Very Scary

Over 1200 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women In Canada.
Police have compiled nearly 1,200 cases of murdered and missing aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years – a number that is three to four times higher than their average representation in the country.

It is a scary thing the numbers game. Can you imagine all that is happening right now and has happened in the past?

Last week over 2000 Women, Children and Elderly were slaughtered in the town of Baga Nigeira. One point five Million people have been displaced - no place to go in Nigeria.

Numbers are very scary. Be afraid be very afraid. So many numbers and so many things.

Over Seven Billion 7,000,000,000  in the world and growing. Go to the World Population Clock and just watch how fast the numbers grow. How are these people going to eat?  You know what is really staggering is that they estimate that since the time of people, there has One Hundred and Six Billion (106,000,000,000) people that have walked the Earth.  Wow!  In the after life, how are we going to find our lost loved ones?  That is a fear that I have sometimes. What if I can't find my Boy in the midst of all those people or Spirits? But I guess that is a different conversation for later.

There are pages on the internet where you can go and read about the number of deaths from wars and disasters. Incredible!  The numbers are just numbing!  Between 58 and 85 million lives taken in The Second World War (six years and one day). Can you imagine that number in a relatively short period of time?  In Europe the number of Jews killed  is said to be six million, the Holocaust.  Six million people gone.  Can you imagine the logistics in murdering slaughtering that many people? Six cities the size of Edmonton. Staggering. The number of people killed per minute, per day?  The number of times people were put on a train? The number of families separated?  We are aware of these numbers but it is hard to imagine.  We can only say "ruthless". 

The number of conflicts throughout history are many and the number of people killed is staggering. Not to mention the amount of people that have died through natural disasters. Holy numbers.

What about the Earth and the numbers that affect the Earth? Yes we are on a water planet with 70 percent of land under water, but most of it is salt water. So a miniscule amount of water can sustain our drinking needs. And guess what? The salt water (Ocean) is rising about 3 meters a year. Know what that means? The small number of fresh water supply is being contaminated with salt water. We can't drink that. We lose about 260 billion tons of land ice per year. Unreal and that land ice raises the ocean levels. Scary stuff. And guess what else? We are concerned about Climate Change but not really. It's a topic but we don't really think about it. We have no concern about the declining rain forests. What does it have to do with anything?  Regardless: The study estimates that tropical forests absorb 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide out of a total global absorption of 2.5 billion — more than is absorbed by forests in Canada, Siberia and other northern regions, called boreal forests. The forest is our lifeline.  But those numbers mean nothing to us.

You know what is also scary, the population decline of animals, birds, fish and insects.  The numbers are staggering. But really who cares?  The "Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past forty years..."  We are eating too much food. What that means:  "that today’s average global rate of consumption would need 1.5 planet Earths to sustain it. But four planets would be required to sustain US levels of consumption, or 2.5 Earths to match UK consumption levels." One of the biggest losers in the fresh water systems.   "As well as pollution, dams and the increasing abstraction of water damage freshwater systems. There are more than 45,000 major dams – 15m or higher – around the world. “These slice rivers up into a thousand pieces,” Tickner said, preventing the healthy flow of water. While population has risen fourfold in the last century, water use has gone up sevenfold. “We are living thirstier and thirstier lives,".  Yes, we are eating and drinking ourselves to death, and that is not alcohol drinks.

"What about the children? Who will care for the children?"

The numbers of too much. We get them everyday.
The number of crimes in the city, the province, the country and the world. The number of Women being killed, raped or missing. The number of children living in poverty. The number of people living on the streets. The number of people that are in jail. The number of politicians that are not taking part in legislative votes. The number of cold days in winter. We take the small doses of numbers so that way we don't go out of our minds. The numbers mean nothing to us.

You know what numbers mean something to us?  The number in your pay cheque.  The number of cheques you will get untill that vacation or until next Christmas. The number of  litres it takes to fill up your car. The number of coins you have to park your car downtown. The number of weeks until you get holidays. the number of days until the Superbowl. The number of tickets you can get to the game.

