Unconventional

Sunday I set the alarm for 6:30 am so I would make my way to the Lib14 convention, and arrive in time for the delegates' plenary session where a number of priority resolutions would be presented, possibly debated and then voted upon.

At the scheduled time, I was in the main hall, poised to follow the proceedings.

Resolutions 110:
A Resolution for Action for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
WHEREAS the effects of colonization, discrimination, stigmatization and remaining silent and inactive on the missing and murdered Indigenous women issue has contributed to the issue itself;
WHEREAS the missing and murdered Indigenous women issue has received international attention via United Nations, with a United nations Special Rapporteur spending nine days touring Canada and speaking with Indigenous individuals and organizations;
WHEREAS the Conservative Party of Canada has eliminated funding to the Sisters in Spirit Research Project and have dismissed calls from Premiers across Canada for a national inquiry on missing murdered and Indigenous women;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada, within its first term as government, begin working with pertinent Indigenous advocacy organizations, Indigenous communities, and Indigenous families of those missing and murdered on the issue of the missing and murdered Indigenous women to allow the project to be relevant to the unique issues facing Indigenous women and girls;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada reinstates research funding under the heading of Sisters in Spirit to allow appropriate documentation and analysis of this on-going human rights issue and support current Indigenous organizations research and documentation on missing and murdered Indigenous women;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada support current Indigenous advocacy organizations to continue their work in advocating for the families and friends of the missing and murdered Indigenous women.

My friend Naomi Sayers applied her skills and her knowledge to the task of drafting a resolution that would include critical information, define the issue and provide specific redress.  The Yukon division of the LPC brought it forward.

That resolution was adopted unanimously by the plenary.

Naomi has a twitter account and she blogs.  This post summarizes her experiences, and how she feels about the challenges of aligning oneself with a political party.

We met for the first time in real life at the convention, after a year of retweeting each other, and forging online alliances.  She is just as fierce, committed and kick-ass as one senses she might be, from reading her.  And she wasn't too disappointed that I'm not as blonde or as dissolute as my Patsy Stone avatar.... I trust.

During the four days (really...? it felt like two weeks!) I took notes about myriad events and glimpses that I caught or that caught me... There may be a concluding wrap-up.

Karma Is a Bitch

I gotta say I'm enjoying the hell out of Tom Flanagan's implosion today.

It's so good to see real-time karma in operation. And in this case two ugly vultures have come home to roost.

First, it was First Nations youth, possibly/probably aligned with Idle No More, who instigated it. Arnell Tail Feathers (I've seen two spelling of that) recorded and uploaded it. Levi Little Moustache (again, two spellings) did the research and asked the question.

Little Mustache, a youth on the Blood Tribe reserve southwest of Lethbridge, said everyone was shocked when Flanagan repeated his view.

“The whole crowd just kind of gasped,” Little Mustache said. “Everyone was just taken aback by that. And then the moderator just kind of shook his head.”

He said four people in the audience walked out. His friend, Arnell Tailfeathers, recorded Flanagan’s remarks and posted the video on YouTube.

Flanagan's views on First Nations are simply loathsome. He's been used as a more than willing apologist for colonialism in court cases and the media. In his role as Asshole-in-Residence at CBC, he's been very vocal in dissing the Idle No More movement.

So that's kind of sweet.

Next, the issue: child pornography, which should rightly be called crime-scene evidence.

Flanagan was national campaign manager for the Corrupt Party in 2004, a campaign that will be remembered for its general narstiness and in particular for the attempted smear of Paul Martin for his 'support' of child pornography.

What goes round, comes round, eh, Tom?

So, hoist on his own petard by a couple of savvy yet somehow 'less advanced' young First Nations men.

Yes. A good day.

Update by deBeauxOs: CBC backgrounder on Canadian case law with regard to child p0rn0graphy.  Also, Flanagan's tactic to smear Paul Martin and Jack Layton in the 2004 federal election.

On necessary forensics and foraging for survival

*Guilt* is a Eurocentric concept, as is rapacious greed - though officially denounced by christian missionaries who cajoled and coerced Indigenous folks into subjugation to the "Great White Father".

