Assembly of First Nations

• Report rights infringement
• published: 26 Apr 2008
• views: 599

A Nation within a nation, the Assembly of First Nations and Canada. WE THE CHIEFS OF THE INDIAN FIRST NATIONS IN CANADA HAVING DECLARED: THAT our peoples are the original peoples of this land having been put here by the Creator; THAT the Creator gave us laws that govern all our relationships for us to live in harmony with nature AND MANKIND, THAT the laws of the Creator defined our rights and responsibilities; THAT the Creator gave us our spiritual beliefs, our languages, our cultures, and a place on Mother Earth which provided us with all our needs; THAT we have maintained our freedom, our languages, and our traditions from time immemorial; THAT we continue to exercise the rights and fulfil the responsibilities and obligations given to us by the Creator for the land upon which we were placed: THAT the Creator has given us the right to govern ourselves and the right to self determination; THAT the rights and responsibilities given to us by the Creator Cannot be altered or taken away by any other nation; THAT our aboriginal title, aboriginal rights and international treaty rights exist and are recognized by international law, THAT the Royal Proclamation of 7 October 1763 is binding on both the Crowns of the United Kingdom and of Canada, THAT the Constitution of Canada protects our aboriginal title, aboriginal rights (both collective and individual) and international treaty rights; THAT our governmental powers and responsibilities exist; and THAT our nations are part of the international community ARE DETERMINED To protect our succeeding generations from colonialism; To reaffirm our faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of our First Nations large and small; To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from our international treaties and from international law can be maintained, and To promote social progress and better standards of life among our peoples, AND FOR THESE ENDS, To respect our diversity, To practise tolerance and work together as good neighbours, To unite our strength to maintain our security, and To employ national and international machinery for the promotion of the political, economic and social advancement of our peoples, SO, WE HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH COMMON AIMS. ACCORDINGLY, our respective Governments, through their Chiefs assembled in the City of Penticton in 1982, agreed to establish a national organization known as the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and now agree in the City of Vancouver in 1985 to the Charter of the Assembly of First Nations.