| From the stories passed on from one generation to
the next, the Elders of each generation keep alive the story of Creation.
Our human memories go back as far as possible to time immemorial.
it is not only the memories that are stored in our minds, but our
Spiritual history and legacy that is found in the Rock Paintings found
in various parts of Turtle Island, in the teachings inscribed on the
Birch Bark scrolls, and the eastern mounds found in the central parts
of Turtle Island. The totem poles of the Pacific North-West are symbolic
creations of the history of the Nations of the Pacific Coast. So we
are visibly aware that we were not creature roaming the plains, the
forests and the mountains, without any kind of law and order of society.
We were many Nations, with specific boundaries. Our separate Nations
were bound together in this Fourth World order, by three main Treaties,
namely the AWampum Belt Treaty, the APeace Pipe Treaty and the ACanes
of Authority Treaty.
The government of our Nations basically was guided by the unwritten
Law of Nature. But there were constitutions, such as the Great Law
of the Iroquois, the Midewiwin teachings of the Three Fires Confederacy
(the Ojibway, Odawa and the Pottawatami), and the Spiritual teachings
of the Hopi, the Dene and Navajo etc. etc. Thus governments were
not political in the sense of what we know as politics, but were
Spiritual entities. The different Clans provided the leadership
and the various needs of the community. The Ojibway protective,
policing and justice needs fell to the Bear Clan. The Loon and Crane
Clans provided the Chiefs, and so on. This system that existed for
generations, was disrupted when the Europeans arrived and initiated
and instituted the European political system. Justice was carried
out by the legal system from Europe. After the years of legal and
political imposition on our people, that in more ways than one violated
sacred treaty rights to our Aboriginal governments including our
own justice system.
The First Nations International Court of Justice, that had its
first hearing in April 1996, was truly an international court, for
it involved the many Nations of Aboriginal People of Turtle Island,
and sovereign Nations, we retained the right to involve other Nations
of the World, including Indigenous Peoples from every continent.
This international Court is an important step in exercising our
SOVEREIGNTY. We must not only take this step in the legal field,
but we must exercise our Inherent Rights, not only by talk and philosophy,
but by action in every field of political, economical, cultural,
and spiritual activities.
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