Dear Mr. Harper

Mr. Harper,

As a Canadian, one who you represent, I urge you to meet with Chief Theresa Spence and bring the Governor General with you.

You must go to her in person. When you arrive on Victoria Island, be sure to request permission to enter the tipi she is currently residing in. Once inside, allow her to eat the meal you've brought to her before you start your conversation.

Allow Mrs. Spence to talk first and until she is done, do not interrupt. When it is your turn to speak, give her another opportunity to speak by asking "Is there anything else you'd like to add?" and if she says no, reply to her. Don't make excuses, or bring up anything that might have been lingering the last two weeks, that is not what the meeting is about. Let her know that you are behind her, as the rest of Canada is, that you will try with every piece of power you have as the Prime Minister of Canada, to meet her requests.

When you are done, allow the Governor General to speak on behalf of Her Majesty, and if he still refuses to speak, remind him that our treaties were signed between the First Nations people of Canada and the one he is representing. Let me also point out, that by simply ignoring this matter, you are essentially saying no to millions upon millions of votes in the next federal election. Your time is limited.

This is how you must go about the meeting. Not because she is a better leader than you are, but because up to this point you have tarnished your name, Canada's name, and you've managed to do so to the rest of the world. Support for the Idle No More movement, in case you haven't noticed, is coming from Germany, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S, Columbia, Mexico, India, Palestine, Israel, basically people from all four directions of the planet are watching you and hoping that you meet with Chief Spence and the First Nations leaders. All of these people are from different countries that Canada has positive relations with via NAFTA and by not acting I predict that these countries will not be so cooperative.

In addition to this, the world is hoping you repeal Bill C-45. As am I. So please, do what is right.

Sincerely,

Damian Abrahams.

Dear Canada

The grassroots Idle No More movement is in opposition of Omnibus Bill C-45 and other Bills recently passed by the Conservative government. Bill C-45 delists MILLIONS of lakes and rivers from federal protection. Waters consumed by Canadians of all demographics. It also makes changes to the Indian Act, a piece of legislation that gives legal boundaries in which First Nations can operate. These changes threaten the treaties signed over the last 200 years between the Crown and First Nations leaders. These treaties gave authority to the Crown to make decisions regarding the land in exchange for: the reserves, access to medicines, education, tax exemption ON RESERVE, and $5/year for many band members.

It was agreed upon that these treaties are in effect "as long as the sun shines, the rivers flow, and the grass grows" and any changes to them must be approved by First Nations leaders and the Crown. Bill C-45 makes these changes WITHOUT CONSULTATION OF FIRST NATIONS LEADERS.

Though these changes are minor, releasing bands from needing a certain quota of band members to decide to surrender reserve lands, and making it easier for the Minister to call for such a meeting, that is not the point. Whether you steal a dollar or steal a million dollars, you're still stealing. Changes to the Indian Act are coming without consultation.

This is not the only issue. Reserves across Canada are suffering with substandard living conditions such as dishevelled housing, boil water alerts, poor education and learning conditions, and sedentary life styles. These factors make this battle multifaceted.

The government's response to the third world living conditions has been minimal. Their efforts play on our emotions by apologizing for past hurts. At the time of the apology survivors of Residential schools needed it.

Housing crises in many Aboriginal communities have led Chief of Attawapiskat First Nation Theresa Spence to take on a hunger strike on 11 December 2012 requesting a meeting with Harper and the representative of the Crown to discuss the conditions of her community and standards across Canada. Theresa Spence has stated that she is willing to die for her people. Harper and Johnston have remained silent over the matter. Aboriginal Affairs minister John Duncan has offered to meet with Spence but he is not included in the request.

Our stand has been in rallies that have numbered in the thousands in almost every major city in Canada (you may have read about them in the paper), and in many smaller towns and villages. We've also put up road blocks on highways and railroads to get our message out. We've also coordinated flash mob round dances in malls across Canada. All of these rallies, roadblocks, and round dances have been done peacefully and with the consent and support of the police and mall securities. In many cases, each event is preceded by ceremony to ensure they remain peaceful.

Idle No More's statement to the Harper government is "we will not allow these changes to be made" and many bands across Canada have issued statements saying they will not recognize the Bill. The movement has sparked worldwide support, people in the U.S, Mexico, New Zealand, Hawai'i, United Kingdom, Sweden, India, Australia and the United Nations of Aboriginal Australians, Palestine, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and Egypt have joined us in support of our movement.

The Aboriginal people of Canada have supported the country many times in the past. During the War of 1812, First Nations warriors sided with either the French or the British and it was the valour, knowledge of the land, the sheer numbers of First Nations warriors, and the leadership of Tecumseh that helped the British win the war.

