lorrilee@yunccn.UUCP (Lorrilee McGregor) (07/19/89)
Security Is Tight As Natives Brief U.N.
by Kathleen Kenna
Onion Lake Reserve, Sask. - Security for a meeting between Canadian
native elders and a United Nations human rights investigator is almost
as tight as the economic summit involving Western leaders.
...No non-native outsiders are permitted to enter the cultural grounds
where U.N. investigator Miguel Alfonso Martinez of Cuba is holding court
outdoors with native leaders and elders from across the west.
Martinez arrived Monday for five days of hearings that kick off an
international inquiry into allegations of treaty violations by Canadian
governments. The investigation is expected to take several years.
Elders have been given a guarantee of privacy for their speeches about
how the federal government has handled their treaty rights, and a public
statement is expected to be issued late today.
Until then, both Martinez and Onion Lake Chief Wallace Fox have
refused interviews, and no outsiders are allowed to get close to them.
...The Toronto Star, Wednesday, July 19, 1989