Sovereignty and Women's Rights in Canada's First Nations

Here's an article about negotiations between the Canadian government and the First Nations to give aboriginal women the same property rights in divorce matters that non-aboriginal Canadian women already enjoy.

Provincial laws governing the fair division of assets when marriages fail do not apply on reserves and the federal Indian Act, which governs most aspects of reserve life, does not address the subject.

[Native Women's Association of Canada] president Beverley Jacobs said the absence of matrimonial property laws has created great hardship for aboriginal women, usually forcing them and their children to leave their reserves or move in with family members.

[Assembly of First Nations] National Chief Phil Fontaine said he expects real dialogue on the issue and emphasized that he's not prepared to accept pre-determined outcomes to the consultations.

Fontaine said whatever legal solutions are proposed "must respect our jurisdiction" and have the support of the aboriginal community.

This is a perfect example of the difficulties of being an Anthropology student or practioner in a modern Western nation such as the US or Canada. My American values of liberty and equality tell me that the aboriginal women deserve equality under the law, end of discussion. Anything less than total equality is just blatant discrimination. However, the anthropologist jumps to the defense of the cultural sovereignty of the First Nations.

The US and Canada have a history of shame in their dealings with the First Nations. Let's be blunt, we couldn't have been more effective in erradicating their culture if we tried (yeah, I know that some of you will say that we did, in fact try, but that's a discussion for another day). So now, in order to protect women (which is obviously a noble pursuit) we risk further erosion of the culture and sovereignty of the First Nations if Ottawa is too heavy handed in their negotitations.

The intersection of cultural autonomy and human rights is the place where the wars and conflicts of the next century will be fought. Although I have an infinitely higher regard for the First Nations of Canada than for some of the peoples of the Middle East, the intellectual parallels are there. The wars we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are about the intersection of cultural autonomy and human rights.

I don't have any easy answers, but maybe we can work this out if we are actually honest about the source of the conflict.

Photo-Finish at the Stink Lodge

As I write this entry, I'm in a great mood. And why not? It's Friday, the Upstate New York winter is still a few weeks off, and I found this story in the New York Times.

It seems that I haven't been giving the World Chess Championship the respect it deserves. These guys are hardcore competitors. According to the article in the New York Times:

The world chess championship came to a halt today when a player who had been locked out of his private bathroom after insinuations that he was cheating refused to play and forfeited the fifth game of the match.

According to Chessbase.com, a chess news Web site, at the start of today’s game, Mr. Topalov sat down to play while Mr. Kramnik went to his private area and sat down outside his private bathroom, demanding that it be unlocked.

Chessbase reported that the organizers refused his request and after an hour, the game was declared forfeited in Mr. Topalov’s favor.

This is just fantastic, I haven't seen such behavior since 1993, when Ross Perot claimed that the reason he got his butt kicked in the NAFTA debate with Vice President Al Gore was because Gore had a secret radio receiver in his ear and someone was feeding him answers. Does anybody remember that or am I talking to myself on this one?

Anyway, life is good.

New York State of Mind

This just in from our sources at the "You Can't Make This Shit Up News Agency."

It seems that Jeanine Pirro, the Republican nominee for New York State Attorney General is under investigation by the United States Justice Department for trying to secretly tape record her husband to try to discover if he was having an affair.

But wait, it gets even better, because the person she contacted to do the secret bugging operation was disgraced former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Here are some of the highlights from the New York Times story:

Ms. Pirro, a former three-term district attorney for Westchester County, said she believed the investigation was intended to derail her candidacy against the Democratic nominee, Andrew M. Cuomo, in the Nov. 7 election. She said she would remain in the race — and that she would remain with her husband, whose questionable business practices and prior conviction have damaged and nearly derailed her political career.

“There is no way — when I have the opportunity to be the first woman attorney general in the history of this state — that I am going to be pushed out of this race because somebody wants to delve into the personal lives of my husband and myself,” she said. “I’m standing up for myself and I’m standing up for women.”

OK, let me see if I understand this. First, this investigation is politically motivated to destroy her chance at becoming Attorney General. I think right about now, the last thing the Bush Administration Justice Department is interested in doing is reviving the career of a northeastern liberal like Andrew Cuomo.

Second, don't even play the gender card. You have reason to believe your husband is cheating on you. Dump the bastard. I am so tired of seemingly strong independent women being enablers for their cheating, lying husbands (I'm looking at you Senator Clinton). When will women respect themselves enough to walk away from these emotionally abusive relationships?

If Ms. Pirro was serious about standing up for herself and standing up for women, she'd walk out on the bum. That'd do more to get my vote than any of this monkey business.

OK Rover, Now Play Dead

I enjoyed reading this article from National Geographic about the burial practices of the Chiribaya of Peru. While excavating an ancient cemetary, anthropologists discovered the remains of mumified dogs.

The researchers found 43 dogs buried in separate plots alongside their human owners, naturally preserved by the desert sands and ensconced with treats for the afterlife.

"We have found that in all the cemeteries, always, in between the human tombs there are others dedicated to the dogs, full-grown and puppies," Guillen told the Associated Press.

"They have their own grave, and in some cases they are buried with blankets and food."

In the United States today, we highly value our animal companions, I know that I adore my two cats. It's great to see that the humans that came before us prized their animal companions as well. In terms of our evolutionary development, the ability to domesticate animals was a huge advantage.

The Empire State?

Submitted for your approval is this story from the New York Times documenting the ongoing perversion of justice in New York State. The article documents the abuses and corruption that are rampant in New York's mostly rural town and village courts.

As the article points out, the presiding judges in these courts are not required to be lawyers, have any knowledge of legal proceedings, or even have a high school diploma. They simply need to be elected to the position. Here are just two examples of the outrageous behavior of some of the judges:

A woman in Malone, N.Y., was not amused. A mother of four, she went to court in that North Country village seeking an order of protection against her husband, who the police said had choked her, kicked her in the stomach and threatened to kill her. The justice, Donald R. Roberts, a former state trooper with a high school diploma, not only refused, according to state officials, but later told the court clerk, “Every woman needs a good pounding every now and then.”

A black soldier charged in a bar fight near Fort Drum became alarmed when his accuser described him in court as “that colored man.” But the village justice, Charles A. Pennington, a boat hauler and a high school graduate, denied his objections and later convicted him. “You know,” the justice said, “I could understand if he would have called you a Negro, or he had called you a nigger.”

This sickens me. I am proud of my roots in Upstate New York, but we have a legacy of shame that needs to be exposed. Too often, northerners make crude jokes about southerners as being racist rednecks and little more than hillbillies. Well take a good hard look at this and learn that we northerners have our pockets of ignorance and unchecked corruption, too.

No region of the country is safe, let this sad tale of Upstate New York be a warning. Be vigilant against tyrants, judicial or otherwise. Shine light on the dark shadows of our human community.

I commend the New York Time for this story, this is what journalism should aspire to.

Stop Me Before I Eat Again

Check out this story from the New York Times (free registration required) concerning the move by the New York City Council to change the City zoning laws in order to limit the number of fast food restauarants that could set up shop in the City.

The proposal's sponsor, Joel Rivera, got the idea from the town of Calistoga, California that

banned McDonald’s and other fast-food chains to preserve the uniqueness and small-town charm of the city’s commercial areas. Mr. Rivera wants to restrict them for another reason: to fight chronic obesity, particularly in poor neighborhoods. About 1 in 5 New Yorkers is obese, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Behold our Brave New World: Junk food and overconsumption are the new vices from which the American people must be protected. Are parental consent laws on the horizon? Will little Jimmy need to be accompanied by an adult to get that Big Mac or Happy Meal?