Former Crown attorney Rupert Ross developed insightful perspectives for understanding, and helpful analytical instruments for navigating the profound differences between the First Nations peoples' beliefs system and that which our ancestors bequeathed us.

He illuminates, in a coherent and easily understandable fashion, the complex set of values, principles, goals, and practices of an aboriginal justice system. Citing the efforts of Ontario’s Hollow Water community to deal with sexual abuse, Ross concludes that such a system can be practical and effective. Ross’s work gives insight into the skillful blending of aboriginal and Western thought that is guiding the development of contemporary native institutions, pointing out, along the way, native precedents for many issues the Canadian justice system is currently grappling with. Ross’s work can be interpreted as an illustration of the results that can be achieved through thoughtful interpretation of traditional aboriginal teachings, and as a critique of the European legal system as a major contributor to the continued social disorder of Western society [my emphasis].

On Friday evening I had the privilege of attending a gathering in honour of a group of Innu who traveled to Ottawa to meet with Chief Theresa. It was an amazing opportunity for hearing about the significance of Idle No More from the folks stoking, in the best possible way, a powerful and pacific surge of activist fervour. 

As I stood in line to welcome this group of weary travelers from Sept-Îles, I looked into the eyes, and held the hands of the descendants of people whose great kindness had allowed my ancestors to survive.

During the evening I sat with women from Uashat/Maliotenam who generously explained their views and posed difficult questions to me. 

Evelyne St-Onge and her sister Marcelle observed that in the past, many companies had exploited the raw resources found on Uasha/Maliotenam lands, then claimed they had lost money, and thus refused to give the people their legal share of the profits. 

Devious corporate accounting practices may have diverted and/or hidden evidence of revenues. Thorough forensics accounting investigation would allow a determination of how the Innu were cheated of their rightful share.

The Globe and Mail** Jeffrey Simpson's smug, High-Church morality - the typically self-righteous and abused standard for judging and condemning First Nations peoples actions - is very much on display here.  Imagining it read aloud, I can hear the scornful, yet plummy tones of the Entitled Class:

Much of the rhetoric surrounding Chief Spence is of the usual dreamy, flamboyant variety, a mixture of anti-capitalism and anti-colonialism, blended with the mythology (blasted by the reality of what one actually sees on too many reserves) about environmental protection and the aboriginals’ sacred link to their lands.

To this is then added a desire to protect “traditional” ways, which in some cases means hunting, fishing and trapping, noble ventures that can lead economically to something only slightly better than subsistence. Without a wage economy beyond these “traditional” ways, the path lies clear to dependence on money from somewhere else, namely government, which, in turn, leads to the lassitude and pathologies that plague too many aboriginal communities.

Of course, there are some communities that offer the antithesis of dependency. They benefit from participating directly in the exploitation of natural resources near their communities, which should be the driving thrust of all public policy.

Ah yes, the "the driving thrust of all public policy" which, in the crudest and also the most *refined* manner, has always ensured that those with religious and political power were those who controlled deadly weapons and the biological equipment necessary for compliance and punishment - in brutal economical, political and physical ways.  Rape and plunder in all its manifestations.

One-percenters didn't earn their wealth through ethical means, nor was it divinely bestowed upon them - though various theological constructs seemingly support their familial corporate mythology - and their unrelenting opportunism.

They got rich the old-fashioned way: by lying, cheating, grifting, stealing and exploiting.  Just as "old money" was founded on the labour of people forced into slavery, systemic genocide and ethnocide enabled the robber barons of the "New World" to establish their empires and maintain it.

It takes political and legal collusion - supported by religious ideology - to create and perpetuate systems that deprive human beings of rights the wealthy flaunt so very freely, and that deplete the material resources which would justly be theirs to enjoy.  

To paraphrase Mark Steyn, it must be CONvenient to have an ideological imperative that obliges all your greed and ill-gotten gains.

More about Innu traditions, here.

Excellent additional reading resources; The treaty relationship must evolve, What is the Idle No More Movement ... Really?, First Nations: The Long Shadow of Assimilation.

Photograph of Evelyne St-Onge from here. 

**corrected earlier version said NatPo. Funny how rightwing Globe has become... merci for spotting that, AZ! 

Kind of Ironic

I got my first new 20-dollar bill yesterday.

