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By Andrea Smith
Windspeaker.com Contributor
EDMONTON
UPDATE: Sept. 2, 2017
Since the publishing of this article, Kim Beaudin has shared his response with Windspeaker.com. He stated he was shocked and somewhat disappointed upon reading the article, and has no intention of stopping the work he has been doing with the Michel Nation.
“As I was in that meeting on the 23rd (of April), I was asked, ‘Do you want to speak on behalf of Michel,’ And I said ‘Of course.’ I had people coming up to me, really looking for support... I'm not the type who operates on the behalf of others without their mandate,” he said.
According to Beaudin, he is still working with some of the self-proclaimed descendants of the Michel Nation. And though he is not sure what exactly is happening with Descendants of Michel First Nation Association, specifically, he is still planning to hold future meetings, one of which will include talks with the Minister of Justice.
“The date for a meeting quoted by Beaudin in a previous Windspeaker article (for Sept. 9), has been changed to the end of September/early October (yet to be finalized), but he stills plans to have it, and focus heavily on the Michel Nation then, as well.
“One thing I want to stress is that as an elected official with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples that’s one of the things we do... is advocate for off-reserve Indigenous people. And it’s very important we do that. It’s important when they come to us… I’d get some pretty disappointed people if I stopped doing what I’m doing,” he said.
Original Story
Early last week Windspeaker.com published a story about the struggles of the members of the Michel band in Alberta, written from the perspective of Kim Beaudin, vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
Beaudin has been helping some of the members in their battle to be recognized by the federal Government as a distinct band with distinct members.
But not everyone feels adequately represented by Beaudin, and some of his previous followers have actually walked away from him completely.
“He’s not involved with the descendants of Michel, or the chief and council… there are groups that represent the Michel people. A bunch of us formed a society called the Descendants of Michel First Nation Association, and we’ve just recently joined forces with the chief and council,” said Brandy Callihoo, whose great-great-grandfather was Chief Michel of the Michel First Nation.
“We’ve started a grassroots campaign, and we’ve been lobbying the government via e-mail for the last four months… It’s frustrating when people like Kim Beaudin come along, because it confuses the people of Michel. They’re like ‘who do we follow?’,” she added. Callihoo did say however that the Michel people have passed a motion that says they will accept help from all people if it's offered in a proper way according to established protocols.
While a group was in operation prior to this new association being formed—just this past May—its leadership, said Callihoo, was not being effective in her opinion. Many of the members of that group left, and are now part of the association. Callihoo sits on the association board.
Beaudin was involved with the past group, but hasn’t been invited to be a part of the new one, she said.
Callihoo feels strongly about the work she is doing with the association, intending to represent the almost 700 people who claim lineage with the Michel band, but are not recognized by the government.
There is work even to be done for the chief and council, because they only sit on a “general list” of people with Indian status but no band to reinforce certain treaty rights. Callihoo is open to the challenges which are now facing her.
“I honestly feel like I was chosen, in like a spiritual aspect. But you know, it’s my heart and soul. I was born and raised in Edmonton, and a lot of people around here… so many people are from the Michel or the Papaschase, and both of these reserves were stolen. There’s so much poverty, or even homelessness,” she said, linking this to how the government left so many people displaced after enfranchisement.
“For me, it’s just trying to get involved and make a difference for people,” she added.
In the past, the descendants and the chief and council acted as separate entities, with little communication between them. A quick Google search or Facebook search will show how divided the groups are, as well, bringing up at least two different Facebook pages—one for Michel Band and one for Descendants of Michel First Nation Association—and multiple webpages.
Callihoo believes the biggest chance they have is in working together to benefit everyone.
Gill Goerz is the current Chief of Michel. He confirmed the two groups are coming together. According to Goerz, the situation has been going on for far too long (for three decades the case has been in-and-out of the courtroom).
But progress has been made recently because government officials are finally ready to negotiate, he said.
“We’ve been in preliminary discussions with the (INAC) Minister’s Office, through their Associate Minister Perry Billingsly. And we will be setting up formal meetings,” said Goerz.
“The first meeting we had was a teleconference last week, and it was just kind of a get together to get to know each other and figure out where we’re at,” said Goerz, referring to a meeting between the chief and council, other members on the general list, and the non-registered descendants they’re now working with.
According to Goerz, they are also working with a consultant out of Calgary, a lawyer based in Vancouver, and just a few specific members of the Descendants of Michel First Nation Society will be representatives within the official government meetings; together they will formalize “what they want,” and “where they’re going,” he said.
Though they need time and legal consultations before they can finalize their demands, he said.
“Our main focus is the recognition as an Aboriginal collective or band, with treaty rights outside of the Indian Act. Now, that’s happened before. There’s been modern negotiations that have set these folks up either as an association or corporation,” said Goerz.
“We would have to set ourselves up as a society of some sort… I’m not really sure, this is all new to us,” he said.
Related:
Kim Beaudin, National Vice-Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, has been pushing hard to help displaced members of the Michel First Nation in Alberta. http://www.windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/qalipu-nation-to-share-citizenship-struggles-with-michel-band-members/
Also
Members of a First Nation in Alberta are seeking reparation from the federal government, which does not official recognize the nation’s existence. http://www.windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/mystery-still-shrouds-the-people-of-the-Michel/