Historic Kinship and Cooperation Declaration Signed!

by Tehaliwaskénhas

Like a crescendo in a fine piece of classical music, it was there at the historic gathering of American Indians and First Nations in the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. The well orchestrated ceremonies marking the climax of the week's assembly of nations and tribes, were steeped in traditional cultural activities.

The drums, the prayers, witnessing, smudging, gift-giving all were too much for some of the people. There were tears in their eyes, and it was aptly expressed by Coast Salish cultural guide,the assembly chairman Willie Seymour, "I'm feeling goosebumps---it's very emotional what's happening here today", he shared.

Elder Fred Kelly was there to bring context to it all by delivering the messages from the honour song, historical references, the smoke of the smudge and the sacred pipe. In seeking their attention and cooperation Kelly reminded them, "The spirits are watching us, carefully watching what we do so this sacred thing is done the right way".

The sacred thing they had all come to witness was the creation of a protocol agreement between the Assembly of First Nations and the National Congress of American Indians. Its formally known as the Declaration of Kinship and Cooperation among the Indigenous Peoples and Nations of North America.

There were offically-invited witnesses brought to the stage, from about two dozen nations and tribes from both the U.S. and Canada, but essentially the entire gathering had the same responsibility...to bear witness to what was being spoken, written and agreed to. The tradition, is that should ever the declaration be challenged or fall into disuse, then technically these people would be called on to speak about what they witnessed. This was the way of the ancestors, and the tradition of oral nations.

The two key players in this live drama were Ron Allen, President of the National Congress of American Indians and Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Individually, and then word for word together, they read from the declaration.

When finished, Allen's left hand grasped Fontaine's right hand and simultaneously they thrust them into the sky. Their jubilation was instantly contagious and spread wildly throughout the big hall.

It seemed emotions had peaked, only to grow even stronger as the two men walked to the signing table. Perhaps they floated there, carried by the collecttive euphoria. Then came the media frenzy. With flash after flash, cameras devouring each and every moment, chasing away the fear of losing even a micro-second of history.

Inked signatures signalled the start of a new era for Indians, First Nations and Indigenous Peoples. As both Fontaine and Allen said at the final news conference and often in the days leading up to this momentous event, this is only the beginning---the important work to bring true meaning to this declaration, is still to be done.

CBC Vancouver reports

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