Good timing, eh? Just as First Nations people and their supporters are fasting and drumming and dancing and generally raising long-overdue hell, this gorgeous image:

is replaced by this militaristic bullshit.

When we succeed in throwing these CONtemptuous incompetents out, we've got a lot to do to restore Canada. We can start with putting Bill Reid's glorious work back on the 20.

Yo! Kainai Nation!

Beijing York has an excellent suggestion.

The Kainai Nation of Alberta should demand that Harper relinquish his eagle feather. He's made it abundantly clear that he has no respect for indigenous people here or elsewhere, and his residential school apology was just political theatre for him.

Remember in July 2011 when the Kainai Nation, aka Blood Tribe, gave the world the occasion for another glorious photo op?

Let's hope the Kainai people are rethinking that about now.

ADDED: From Kev, it seems the people may be doing exactly that.

Are we in the 21st century?

Everything *old* is new again.

In a political climate where the ideological dogma & lies of christian Sharia influence public policy and legislation, this casual display of racism should come as no surprise.

Who would believe that items on the menu from Toronto's Holy Chuck Burgers called "The Half-breed" and "The Dirty Drunken Half-Breed" are appetizing?

What, no "Lard Black Beef Pucky" dusted with gold flakes?

via a tweet from Lynda Kitchikeesic.

ADDED by fh: Check out twitter timeline. Seems Holy Chuck Burger got larned a lesson.

UPDATE, August 28/12: Confirmed by enterprising tweep. Lesson learned.

@fernhilldammit @ladysnarksalot @holychuckburger and items are removed from menu now. Thank you.

— LeCorbusier (@DavisvilleHabit) August 28, 2012

News you won't see or read about on SunMedia

Où sont les islamophobes d'antan et d'aujourd'hui?

The moozlim-haters are worker ants busy-bustling around all levels of SunMedia. And that's why not a single morsel of information to read, hear or see will be found there, regarding this powerful humanitarian news story.

A remote First Nation in northern Manitoba will be eating better this weekend, thanks to a large shipment of meat and bread that an Islamic charity is donating to the community.

The Winnipeg-based Zubaidah Tallab Foundation is sending about 200 kilograms of beef, lamb and sheep meat, along with sacks of bread, by plane to Shamattawa Manitoba, on Thursday morning.

Hussain Guisti, who heads up the foundation, said Muslims butcher an animal at this time every year and give part of it to charity. Guisti said the foundation decided to send this year's donation to Shamattawa, a First Nations community of about 1,100 located just south of Hudson Bay, in the hopes of making an impact there.

This is why I love the CBC. It doesn't suppress new stories - unlike SunMedia and SunTV which only carry infotainment that fits into its corporation's rightwing ideological framework.

On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me if SunMedia had positive things to say about Lou Engle and his *prayer* meeting.

Grand merci to Beari8it who tweeted the link to the CBC news story.

First Nations Land Claims

Go read Crazy Bitches R Us: Thoughts on Specific Land Claims.

It's a f**ked-up country we live in when the Contempt Party government can monopolize the news with their scripted "hunt" for alleged war criminals (so why aren't MacKay and Stevie Spiteful on that list then?) yet their ongoing bad faith negotiations with First Nations people and communities are quite absent.

Contemptuous Cuts

Funny priorities those Cons have.

Over at Jason Kenney's ministry For Keeping Heathens And Scary Dusky-Skinned Folks Out Of Canada, approximately 1,000,000 applications for residency are stuck in backlog limbo. But MinJKenney is queening around the country, claiming the backlog was caused by the Liberals - or implicitely, civil servants working inefficiently under Lib government, but who are now up to speed in spite of staff cuts because the Cons are better taskmasters.

Their lies never end, do they?

Thus Diane Finley follows suit, using her ministry to slash programs that benefit Dusky-Skinned Folks In Canada Who Aren't Dead Yet, also known as Aboriginal and First Nations citizens.

[...] Human Resources and Skills Development [has cut] $490,000 [in funding] to Wapikoni Mobile.

Over the past seven years, this non-profit organization has included the participation of over 2,000 aboriginal youth in 19 communities in Quebec and has helped them to produce over 600 films and musical productions. These productions have been seen all over the world and the producers have been awarded 40 national and international awards for their work.

