This is textbook whitewashing. Shame on you Premier. Using terms like “united to develop an unforgiving frontier” and “developing democratic institutions” are incorrect, let me explain why: 🧵

First, the “unforgiving frontier” was very well inhabited and protected through our traditional governance systems. Living with the land, as we knew it, was not “taming”. Remember how the government actively starved our families, stole our children and placed us on reserves?

All so the gov’t could make way for settlers to arrive and be given parcels of land literally GIFTED for free! While my people were actively forced on postage stamp sized reserves, or the Métis forced to take scrip. And where we entered into a treaty relationship, we intended to

Share the land up to the depth of a plow. This included continuing to steward the land together, and live together in harmony. But we sure know that didn’t play out as expected (residential schools, the pass system, ongoing racism, NRTA, unpaid royalties etc.)

Further, we have relationships, by way of treaty with the land (still do) to steward and live WITH the land and the creatures. Not to “tame” it, like one would do with a wild horse. To revise history in this way makes it sound like we did this together. We didn’t.

Secondly, this whole notion of developing democratic institutions, can only be interpreted as “Indian Act chiefs and councils”, and the FORCING of our people to replace traditional governance systems with those of foreign western electoral systems.

While I don’t want this to be construed as belittling our leaders, because they’ve certainly fought for many of our rights today, the Indian Act system still is a foreign governance system imposed onto us without consultation or inclusion of our traditional systems

In the far reach that Smith means developing Canadian institutions, I’m asking for her to prove which exact institutions that Indigenous folks were welcome in developing prior to the 1982 Constitution Act discussions? Because we have been excluded for most of Canadian history.

I know from my legal training that we were actively barred from these spaces, and in fact would lose our registration under the Indian Act if we became lawyers, serving in the military, or if an Indigenous woman married a non-Indigenous man.

So, no, Premier, I don’t remember this history. You must be learning your facts from one of those “but there are two sides to the history” folks who seem to be pretty loud (but not right) lately. Yeah, I guess there are two sides, the colonial lies, and the truth. Ekosi.