When the first foreigners arrived on our shores we were a loose confederacy of Indian Tribal Nations .We each had our own culture, spirituality, justice system, military, education system and code of conduct within the different communities.
We were called many different tribal names such as the Blackfoot, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Mi'maq, Huron, Cree, Crow, Lakohta, Boathuk, Abenaki, Penobscot, Mohawk, Iroquois, Montegnais, Maliseet, Sokoki, etc...
We were proud independent peoples who were respected by friends and foe alike for our knowledge, experiences and insights into the daily interaction with nature and the environment .
Today ! When we hear the names of these once-mighty nations, we no longer remember when it was that the greatness existed and when it was lost.
Instead, they are just names of a long-lost people who have lost touch with nature, their spirituality and their culture.
Replaced by non-Indian values, traits or attitudes. Our love for ourselves and other living things has been replaced by hatred, selfishness and greed .
We have come full-circle from the community- minded proud Indian people to the capitalistic misfits whose only interest is self gratification and the pursuit of money and power.
Even today, most Indians don't ask " what can I do for the community ? " ( be it a reserve, band or Indian organization ) but, "what can it do for me ! "
When you join the Canadian Off-Reserve Indian Nations, Inc, and ask what does that " card " give me, you will hear us say : " For the first time in many centuries, you will be given the chance to give, to be Indian, to learn what you are ! "
If you are joining our group simply to get something material, stay-away because we don't want you ! But, if you wonder what it might be like to be like your ancestors were, not some half baked wannabe dime-store Indian, but the real deal ! then join us in our cause and let your heart open-wide to allow your true Indian spirituality to enter .
We will fight to revive the Nations to what they once were ! No a bunch of beggars with their hands out waiting for scraps from the master's plate, but the once proud Indian nations whose ancestors walked these land for over 10,000 years .
We can't yet really call ouselves the First Nations Peoples because we are partially assimilated into the world of our oppressors.
We will be First Nations Peoples only when we revert to the ways our ancestorts were :
1...Free from oppression .
2...Masters of our land .
3...In-tune with the creator .
4...One with the community .
5...Respecting our culture .
6...Respecting our history .
7...Respecting our elders .
8...Respecting our environment .
9...Respecting all living things .
10..Respecting ourselves !
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