Is it like this on EVERY First Nation?

Hello to all our readers,

Just a quick question, what is it like on your First Nation reservations?  Does your Chief and Councils answer your questions without changing the subject or throwing in sarcasm and rude comments?  Do they answer your e-mails and letters?  Do the Councillors speak at meetings?  Do your Councillors have to ask the Chief before answering your questions at community meetings?  Do your Chief and Councils inform you when they take a wage increase or implement astronomical severance packages and bonuses?  Does your Chief and Council structure your community like a corporation and a municipality?  Does your Chief and Council keep leasing out your land, while someone else makes a profit and without taking into consideration the devastating impacts to our mother earth?  Does your Chief and Council surround themselves with a staff who do not understand the needs and wants of our people, along with knowledge of our culture and beliefs?  Does your Chief and Council spend money on large investments without consulting with you?  Is there nepotism on your reserve?  Is your Chief and Council involved in every aspect of your life?  Do Chief and Council require a written letter before answering any of your questions?  Do your Chief and Council have the address of each and every single age voting band member?  Do your Chief and Council travel with an entourage of staff, to numerous meetings and conferences without reporting on the outcomes to the membership?  Does your Chief and Council let your Chief Financial Officer have final say in all financial matters without consulting with the band members first?  Is your community newsletter censored?  Do your Chief and Councils have a time clock to justify their high paying wages?  Do Chief and Council listen to your ideas and even ask for your opinion?  Does your Chief and Council have to sign a confidentiality clause?  Is your Chief and Council run fairly?  Do your Chief and Council allow slanderous letters to be written by a member about another member who is a candidate for the Chief and Council election, during election time.  Do your Chief and Council allow a candidate for Chief, who withdrew from running in the election, to publish a support letter for another Chief candidate during the election?  Does your Chief live on the reserve?  Do each of your members have to pay $1000s for land you already own?  Do you have to sign in and out when entering and leaving your band office?  Do you have cameras watching your every move?  Are you allowed to use a sweat lodge without being shut down by your Health & Safety Dept?  Do you have to show your status card for every purchase at a band owned business?  Does your Chief wear an authentic Plains war bonnet at every public function and swearing-in ceremony?  Is there tree planting on your reserve?  Do you have "No Trespassing" signs everywhere with locked gates?  Do your Chief and Council respect your First Nation name and your history?  Do they train and job shadow on your reserve?  Does your Chief and Council deal with the high drop out rates in high school?  Do Chief and Council implement drug and alcohol programs for the youth?  Do Chief and Council help members living below the poverty line?  Do your Chief and Council provide your mentally challenged with recreation programs?  Do your Chief and Council have open Community meetings on a regular basis or are they structured with an agenda?

In other words, do your Chief and Council really deal with the problems or is it just lip service?

Meeting

Coldwater Land Claim Update  Rama Hall August  11, 2011 at 5:30 Thurs. For Members ONLY.

Finance Meeting - June 11, 2011

- no economic development for this year and next
- Marina restaurant - not this year, maybe next year
- businesses at the casino not making any money, except for Biindigen store on gaming floor, still running in the red!
- according to Rick Morano, CFO, housing is revenue, so there is no rent to own and there are strictly rentals, therefore band members will never own their own home and land.  Cost of a lot is $14,000.  Why should our people have to pay for our land twice?  We already own it because former Chief Yellowhead and his people purchased the land we now live on.
- The financial information should be given to the people in hard copy form, so this information can be reviewed because the information pertains to their money.  Instead of viewing the information on a slide projector. 
- There were a few instances where a department showed a certain number of employees, but the band has not hired them yet. 
- In the financial statements, people in the on-call positions were classified as part-time workers, which is misleading to our employment numbers.  We should know how many on-call, part-time, full-time, and band members and non-native people fill these positions.  Why is this such a big secret?  Obviously, if there is no economic development, there is no job creation.
- There were only 17 people in attendance from the Rama membership, and the rest were staff members.

BALANCE by Spiritual Advisor Dave Chief

RESPECT MEANS LISTENING UNTIL EVERYONE HAS HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD ONLY THEN IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF BALANCE AND HARMONY.

Dreaming big

Dreaming big

Transforming the land

Training for a better future

The long road to self-government

Tradition

 I have a question what does it mean to you to be traditional.? This question is also for Chief and Council.

Report On Bear From Rama Police.

Rama Police service has been called to investigate bear sightings on a number of occasions, at the ojibway Bay marina, in the area of Willi son side road, close to the employee entrance of Casino Rama, and  Grandmother Road .Officers investigating some of the incidents reported that the bear hesitated to move and appeared to be unafraid of people and cars. On June 6 early in the morning reports of a bear at the entrance of casino Rama were received. Officers were unable to frighten the bear away with engine revving, use of the Horn and sirens or air shots and determined that in view of recent reports and the bears unresponsiveness to their efforts, it presented an immediate danger to the community . Shots were fired at the bear but it fled into the bush and officers believed they had missed it. The immediate area was searched but the bear appeared to have fled the area unharmed.. On June 16 it was reported that  a dead bear was located near the maintenance department yard. The location is consistent with reports of where the bear was last seen  so it  is likely that it succumbed to injuries sustained by the officer,s shots. The bear had an MNR tag and this incident was reported to them by Rama Police Servicrs. Under the circumstances, MNR had no concerns about the action taken by the Rama Police.It is unfortunate that the bear was not located on the day of the incident but officers did not find any evidence to indicate that the bear had been injured during their search of the immediate area, Community safety is our key priority. Extreme measures are the last resort in any circumstance. This particular bear had been sighted in the area on a number of occasions and its peculiar behaviour was cause for concern. We are also grateful that none of our community members were harmed although we do understand that at least one dog was seriously injured by a bear and had to be euthanized.  Rama Police officers have been trained in MNR guidelines on how handle bear sightings,They were first trained last spring and a review was conducted at the commencement of this spring. This is in keeping with appropriate protocols for community safety . Arrangements for the Rama Culture Dept. to preform the appropriate ceremony were initiated and burial at the site was facilitated for the bear.