Large contingents of First Nations soldiers fought for Canada and British forces in the South African War.

Over 4000 First Nations soldiers, including one of my family members, fought in World War One, over 50 of them received medals for their valour. What's more, First Nations people were not included in the requirement of enlisting in war. They went willingly.

Again exempt from compulsory service in battle, First Nations soldiers numbered 3000+ including 72 female First Nations  soldiers and two of my family members, fought in World War Two in every major theatre with 17 medals awarded for their valour.

In both WWI and WWII First Nations bands donated monies to the Red Cross and the Canadian Military when they didn't have to.

An unknown number of voluntary soldiers enlisted to fight along side Canadian soldiers in Korea, but we have a good idea of how many enlisted by the 500+ First Nations soldiers who gave their life in battle.

Aboriginal soldiers have also fought in wars since: Persian Gulf, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan. All voluntarily.

You see, up to now our people have stood side by side with the rest of Canada in almost every major theatre of war since Canada was established. Voluntarily. So please, join us in peace as we have joined you in war. Join us in solidarity against Bill C-45 as it impacts your health as it does ours.

Please see www.idlenomore.ca for more information on how you can join us in our stand against Harper.

Letter to world leaders...

So far I've sent this letter to President Barack Obama, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia, and Nelson Mandela...

Dear Prime Minister Gillard,

I am writing to you with utmost respect for you and your beautiful country.

Our political leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is not doing my people very much good. Mr. Harper is not upholding the laws set down in working with us, and is undoing the treaties signed between my people and the crown.

As a result, the First Nations people of Canada have risen up against him on a grassroots level. The movement is called Idle No More, we have been rallying, putting up road blocks, and having peaceful demonstrations in opposition of his harmful legislations he is putting through our parliament.

One of our First Nations leaders is now on a hunger strike, going on day nine, demanding that she meet with him to discuss the state of her community and all her people across Canada.

I am writing you to request you kindly ask Prime Minister Harper to take our movement seriously, and to meet with Chief Theresa Spence (who is making her last stand mere steps from Parliament)

Thank you for your cooperation,

Sincerely,

Damian Abrahams.

Mi casa, su casa. Kind of.

Imagine if you will, you living in the home your great-grandparents built. One day your neighbor from across the street shows up at your door unannounced and hides in one of the corners of your home. They didn’t even knock. One day, you address the elephant in the room and you approach them, offering them food as they’ve been there for quite sometime and they haven’t eaten. They are grateful for the offering and tell you their story. As it turns out, their mom sent them out on a quest to find out what was actually across the street. “Mom is hard of seeing” they say. Things between you and your new housemate are going good until one day, while having some friends over, you discover they’ve started building an addition to your house. “We want to have our own space” they say.

That’s fine. But one day, you notice they have their family come stay with them too. You go investigate and you find they have friends and even strangers living in your house. You begin to wonder if they are planning to leave at all. They keep building and keep inviting friends and strangers to live in the areas they’ve built. But by this time your own children and families have grown old, some have died, other’s have moved away. On your death bed you tell your grandchildren to cooperate with your neighbors and guests. And they do, your grandchildren are now in charge of caring for your home and keeping your neighbor’s grandchildren from harm. For the most part everyone gets along.

 Generations go by and now your great-great-grandchildren are caretakers of your house. And your neighbor’s great-great-grandchildren have approached them, telling them they want to take over the whole house so they can build as they see fit. Seeing the value of the house that’s gone back 7 generations, they enter into negotiations with each other over who controls the house. They find they’ve entered into negotiations under the guidance of their mom across the street, so it’s really her they’re negotiating with. She wants full control of the house, but she is willing to compensate them fairly.

The mother proposes they give up the house and she will take care of them and all the generations that will come after them, for as long as the rivers flow. Your great-great-grandchildren are smart, they negotiate from the mom, medicine, a yearly allowance, they want their children to get an education. In exchange, they get their own room in the house while the mom across the street is free to build as many additions and invite as many people over as she wants. Your people find this to be fair compensation for conceding care over the house. To make things official, the mom across the street wants to make this a contract, and you all sign it.

By now, many more generations have passed, and the rooms your people were promised got smaller and smaller, and have never been repaired, some don’t even have running water, and those that do, the water is terrible. Your people can’t even drink it. But the house gets bigger and bigger. The mom across the street and all her people have now started posting rules around the house, and have even made it illegal for her people to enter your people’s rooms. The mom has even made it against the rules for you to watch TV, go shopping, to speak to one another in the language of your choosing, or to even build your own additions to the house.

The mom across the street figures it’s best if your people’s children go to school, a school she chooses. She hires the police to come take your children to bring them to a school several neighborhoods away. Some of the children will never come home. Then, when you thought the mom couldn’t do any worse, she tells the police that you are unfit and they come and take the children away and put them in other neighbor’s houses. Now all the children are gone.