Those are the numbers we know. Are they scary? 

There are so many people that have diabetes now. They have to watch numbers in order to keep on living. Watch your numbers or get a scary number.  Those numbers are affected by other numbers. The weight you are carrying around. Your belt size. Your calorie intake, your exercise numbers, the stress level you face.

Other scary numbers are the number of people in our community dying by suicide. So many deaths that may be preventable. Also the rise in FASD - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are scary numbers. So many numbers of things that we are or should be scared of today.

I'm like most people. The numbers important to me are not relevant to the Universe. I count the number of family members left. How many children and grandchildren I have. The number of meals I have in a day. The steps I take. The number of shows I watch on television. The number of days before garbage day (to see if my bin is full).

But if I sit and think about the numbers like -  the time that the Earth has left, how much time beore the Sun burns out, How long until Rain Forests are cut down, how high and fast the  Oceans are rising, the time it takes for Polar Caps melting, the next time a World War will occur, - I get scared. Yes I do. I put it in this  way, what kind of world will the Grandchildren have? What will the numbers have in store for them?

For the scary numbers to mean something - Make it personal I guess.

Nepotism in the Reserve. "Hey Cuz"

I like Nepotism.  Sure it is a monster but I think it is all about the context.  Context is everything.

Our Reserve is set to be gearing up for the Spring community election. Our current Chief is acting due to our former Chief's resignation in the summer. A heck of a thing being elected in the Reserve (or I guess anywhere). The demands are immense.  The decisions scrutinized relentlessly. The politics down and dirty. The attacks are personal ( in many cases). The family, well the families are huge.  Just kidding but that is what people will bring up regardless of who or how someone gets in.  In fact some of the candidates in previous years have campaigned on getting rid of big families.  Yeah, figure that one out.  In any case the issue of nepotism is one that is close to home. I got where I am because of big family.  Lot of siblings, lot of uncles, aunties, cousins ( and I mean lots of them) have all had a hand in my up bringing and experience.  I mean how could it not?  We are in a community where you know who you are and who your relatives are. Is that a bad thing? Of course not. And if you can help out one of your family members, well that's great. You give them a car boost in the winter, let them use your phone, give them a ride to town, lend them a few bucks, loan them a rifle, give them some fish, pass on clothes to them, or let them know about a job coming up, or the big one, give them a job. There is is the conundrum; giving jobs to family members (including friends) when jobs are scarce. That is what gets people upset.  The problem is compounded when the family or friend hired does not know how to do the job. Now that is the thing that gives nepotism a bad name.

