Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (May 14/99) - Although 500 years have passed, the self-serving attitude of the Western Europeans and the legacy they have left behind have yet to be dealt with fairly, says Gerald Antoine.

Antoine made a presentation on the expropriation of First Nations' lands entitled, "The Relationship Between the Theft of Native Lands and the Catholic Church's Ancient Doctrines" at the Deh Cho Society Friendship Centre last Wednesday afternoon.

"If you take a look at it, that's what happened. The Native lands have been stolen," he said, adding that he has given it much thought since returning from a conference at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he spoke on sovereignty.

It was 500 years ago that some ancient documents, the "papal bulls" were unveiled under Pope Alexander, said Antoine. Those documents decreed that the Christians were to enslave pagans and take control of their land. The Western Europeans were led by a sovereign who was greatly influenced by the church, Antoine noted. When Christopher Columbus left Spain to prove the world was round, the land and people he "discovered" in the West Indies were unfamiliar. A rivalry developed between the Spanish and Portuguese to claim the area, he said. According to Antoine, the Western Europeans considered the indigenous peoples to be heathens and infidels. They were to be subjugated, or "tamed" and "domesticated."

Two Spanish citizens, Francisco Vitoria and Bartolome de las Casas, spoke out against the inhumane treatment of the indigenous peoples. Their protests led to the formation of the Council of the Indies, which debated the issue without any input from the indigenous peoples. That set the stage for the way in which governments today still deal with First Nations people, in Antoine's opinion.

"In the end, they had to go along with the sovereign, (who) collaborated with the church to deny indigenous peoples their rights," he said.

"The church had given permission for the sovereign to go ahead and conquer, subdue, domesticate... as far as the legal grounds, it is doubtful. I think that's where the indigenous peoples have something going for them...I think we're beginning to address those things."

Still, much pain has been inflicted upon First Nations peoples in the process. Antoine said he feels the oppression and residential school experience "is a lot worse than the holocaust and it has to stop."

Even the United Nations didn't recognize indigenous peoples as human beings in its 1949 Human Rights Declaration.

"We're not considered equals," said Antoine, adding that his reason for giving the presentation was to "let people know that this is how it's been going, how it has gone on."

When asked if Canada has made any gains in being progressive and equitable with its settlement of First Nations' land claims and self-government, Antoine replied that those deals are unacceptable because they force First Nations peoples to forsake their Aboriginal rights and title.

He said First Nations peoples, particularly here in the Deh Cho, have tried to maintain the land the way their elders did. They looked after the land because it sustained them and now many Westerners are beginning to appreciate traditional knowledge of the lands, he suggested.

"The Dene are willing to share things," he said.