But in addition to being smart, your people are strong. They find new ways to speak their language, they find new ways to bring their children home, and new ways to celebrate who they are. You see your people making a come back, they start making a stand against the mom across the street. She sees this and begins to rethink her strategy. She allows your people to start weighing in on the rule making, even lets them make their own rules, in their own rooms. She promises to never make changes to contract without your permission. But the mom across the street has given power to other people, people living within the house that once belonged to you.

Another couple generations go by, and your people find that the mom and her people haven’t been exactly been honoring their end of the bargain. Yet they continue to build additions, other houses even. They build walkways and whole new neighborhoods.

You begin to see that the rule makers absolutely want your people out of the house for good, but try to hide that fact by apologizing for taking your children away, making them selves look good, no one would suspect a thing. Then, behind closed doors, they decide they are going to make changes to the contract. All they’ve done was slide a little note under the doors of your people and go right ahead and make those changes. Those changes to the contract make it easier for your people to concede their rooms, and easy for their people to call a meeting to ask them to concede their rooms. And they’ve made those changes despite the disapproval of your people, other people in their part of the house, and other people from other neighborhoods, even people from across the street.

What would you do?

#idlenomore

To Your Majesty...

Below is a letter I am writing to the Queen:

Your Majesty,

I am writing you about my political leader, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper. As a First Nations man, I feel that Prime Minister Harper does not have my people’s best interests in mind. His actions of late indicate that he does not have the rest of Canadian’s best interests in mind either.

Having cleared foreign ownership of our natural resources, released his government from having to protect millions of lakes and rivers, and not attending to extreme housing crises in some of our reserves, my Prime Minister is not doing is job in representing all Canadians.

Our image to the rest of the world has been tarnished since Mr. Harper became Prime Minister, as indicated by the lack of applause in a United Nations meeting for our Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. Not one representative afforded Mr. Baird applause.

Your Majesty, I fear Prime Minister Harper is set to dismantle the treaties that ancestors of both sides signed to ensure a thriving country and the Indigenous people were fairly compensated.

As your humble subject, and a citizen of Canada, I am requesting you relieve Mr. Harper of his position as Prime Minister of Canada and allow us to choose his replacement. I wish Your Majesty many years of health and happiness.

I have the honor to be your humble subject,

Sincerely,

Damian Abrahams.

You can also write a letter to her at: 

Her Majesty The Queen

Buckingham Palace


London SW1A 1AA

My letter to Leona Aglukkaq

Dear Mrs. Aglukkaq,

My name is Damian Abrahams, I am from Haida Gwaii and am living in Edmonton. I am a First Nations father of a rambunctious three year old and am working on completing my Arts degree, convocation is next May. I will be the second member of my family to graduate with a university degree, the first being my naani (grandmother) who has her Master's in Education.

I am writing, pleading with, you to re-examine your role in the future of your people, and all your relations across Canada. First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people are in the cross hairs of Harper and his madness. He is aiming to take us out at the knees. He's already begun by chopping critical funding to grassroots organizations such as the National Aboriginal Health Organization, Stolen Sister's Awareness, the AFN, and many other that ensure that our people move forward, that we move away from mere survival and into living and even thriving.

I am afraid. I am afraid that Harper will break a promise made to our people many many years ago, long before you or I were even thought of. You see, Canada thrives because of that promise. Canada thrives at the expense of our suffering through, well, you know our history. I am afraid that through his actions, Harper will succeed where his predecessors have failed, to fully acculturate my people into the mainstream. In the words of the $10 man, John A. Macdonald, he will remove the indian problem. As much as I would like for my people to not rely on the Indian Act or the treaties, we are too far entrenched in them for us not to.

I feel betrayed. Betrayed that the Harper government would even consider cutting funding to grassroots organizations, let alone actually doing it. We are not weeds. Does he not know how far those organizations go to help our people? Or does he? I fear the latter the most. The National Aboriginal Health Organization for example housed the Lead Your Way! National Aboriginal Role Model Program. Every year NAHO sent out Aboriginal youth, the role models, to varying communities who needed a boost in confidence. I was one of those role models. Every community I visited, 16 in all, I saw children who wanted to be doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, computer software geniuses. They truly believed they could reach those heights. As the years went by those dreams were extinguished by, well, life. The Role Models came and rekindled those dreams. But Harper thought that was a bad idea I guess.

As I stated, I am writing to encourage you to re-evaluate your role in all of this. Please, for your people, for mine; for your children, and mine; for your grandchildren, and mine, make the right choice and choose not to take part in the Harper agenda.