How can anyone who doesn't benefit from nepotism support nepotism? Can you support it? I mean when you even say nepotism it sounds like a gross word, doesn't it? Sort of like pedophile, necrophilia, coitious and stuff like that.   It reminds me of this story.  I went to a general assembly for this Native entity over twenty years ago. The entity was giving its annual report to the people and they were also having an election for Board members. My cousin told me about the assembly, so I went to be nosey.  One of my best traits by the way. The meeting was run in a semi-professional manner. I mean it had people and it had a person sitting as the Chairperson, in other words this person was running the meeting. As meetings tend to go, in the Indian community,  things quickly got out of hand. Yelling started, personal attacks and just your typical chaos and mayhem (as I like to tease my grandkids about their behaviour) ensued. The Chairperson sort of lost control of the proceedings and well, she sort of lost control of herself. She didn't take kindly to people talking loudly, shouting at the staff of the entity and calling out the sitting Board members. The Chairperson quit the meeting, yelled at people and left the building. The Board president took to Chairing the meeting. In the end, an election of new board members for the vacancies did occur. And I was elected into the Board.  WooHoo!  If my cousin, a staff member had not told me about the meeting I would never have went and I would not have gotten elected to the board. Cool, eh?  So I joined the Board and I really didn't know too many people on the Board personally. I did know who they were, after all it is Indian Country and you sort of know who is who, or know someone who knows whos who, you know?  So as  new member of the board I did the one thing I never usually do, I kept my big mouth shut. I wanted to know what the issues were, who the players were and who was good and who was not good. As it turned out, it was interesting and kind of fun. So in a short period of time I got to listen to the Board and make my judgements. The Native entity I was  now a board member of, had a family foot print in operations. They were part of the startup of the entity. Some staff were family siblings.  Okay no big deal I figured. The Board knew the family and got along well with them. This particular family had a long history of working for the people and was involved from the beginning of the entity's development. Anyway, the Chairperson of the annual meeting,  who had left the meeting was not happy as it turned out. The meeting had left her with a sour taste and she didn't like it. So she wrote the new Board to complain of the family ties in the entity. She felt it was that family's fault that the meeting got out of hand. In any case and a new board member, I was privy to the contents of the letter and the board discussion of the letter. Seems the Chairperson blamed the family for the chaos and mayhem of the meeting. Even though they didn't seem to be involved in any of the yelling or discussions that took place at the meeting. The Chairperson was so upset she wrote the board and told them to get rid of the family. In her words, the atmosphere of family was "incestuous". For me that was an ugly way to describe nepotism in the work place. But there it was. This Chairperson was a well respected Indian person in the community. The Board discussed it for some time and a few even agreed it was an "incestuous situation". There was some momentum for bad mouthing the family and the entity. It was getting a bit much. I listened to all this taking place. The board didn't know who I was really, I was the new face on the board. Finally I decided to say something. "I know those people, and I am going to tell them what you are saying". The looks on their faces. I told them that the Old Lady was well respected and I didn't appreciate the way the board was talking about her. One fellow tried to backtrack his comments. He is a well known "Aboriginal Elder" in the City of Winnipeg, kind of the go to guy for smudging in public. I still see him quite a bit around the City Traditional circles.  Anyway, before I got to speak to any of the family members he spoked to one of the siblings. He said "I really respect your family" and all that sort of jazz. Later I did speak to the same person and I didn't know that the Board member had got to her first.  She was telling me, that it was weird how she was approached by this board member and how it now made sense as to his behaviour.  It is quite interesting to note that many years later, this angry Chairperson of the annual meeting spoke publically on the virtues of family and how you go to who you know. That it was how it was done before, you relied on family and they would be the ones you could count on and that it was the reason she choose to employ her family member.  Cool eh?  I guess for her, someone else was guilty of incest while she was carrying on a respected Tradition. Cool.

You know what, the world is built on relationships. That's the thing. You know someone and you know their skill set, their strengths so you get them. You know they are going to be good. In theory that is what you think. Sometimes (maybe many times) who you know is no damn good at the job. That sucks for sure. The reason we feel it more in the Indian circle is because it is a smaller community. Compared to a City, a province, a country.  So getting your family or friends in the door is not that big a deal. But in the Reserve, everyone knows and sees. Not only that, the resources are smaller so everything that happens is magnified. In the big world, no one real notices the nepotism so much.

The wider world is run on "relationships". Or as they call it networking. So they practice helping each other out but don't call it nepotism. They try and pretend to not follow nepotism but its there. The Whole Country of China follows the nepotism rule; they call it Guanxi, the basis of their business relationships. In Nepal the most famous fighting Soldiers in the world are called the Gurkhas. They recruit into the army by way of Tribes and families. They embody the notion of loyalty better than "brother/sisters" of other armies. Because many are brothers and cousins and Tribes. In modern society many of the big companies, whether its a public financial institution, or Law office, the practice of nepotism is normal and expected. So why is nepotism such an ugly practice?

Ideally if you got your friend in, they would be grateful and try their hardest to make sure they don't dissapoint you. That doesn't happen. The people you count on, nowadays, just can't be trusted to do their best or better than their best. So they give nepotism the bad rap. Bunch of lazy arseholes. Making it bad for the rest of us.

Oh well, what you going do, eh Cuz?