Ever since a group of Sliammon (Tla’amin) protesters took a stand against the BC Treaty process, some people have been claiming that the peaceful action was an assault on democracy.
For instance, on June 16th, Sliammon Nation Chief Clint Williams commented, “It’s unfortunate that a small group prevented our Members from voting on whether or not we should proceed with the Treaty… Our challenge now is to give our Members their democratic right to vote on the Treaty.”
The British Columbia Treaty Commission issued similar words in a statement that was issued earlier today, commenting, “Tla’amin members prevented from casting a treaty vote Saturday should be able to exercise their democratic right to vote.”
Chief Commissioner Sophie Pierre even went so far as to say, “The small number of Tla’amin members who blocked the doors to the polling station in Sliammon village near Powell River have trampled on the rights of the Tla’amin people.”
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development was more remorseful, commenting, “We understand that due to protests at the polling stations, the Sliammon First Nation has postponed the June 16th vote on the ratification of the treaty… It is disappointing that the vote was disrupted due to these actions. Our government believes that a person’s right to vote should not be denied and we hope that community members use the democratic process to express their agreement or disagreement with the proposed treaty.”
I have a thing for rational arguments, so I’ll admit, there is some truth to these words. After all, voting is (usually) a democratic process and the protesters clearly stopped that process from moving ahead.
However, there is a blindspot these arguments carefully navigate around: There’s alot more to democracy that having a simple right to vote.
In a democracy, it is also the people’s right to protest and to be fully informed before making decisions that could affect them. It is also the people’s right to demand transparency and accountability. It is also the people’s right receive it.
More than democratic rights, these are basic human rights and I for one applaud the protesters for peacefully defending the integrity of their Nation.
I wish more people would follow their lead. The BC Treaty process is diseased.
John Ahniwanika Schertow is an indigenous rights activist of Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) and mixed-European descent. For the past 8 years, he has served as the e... 
i am on the eligibility and enrolment committee for the sliammon band. there are ligitimate questions being asked by the protesters on who is eligible. the rules on enrolment are made by governments and alot of members do not agree with criteria. again i see those words i am starting to really hate…transparency and accountability…we have had those words used alot but not abided by..people when not heard by our own leaders will see that blockades will be used as a tool to get their attention. its sad to see that this will be of the norm in the future… not only in canada there is a huge gap in the rich and poor, it is in bands across canada…this problem needs to be fixed. treaty or no treaty we are in trouble. we are in a no win situation. this is my opinion…to other bands..do not engage in treaty…borrow money for what? fight for something that is ours? we have been around for a long time..we have time.. but be prepared to make a move..change is inevitable.
We did have a referandum to cease the proceeding, but they went ahead, it should not have been at that level.
Interesting analysis. First, I agree democracy is more than a vote, it is about a fair process – garbage in garbage out. However, I see a lot of criticism regarding the BC Treaty Process. Another hallmark of democracy is that it is working when everyone is equally pissed off! Reconciliation is not easy. Anyone, including children, can tear things down – true democratic visionaries find solutions. If the BC Treaty process if diseased how is it fixed? Criticism without offering viable solutions is not dialogue – it’s whining. The biggest challenge to indigenous peoples is not the fight – it’s winning.
While we would benefit from a synopsis of the treaty process, there are some general things that can be said about democracy, since that seems to be the contested topic. Democracy first and foremost is a process, but not all democracies are the same. Some disperse power broadly, while others concentrate power to varying degrees–the more dispersed, the more democratic.
Voting, elections, and representative democracy — a system imposed on Indigenous societies by European colonial powers — is about halfway on the spectrum between full democracy where everyone has a say, and tyranny, where they have none.
Democracy is also a discursive process, where problems and solutions are discussed openly and at length, giving everyone a chance to speak, listen, learn and otherwise contribute. The abbreviated version, where only a few have full access to knowledge and information and decide among themselves what to do, is prone to corruption, and indeed is the reason modern states worldwide are in failure.
Indigenous societies, in general, operated by consensus, not by majority rule obtained through voting and representative democracy. This enabled them to make decisions with the consent of the people. By contrast, Modern states, at best, adopt policy without the consent of the people, thereby setting the stage for conflict, distrust, and incremental tyranny. Even when consent is obtained through such mechanisms as referendum, it is often overruled by anti-democratic institutions like the IMF, WTO and World Bank.
As Indigenous societies attempt to liberate themselves from colonial institutions, they will inevitably have to address the imposed processes that have divided and conquered their peoples. Making their views on democracy known will help to protect them from attack by dominant institutions like federal ministries and corporate news.
Thanks for commenting everybody.
Sam, the way I see it, there’s only one sure fire way to deal with the BC Treaty process: Nations organize a total withdrawal from the process. I know it’s ugly, but if we’re thinking about future, it’s far better to settle for nothing than settle for less; especially if each Nation starts taking their own affairs (ie, economic needs) into their own hands. I know, that can also get pretty ugly, but only if we can’t see our own way forward. In my opinion, that’s where sustainable tribal economies come in.
It takes time to get something like this up and running, but what’s a little more hardship at this point? As long as we don’t make the fatal mistake of putting all our eggs in one basket (like developing one solar energy project or one fishery ), a grassroots economy cannot fail.
I’d also recommend everybody start looking to ecovillages for examples. There’s a couple thousand of these virtually-independent communities around the world, and some of them are impressive. In some cases, government’s even work with them as equal partners.
Isn’t that the goal of all Indigenous Peoples? To be in a political and economic position where we can live beside Nation States and even work with them, peacefully, and for our mutual benefit. Right now such thinking is borderline delusion, because we’re still trapped in the colonial web. BC Treaties are the perfect example of that.
Part of being ‘trapped in the colonial web’ is the choke-hold that the Canadian Indigenous comprador or ruling class has in its monopoly relations with the settler governments. This is especially true in BC. Whenever there is rebellion or resistance that originates from the oppressed grassroots people, the ‘leadership’ makes sure that it occupies an exclusive position as negotiator/broker’. It is this class which continues to sell the sovereignty rights down the river, because its parasitic position is assurred by doing so. Gustafsen Lake terrified this Indigenous ruling class and all their political organizations, from the FN Summit to the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, because their worst fear is that grass roots people may one day rise up and demand the sovereignty the compradors have been selling out at home and abroad for so long. Why is someone like Ed John who set up the crooked BC trick-or treaty process chairing a UN Panel on Indigenous Sovereingty? This is also why the lawyer and legal scholar Bruce Clark is so hated and feared – because his legal arguments threaten the continued dominance not only of the settler regimes over soverign Indigenous lands and peoples but the long and continuing gravy train of the sellout system. The Sliammon anti-treaty protest should be a sovereignty struggle. Instead it will be decided by BC lawyers, provincial court judges and aboriginal political organizations that only do ‘Bands’ not Nations.
lets call a spade a spade . what really happend was plain and simple it was bullying at its best. i am a proud member of sliammon first nation living off reserve but am an enrolled member none the less. everyone should be allowed to vote we are all informed on the treaty vote. is this some third world country where only votes that go your way count ? grow up mind your bussiness stop intimidating.
Why did we negtoiate for something that is already ours, basically just negotiated the future away greed is an evil thing!