This July 25 the AFN will be electing their Grand Chief. AFN is elected by the 634 Chiefs across Canada. British Columbia and Ontario have the most Chiefs. They have a major influence in who is elected.
I am not really sure of the effectiveness of the AFN and other regional Chief organizations. They are lobby organizations but not sure of really the effectiveness.
One thing I will say about AFN, they have the greatest declaration out there:
A Declaration of First Nations
We the Original Peoples of this land know the Creator put us here.
The Creator gave us laws that govern all our relationships to live in harmony with nature and mankind.
The Laws of the Creator defined our rights and responsibilities.
The Creator gave us our spiritual beliefs, our languages, our culture, and a place on Mother Earth which provided us with all our needs.
We have maintained our Freedom, our Languages, and our Traditions from time immemorial.
We continue to exercise the rights and fulfill the responsibilities and obligations given to us by the Creator for the land upon which we were placed.
The Creator has given us the right to govern ourselves and the right to self-determination.
The rights and responsibilities given to us by the Creator cannot be altered or taken away by any other Nation.
The problem with AFN and the other Regional lobby groups, is their funding and membership. They are funding by the Canadian Government. Their identity is not as clear as you would think. In this case it seems the regional national groups are lobby groups for the Canadian Government and not the other way around. The Canadian government has AFN selling their policy ideas to the Chiefs. Same with the Regional Chief organizations. Of course there is always the obligatory table pounding by the angry Grand Chief but at the end of the day, they tow the Government line. If they don't follow Canada's plan, the funding is cut. In some situations the Canadian government just ignores the National group (AFN) and deals directly with Regional Groups.
The whole problem with the Indigenous lobby groups is their real disconnect with the people; all 1.3 million of them. The other issue is their title, Grand Chief. I wonder why they came up with this title? As a lobby group, they are to be champions, fighters, warriors of your cause. The title Grand Chief gives the false notion of leadership over people. This is not the case.
Many First Nation citizen's criticize AFN for them not being able to vote in the election. I totally disagree with voting in the AFN election. For the reason, AFN is a lobby group, so why try and elevate it to a leadership over First Nation's? In theory AFN is suppose to engage with Canada as a liaison for FN's. They don't have government role over the FN citizen. So if the citizen would be voting in AFN, then AFN would be their leadership able to make decisions which could affect the lives of the citizens. So the role of AFN as a lobby group should remain. However they could do a lot of things to be more effective.
So what can AFN do to become a more effective lobby group?
Lots of things. The title of Grand Chief is misleading and wrong. They are not Chiefs. They are suppose to be fighters, warriors, liaison on behalf of the Chiefs. The Chiefs in turn are suppose to take direction from the community.
The whole problem with the Indigenous lobby groups is their real disconnect with the people; all 1.3 million of them. The other issue is their title, Grand Chief. I wonder why they came up with this title? As a lobby group, they are to be champions, fighters, warriors of your cause. The title Grand Chief gives the false notion of leadership over people. This is not the case.
Many First Nation citizen's criticize AFN for them not being able to vote in the election. I totally disagree with voting in the AFN election. For the reason, AFN is a lobby group, so why try and elevate it to a leadership over First Nation's? In theory AFN is suppose to engage with Canada as a liaison for FN's. They don't have government role over the FN citizen. So if the citizen would be voting in AFN, then AFN would be their leadership able to make decisions which could affect the lives of the citizens. So the role of AFN as a lobby group should remain. However they could do a lot of things to be more effective.
So what can AFN do to become a more effective lobby group?
Lots of things. The title of Grand Chief is misleading and wrong. They are not Chiefs. They are suppose to be fighters, warriors, liaison on behalf of the Chiefs. The Chiefs in turn are suppose to take direction from the community.
I agree with your evaluation of the AFN, in that it limits the power of AFN to First Nation representation (under the thumb of the Canadian government. If First Nation goals are to be honestly met, representation must include ALL Canadian indigenous and non-indigenous supporters independent of the Canadian government! I believe that if First Nations do not achieve their rightful and lawful independence all indigenous people in Canada will lose as well!
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