Indians Protest Snub At Leadership Meet Decry Prime Minister On ‘Aboriginal Exclusion Day’

On Canada’s first National Aboriginal Day, Indian chiefs wearing feathered headdresses banged their drums in protest over being excluded Friday from a meeting of government leaders.

“Aboriginal Exclusion Day” read one sign carried by protesters who marched and danced outside a government building in Ottawa where Prime Minister Jean Chretien met provincial premiers.

“I think they know we’re here,” Ovide Mercredi, grand chief of the national assembly of Indian leaders, said as he led the drumming.

Chretien had declined to invite aboriginal leaders since the meeting’s agenda did not include broad constitutional issues that affect the status of their people.

But Mercredi argued otherwise, noting that scheduled discussions on the economy and federal programs would have direct impact on aboriginal people.

The dispute underscored the strained relations between the government and the aboriginal people, who make up roughly 1 million of Canada’s 30 million population.

Canada declared June 21 as an annual day of appreciation for the “values, traditions and cultures” of Canada’s aboriginal peoples. But the goodwill gesture failed to impress Indian leaders, who are pressing for progress on native claims for self-government and territorial rights.

Mercredi said earlier in the week that Canada’s aboriginal peoples were being ignored and that when Indian chiefs hold their annual meeting next month they will consider calling for creation of autonomous homelands.

“The logical outcome is for us to take lessons from other nations … for example, the Irish or Palestinian people in terms of demanding their own territory,” he said.

Delegates from more than 100 aboriginal communities demanded an investigation into the Sept. 6 death of Dudley George, who was shot by Ontario police during a protest at Ipperwash Provincial Park, a site the Indians claim is a sacred burial ground.