Resolution No. 2005-03-09
Support for Legal Action and Education on Canada's Rupert's Land Promise
WHEREAS since time immemorial, the Mushkegowuk lnninu have inhabited, governed and held sacred the lands of our Mushkegowuk Territory; and
WHEREAS in 1670, without the knowledge or consent of our people, the King of England purported to grant the Hudson's Bay Company rights over our Territory; and
WHEREAS in 1869 the Parliament of Canada requested the Queen of Great Britain to join the lands claimed by the Hudson's Bay Company, called Rupert's Land, which included our Mushkegowuk Territory, to Canada, and in return Canada promised that "it would be our duty to make adequate provision for the protection of the Indian tribes...,; and
WHEREAS the Queen joined Rupert's Land to Canada, but Canada has not protected our interests, and instead has claimed (or allowed the province to claim) ownership of all our lands and resources leaving only our small reserves, and has violated our interests by imposing on us laws such as the Indian Act that choke our
governments and our ways of life; and
WHEREAS the Mushkegowuk Council and the Mushkegowuk First Nations have initiated legal action to invalidate various resource and governance laws of Ontario and Canada that violate the promise made by Canada and that undercut our ability to survive and live successfully as Mushkegowuk people; and
WHEREAS the issues in the Rupert's Land law suit are fundamental to our past and our future;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mushkegowuk Council and Mushkegowuk First Nations reaffirm their support for the legal action to enforce Canada's Rupert's Land promises; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mushkegowuk Council and Mushkegowuk First Nations continue and increase our efforts to educate ourselves and others about the promise made and the actions required to honour that promise, including providing information to governments and corporations and the public, and reminding them of their obligations under that promise, by which Canada gained so much.
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