From here.

So far nothing has appeared in the press or media in the rest of Canada. Le Devoir has been on the story and Radio-Canada has interviewed Manon Barbeau, the force behind this brilliant and successful program.

For the last eight years, an exceptional and pioneering media experience has given new means of expression and a sense of hope to aboriginal youth on reserves in Quebec.

The Wapikonimobile is a mobile video production unit – or rather three of them – travelling from community to community, providing video training and supervising the making of short films. For youngsters confronted with substance abuse, an epidemic of suicides and an almost complete lack of job prospects, this was an extraordinary opportunity, and they took advantage of it. Some 2000 of them learned production skills, and made some 450 films expressing their own realities. Some of those films had real cinematic qualities and were shown in festivals here and abroad.

But now, the federal Department of Human Resources has cancelled its half-million dollar grant, about half of the Wapikonimobile’s total budget– at a time when the production units should already have been on the road. Young people in numerous communities who have been looking forward to this experience for a whole year now find themselves without anything to do for the summer and without the means for expressing themselves. For what reason? Because, according to the minister, other projects offer better prospects for creating jobs and teaching skills.

Quebec’s excellent daily Le Devoir, which broke the Wapikonimobile story yesterday, has another story today (July 19th) revealing that the arts and the community and aboriginal sectors are hard hit by other little publicized Human Resources cutbacks as well. This is surely a sign of where things are going under the majority conservative government.

From here.

Write to Contempt Party Minister Diane Finley. Keep it polite. Be supportive of the program. Explain why you want your tax money to support Wapikoni Mobile and ^NOT the distribution of bibles to schools on reserves.

Oh. Wait. Perhaps you shouldn't mention that last bit. It may not be strategic.

Grand merci to Karyn who located source material in English.

NOT #elxn41 news: Pedophile Catholic Priests

From here:

"In one of the largest monetary payouts nationwide in the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis, and the largest one by a religious order, the Jesuit order in the Northwest has agreed to pay $166.1 million to about 500 abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy settlement," The Seattle Times writes.

As The Associated Press adds, the payments will go to "hundreds of American Indians and Alaska Natives who were abused at the Catholic order's schools around the region. The settlement also asks the order to provide a written apology to the victims and to share documents with them such as their personal medical records."

There are MASSIVE resources at this website, about various forms of abuse by members of the Catholic clergy: news, updates, groups, connections, discusions - BishopAccountability.org

When Ignorance and Disrespect Collide.

In spite of the fact that I've often watched ice dancing/skating events on television - a not-so-secret-vice/indulgence - I'm not sure what the technical term is for the above. A double klutz supported by cultural ignorance?

The judges' panel may have given them high marks, but the oddly designed clothing, free-form "jungle" moves and world fusion music chosen by Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin have offended a great number of people.

In dark-toned bodysuits, complete with what they claim are authentic Aboriginal paint markings, the pair easily won their national ice dance competition three weeks ago at their first performance of the routine, making them favourites for gold. But while the judges in St Petersburg may have been impressed, many in the Aboriginal community are not. [...]

Domnina, 25, and Shabalin, 27, they recently spoke to ice-skating website Golden Skate about their motivations for the dance. [...] Asked about their research of Aboriginal culture, Domnina said: ''We've watched video clips on the internet of these dances and it is really like this - complete with the leaves around the knees.''

The music the Russians perform to has also raised questions. Ice-skating fans have identified the track as being composed by Sheila Chandra, a Briton of Indian descent. [Asian Indian, that is.]

From here. And more:

The Four Host First Nations that are helping Olympic organizers sponsor the 2010 Games have asked to meet with a pair of Russian skaters who have been criticized for wearing loin cloths and dark-skin bodysuits in their dance routine. [...] "My first reaction is that I feel really disheartened that this took place, particularly given how the indigenous people in Australia feel about it," Tewanee Joseph, CEO of the Four Host First Nations, said yesterday. [...]

"They are coming into our territory. They should feel comfortable here but at the same time, we want to educate them on our culture [...]

Victor Kraatz, a world champion ice dancer from Vancouver, said he felt the Russians had "decided to go a little bit Hollywood'' in their depiction of the Aboriginal dance and that they had "dumbed down a little bit" the character of the dance.

