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Summary
Since
July of 1995 the Mushkegowuk Council has been strategically
working to reorganize its organization to accommodate the
evolving political changes and needs of the Mushkegowuk First
Nation communities.
Critical
Areas of the Initiative
The
importance of the initiative lies in the following key areas:
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A successful process brings about a Mushkegowuk grassroot
driven political evolution that transforms the Tribal Council
from being a corporate entity into a genuine governance
structure that creates the potential to move away from an
Indian Act dominated governance.
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It represent a real process that addresses self determination
being actualized by our people in a number of key areas
that affect our lives – politically, economically,
socially and culturally.
-
It creates an alternative to the Federal government designed
and driven “self-government” process that has
weakened our Aboriginal, Treaty or Indigenous Sovereignty
and Rights.
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In the long term, it brings about a transformation of a
recognized Mushkegowuk authority and jurisdiction in the
north. One of the great disparities has been the fact that
our people are the majority in our traditional territory,
yet, do not exercise any form of real power that would reflect
that majority position. A unified political structure and
institutions begins to address this disparity.
Progress
of the Initiative
Through
a series of facilitated working sessions with the Chiefs,
Elders, community members and staff, the following key milestores
have been achieved to date.
-
Clarity was achieved about the two different yet necessary
roles the Council plays as a corporate entity and as an
emerging regional governance structure.
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Election of the Grand Chief and Deputy Grand Chief by the
people.
-
The creation of a Draft Omushkego Constitution
to provide the framework and structures for the emerging
regional government. The draft Omushkego Constitution was
drafted in Cree and proudly takes precedence over the English
version. Acceptance of the constitution will be by referendum
vote of the people.
-
Development of working drafts of proposed program/department
legislation that could be used as reference and guidance
to create the government framework by the people.
-
Work was initiated to explore the concept of developing
a Mushkegowuk Judicial or Justice System which would include
provisions for a local and regional judiciary process. It
is recognized that the Elders will have a critical advisory
role in the development of a judicial system that would
be reflective of our traditional laws and systems.
- Identification
of potential Post Adoption Challenges to the Draft
Omushkego Constitution.
The
on-going challenge faced by the Council is in acquiring the
financing required to continue with the initiative at the
pace as expected by the people. The work accomplished to date
has been done within the existing financial resources of the
Council.
Mushkegowuk
Council
P.O. Box 370, 12 Centre Road, Moose Factory, ON, P0L 1W0
Phone: 705-658-4222 • Fax: 705-658-4250 |
