Working Group on Indigenous Peoples

18th  Session - 24 -  28, July 2000

INTERIOR ALLIANCE
Southern Carrier, St’at’imc, Secwepemc, Nlaka’pamux, Okanagan

STATEMENT ON AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 7:
WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM

PRESENTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS,

18TH SESSION, GENEVA, July 24th-28th, 2000
By Chief Arthur Manuel, Neskonlith, Chairperson Interior Alliance
 
Dear Chairperson and Members of the Preparatory Committee of the World Conference Against Racism,

        We welcome the Initiative taken by the United Nations to organize another World Conference that falls under the Mandate of the Human Rights Commissioner, with a special focus on Racism.

        Indigenous Peoples should be directly involved on all levels and in all stages (from the preparation to
the follow-up and implementation of the outcomes) of this conference as they can speak with great
authority about racism, an ever-present reality in their daily lives. I think we could bring a very valuable indigenous perspective to all main items around which the conference is structured: from the Causes of Racism to Possible Solutions. In Canada we are exploring such solutions, looking for ways of what the Supreme Court of Canada calls living “coexistence” between the settler and immigrant societies
and First Nations.

        As an indigenous person and the representative of indigenous Peoples in the Interior of what is now
known as British Columbia, I am on a daily basis challenged to confront racism of all forms on all levels (and fronts) of my work:

        Institutional Racism: Enshrined in the policies and institutions of the Canadian government, that still refuses to recognize our inherent rights and collective interests as indigenous peoples, especially Aboriginal title to the land. This results in a situation of:

        Economic Racism: where indigenous peoples do not have access to the mainstream economies and cannot maintain or build their own economies as they are not granted (full) access to their traditional territories.

        Ongoing Incidents of Racism impact the daily lives of indigenous persons, members of my communities are continuously discriminated in their education, health care and other elements of public life. In their private lives they are often also aggressed for racial reasons. The extent varies from
verbal aggression to physical violence.

        Especially when our community members go out to reclaim their land and exercise their Aboriginal title they are exposed to acts of violence. At Gustafsen Lake the Canadian Royal Mounted Police used
landmines against Secwepemc protesters while the Canadian government lobbied for the finalization of the Anti-Landmines Convention. When some Indian communities in my area set up road-blocks, many of our children had to stay out of school for a year, because of the racism they were met with in the public schools.

        Therefore indigenous representatives of all age groups and from all areas of the world should be invited to the World Conference Against Racism in order to together find ways of combating this racism on all levels.

        For the World Conference Against Racism to help overcome all forms of racism, it is central to ensure our full and equal participation in our own right as indigenous peoples.

        Any attempt to restrict our participation to that of Non-governmental organizations or minorities would go against the spirit and the central theme of the conference.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chief Arthur Manuel   Cell: 01-250 314-7179
Neskonlith Indian Band
Chairman, Shuswap Nation Tribal Council
Chairman, Interior Alliance
or:
Nicole Schabus    Cell: 01-250 314-4507
International Relations
Interior Alliance
email:   Nicole.Schabus@interioralliance.org
 

INTERIOR ALLIANCE
Southern Carrier, St’at’imc, Secwepemc, Nlaka’pamux, Okanagan
c/o Shuswap Nation Tribal Council
Suite 304 – 355 Yellowhead Highway
Kamloops, British Columbia V2H 1H1
Phone: (250) 828-9789 Fax: (250) 374-6331
Email: cnelson@interioralliance.org 
  

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