Oh noes! Dumbed down the culture of First Nations and Aboriginal people. Like that rarely happens. For a good blogpost regarding the deliberate and hypocritical misrepresentation of Aboriginal people, go read stageleft.

However, Olympic judges don't subtract performance points when athletes' ignorance and disrespect are displayed.

First Nations and the VanOC

Co-habitation is always fraught with conflict, unresolved issues and, occasionally, opportunities to set aside disputes and differences.

The upcoming Olympic©™ Winter Games in BC are such an occasion. In spite of the sometimes violent, often acrimonious history between the people native to Canada and the various ethnic groups who immigrated here, there seems to exist a precarious agreement among some of their descendants to make the best of the situation. The BBC's take:

The Games, set to attract international attention, have a particular importance for Canada's aboriginal peoples, as many of the sporting events will take place on their ancestral land.

The peoples involved - the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations - who live on and share the land, have joined forces. Together with the Vancouver Olympic Committee (Vanoc), they will be hosting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games in a partnership that is making Olympic history.

This is the first time that aboriginals have been official partners in the Olympics and have been involved in every aspect of the Games starting from the bidding process. [...] Tewanee Joseph, head of the umbrella group known as the Four Host First Nations, sees the Vancouver Winter Olympics as a great time for aboriginals to rebrand themselves in a positive way.

"What people will learn is that we're business people, we're entrepreneurs, we're visual artists and we're performing artists. You know our culture is really living and thriving today and it's been through challenges," says Mr Joseph. "We no longer want to be seen as just Dime Store Indians, just beads and feathers. I think for us those stereotypes are very important for us to break."

Despite all the potential positive attention on their culture, many of British Columbia's aboriginals still feel that the decision to hold the Olympics in Vancouver (and the resort town of Whistler) was wrong.

"A lot of First Nations considered the land to be stolen," says Josh Anderson from the Lil'wat Nation. [...] For aboriginals like Rose Henry, of Sliammon heritage, and Jayson Fleury, who is Saulteaux-Cree, the idea that Vanoc is spending [billions of dollars] on the Games is upsetting.

They both belong to the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) whose motto is "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land." They believe that some of that money should be spent on issues like homelessness and addiction.

"If you go to Vancouver's downtown eastside, you will see that most of the homeless are First Nations people and they are from this area," says Mr Fleury. "So their rights, their livelihood are not being honoured in any fashion."

"It is costing us a lot more than just the dollars," adds Ms Henry. "Many of our community members are paying with their lives with the inadequate housing and healthcare and so the rippling effects go beyond the 17-day party that's going to be happening here that we can't afford."

From here. One wonders if the ReformaTory government will wait until after the Games to launch another legal appeal against Insite.

The Devil is a Christian invention and these days, he's a Moozlim.

Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander vanished from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community near Maniwaki in September 2008, leaving behind their wallets and clothing.

Family members say they've had little help from Quebec provincial police, who initially believed the girls ran away. "Two teenagers don't just disappear off the face of this Earth with nothing. They had no ID, they had no clothes except for the ones on their back," said Odjick [Maisy's mother Laurie], as she fought back tears.

"There was no support, there was no investigation. Search teams weren't involved."

Throughout the investigation, native activists have criticized police for not taking the case seriously because the girls are Aboriginal.

If the girls' relatives had reported that the girls had been forcibly converted to Islam, perhaps an immediate Canada-wide alert would have been issued, as it has happened in the UK for this girl.

But then, Maisy and Shannon are not the pallid-skinned daughters of an Islamophobic community, are they?

Yeah - I'm being sarcastic. It's not just young Aboriginal women or girls that are at risk; any curious or vulnerable adolescent can become the target of a sexual predator or forced into service for prostitution networks.

Logue, the youth intervention co-ordinator for the Ottawa Police Service, isn’t sounding the alarm just yet. There aren’t hard numbers to support the theory, but the anecdotal evidence coming from the street is enough to prompt police and their partner agencies to discuss preventative measures.

Castille Troy, executive director of Minwaashin Lodge, fears the girls are being trafficked to other large Canadian cities and possibly out of the country. Being lured into prostitution isn’t specific to Aboriginal girls, but Troy points out a variety of factors, including urban culture shock, addictions and other mental health issues, that pull them into the dangerous lifestyle.

