Three things we can't talk about . . .

When I worked as a treaty negotiator for the Kwakiutl Nation we frequently met with government negotiators. At one meeting we were in the beginning stages of drafting a chapter for "Language, Heritage, and Culture" and were doing a brainstorm to list topics that we (governments and First Nations) wanted covered in this chapter. One of the other Indigenous negotiators said the word "genocide." The two negotiators for Canada looked in disbelief at the FN negotiator who had said it and then they got up and left the room.

A few minutes later they returned and said that Canada could not participate in any tripartite documents that contained that word "genocide." Furthermore, Canada could also not endorse any tripartite documents that had the words "compensation" or "residential school."

This was a very interesting thing for them to have said because these treaty negotiations are supposed to be about "full and final settlement."

It's also interesting because these issues (compensation, genocide, and residential schools) are foremost in the minds of First Nation members involved in treaty negotiations.

One time, when I was at Papa's house in Fort Rupert getting ready to go and meet with government negotiators, Papa tried to teach me to say in Kwak'wala, "When do we get paid?" In other words, "When might we expect compensation?" He wanted me to say that to the governments reps. Around that same time, he also told me about his cousin Nu-nu who lost three babies to smallpox--in other words, "genocide." So these concepts--which must not be uttered at a treaty table and which must not appear on any tripartite documents-- are so important to our people that they are part of our everyday conversations. Yet these words cannot be part of a "full and final settlement."

These three things then, are a good example of why we're foolish to think that reconcilliation is sufficient and why instead, we need to be pushing for restitution.