CPTnet
25 September 2013
Aboriginal Justice: Breaking
News – CPT invited to accompany delegation to Britain
Indigenous
and faith leaders in Canada have invited Christian Peacemaker
Teams (CPT) to
accompany a delegation to Britain from 2-9 October, 2013, marking the Royal
Proclamation of 1763.
The
Proclamation of King George III was an attempt following the
Seven Year’s War
to set policy for the new British territories in North America.
The
proclamation is significant for recognising a form of
territorial sovereignty
for First Peoples, including the Crown’s need to secure consent
for future
settlement or expansion.
Although
the Canadian Constitution recognises “existing aboriginal and
treaty rights,”
the government continues to neglect the need for consent for
projects affecting
First Nations peoples, contributing to widespread land-rights
violations.
In the
United States, the protection from predatory settlement offered
by the Royal
Proclamation was one of the causes for the American Revolution,
as settlers
broke away from imperial Britain to pursue expansion unfettered
by agreements
with the First Peoples.
Mi’kmaq
campaigners involved in the
current
resistance to shale
gas extraction recently referenced the Royal Proclamation in an
official
request for the Queen’s intervention. The team will support this
call, and
connect with UK
anti-fracking campaigners.
The
delegation to the UK intends to meet with religious and
political leaders in
the UK, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Canada’s High
Commissioner, and
Queen Elizabeth II, a descendent of George III. As well as
re-affirming the
relationships between the Crown and First Nations, this trip
will bring
attention to failures in that relationship, as most recently
expressed in the
Idle No More movement, which has called for a day of action on
October 7.
Friends
and supporters in the UK are invited to follow updates on the AJT
Facebook Page or to
contact the team (details
below) for more information.
Further
Reading
1) Buffalo Shout,
Salmon Cry, (Herald
Press 2013) page 38-42
2) Treaty rights ‘recognised
and affirmed’ by Canada’s
Constitution
It was important that CPT was able to send representatives on short notice after it received the invitation from indigenous leaders. We need to have a reserve of funds so that we can respond to requests such as these. They go a long way toward building alliances and trust.