“There are predators out there just waiting for girls,” Troy says. “It’s an extremely dangerous situation for girls to find themselves in.”

The issue of Aboriginal women disappearing has been a cross-country concern for years. The Native Women’s Association of Canada has counted more than 510 cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal females over the past three decades.

We wrote here that Robert Pickton said that the Bible was his inspiration for his crusade against those he considered evil. A form of Christian "honour" killing of marginal women, it would seem.

More to the point, alcohol-based "sanitizers" may promote infection.

Crazy Bitches R Us have been writing about the outbreak of H1N1 on reserves in Manitoba since the possibility emerged in the community of St. Theresa Point First Nation, on June 2nd.

Yesterday A Creative Revolution covered the hand-wringing idiocy around sending alcohol-based sanitizers to the aboriginal communities affected by the outbreak of H1N1.

It turns out though that there may be legitimate concerns regarding alcohol-based sanitizers, the danger they present and the harm they cause, besides the fact they are not as efficient as washing the hands thoroughly with soap and warm water.

Many, many non-Aboriginal children have been rushed to hospitals and treated for alcohol poisoning because they ingested small amounts of sanitizer when they licked their hands.

As well, non-alcoholic sanitizers may be safer, less toxic and more effective. The active ingredient is benzalkonium chloride.

This in no way leaves federal health officials off the hook for the racist assumptions of staff members. Instead of procrastinating and spinning their wheels, why didn't they share their concerns with the Aboriginal and First Nations community leaders?

No-fault regrets profferred by Pope

Isn't that just so special? The Church Lady would have been quite pleased at Pope Benedict's performance at a private meeting held in the Vatican between the pontiff, Catholic clergy, Phil Fontaine and delegates from the assembly of First Nations.

Mr. Fontaine said the fact the Pope never used the word "apology" during the 20-minute meeting, which also included the Most Reverend James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and several B.C. aboriginal leaders, did not diminish in anyway the impact of the statement.

It would seem that the words "sorry", "asking forgiveness", "taking responsibility" or "pedophile priests" were also part of the vocabulary not ever used by the Pope, either in the private audience or in the public statement that the Vatican released. Chief Fontaine offered forgiveness, though the Catholic Church has never allowed individual priests to publicly acknowledge their crimes against the Aboriginal children who were entrusted to them. Some First Nations leaders took exception to the Pope's statement.

... Hereditary Chief Bill Wilson said Wednesday he was angry the Pope did not take direct responsibility for the harm caused by the residential schools experience. "There is no apology," Mr. Wilson said from Musgamagw Band in northern Vancouver Island. "He says he has great sorrow. Well, it's one thing to have sorrow for tragedies that happened in the world. It's quite another thing to accept responsibility for causing them. And the Catholic Church caused a great deal of misery and suffering in this country. And it's not apologizing for anybody."

One has to wonder if the pontiff was expertly coached by civil law specialists in order to ensure that no utterance could be viewed as an admission of guilt and thus be actionable.

Social deprivation, not genetics, accounts for children's deaths.

An international, groundbreaking new study led by Dr Janet Smylie of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health based at the Keenan Research Centre, St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has released its findings. The infant mortality rate for native babies in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand is higher, as much as four times that of non-native newborns. It also identified spikes in occurences of SIDs, injury, suicide and accidental death among aboriginal kids in all four countries.

"Every infant who dies … I believe is a tragedy we should follow up on," Smylie said. She also spoke of stereotypical and at times racist treatment received by native people.

"I saw a lot of challenges when I was delivering babies here in Ottawa. Young aboriginal moms who had perfectly good networks of family support — sometimes they were being referred to have the social worker see them even though their family was strong. I remember [another] … patient who had called into the hospital in a little bit of a panic. She had some anxiety and a strong accent. The triage nurse called me and said: 'There's something wrong with your patient. I think she's retarded.'"

"Those are stories that are just a little too frequent."

The organizations and researchers who instigated, implemented, charted and compiled the results of the study hope that the information produced by this report will become the basis for stronger policies and programs to improve children's health in the aboriginal and indigenous communities.