Marilyn Buffalo wants to be National Chief
of the Assembly of First Nations

Completing the Circle
The Need for a Stronger Aboriginal Voice in Canada

News and Comment
by Tehaliwaskenhas - Bob Kennedy, Oneida
May 1st, 2000
Based on an Exclusive Interview

"You're never going to amount to anything!". Those words, hurled at a young Indian girl at an Alberta residential school couldn't be further from today's truth.

Marilyn Buffalo, the oldest of twelve children of a Samson Cree family has amounted to a whole lot of everything that's the stuff of a leader, a mother, a community member. She intends to take it even further. She believes the time has arrived to mobilize aboriginal people across Canada, so she has begun touring the country, meeting with First Nation chiefs and community leaders to seek their advice and support for her run for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations this summer.

She lived many lives in her three years as president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, tackling tough issues with tough talk and action, never fearing to stand up alone.

Does she have the right stuff to lead the AFN? She promises that she and other aboriginal women will help 'complete-the-circle', and bring common sense to the national leadership. Her experience includes thirty years in community development. She raised five kids on her own. She is without a doubt one of the most articulate and outspoken aboriginal women in North America. Marilyn Buffalo apparently fears no-one.

What she fears is the acceptance by some of the desperation facing Aboriginal people. She is a well known champion for elders and youth. "I want my elders to be able to come to the Assembly and hear their own language spoken", says a determined Buffalo. Supporting languages is just one of the many ingredients she lists in her personal recipe for successful leadership.

Perhaps the most important of all, is her desire to do something meaningful for Aboriginal youth. What gets her really riled is the poverty and lack of opportunity. "I know what it's like to be poor. But I don't think poor. They're losing hope. They're learning helplessness. That's not who we are. It's time to stand up for what is right and just", exclaims a disgusted Buffalo.

In Canada she believes there is an obvious lack of a strong Aboriginal voice. Without pointing an accusing finger at anyone in particular her words are transparent, "The role of a national chief is to speak on behalf of the people, and to be seen to be for the people, to forewarn the people when there's trouble ahead. The role of a national chief is not as a mediator".

The trouble ahead of course, is what aboriginal youth face in the future. Marilyn Buffalo says one thing that's important for them today is, "to hear our voices - the voices of leadership". She believes, "Young people need to see us maintaining our positions. They need to know it's okay to speak out - to find your voice".

A strong advocate for accountability, Buffalo believes most Canadians still support our people, and need to hear the real story, the aboriginal perspective. She accuses Canada of off-loading to the provinces and once there the funds for services are not getting to the people. She promises a public education campaign when she becomes national chief, "Let's take the issue of accountability to another level". For example, the mismanagement of resources by the Department of Indian Affairs. "Why are we not holding the provincial and federal governments accountable?", she asks. "Eveything is being trucked out of our lands."

From the 'rez' to the cities, for aboriginal leaders the political plate is full. Marilyn Buffalo promises to fight for equal rights and services for urban aboriginals, "The discrepancy between on reserve and off reserve is deplorable - a double standard". Canadians she says, pride themselves as being Number One. But there's not one first nation community they can point to with pride.

Should she become national chief, the Chretien government best be on guard. The so-called honeymoon with today's Assembly of First Nations will fast fade when Marilyn moves in. That in itself is a fascinating possibility when you consider her own political history. In 1993 she was the National Director of Aboriginal Policy for the federal Liberal party. She was a founding member of the Liberal Party's Aboriginal Peoples Commission and co-authored the well-known Chapter 7 of the Redbook. The 1993 document, the first with an aboriginal policy, got Aboriginal people out to vote in record numbers.

But it didn't take Marilyn long to discover she and the Liberals were strange bedfellows. She didn't agree with how Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin was implementing willy nilly pilot projects, without apparent rhyme or reason, other than his own. She says she confirmed all her suspicions. "I knew Paul Martin and Revenue Canada were going to tax the poorest of the poor, so I quit", she stated rather triumphantly.

Her words of confidence clearly illustrate she is a woman who knows about choices. The girl who spent nine years in the Ermineskin residential school has come a long way. Rather than resent the way she was treated, she turned it around. It is something that promises to favour her in the fight for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations.