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Building on OUR Success

Moving Forward Together

As leaders we all share the same objective: “To make the lives of our people better”.  This means an improved standard of living for our citizens and practicing and thriving cultures.

In pursuit of this objective a change has already begun throughout our Nations. There are now many new and exciting opportunities for our people. This is a direct result of the on-going struggle to recognize and implement our aboriginal title and rights, rights that have been so hard fought for on the ground, in court and through negotiations. Today we are benefiting from the results of that struggle.

While many challenges still remain ahead of us in implementing aboriginal title and rights, we must recognize how far we have come and take advantage of the opportunities that now present themselves. Not just in some of our communities but in all our communities. We must build on success. This requires strong leadership, a lot of hard work and ensuring our citizens are behind us and driving the change from within each of our communities.

The change that is occurring is evidenced by our Nations developing our own modern economies, both on- and off-reserve, moving away from Indian Act governance and taking back control of our lands and our lives throughout our entire traditional territories. During this period of change, we must share, communicate and support each other in our common goals.

There are four key and interrelated areas that are critical to meeting our shared objective of improving the lives of our people and ensuring we have practicing and thriving cultures. These are:

1. Strong and Appropriate Governance
2. Fair Land & Resource Settlements
3. Improved Education, and
4. Individual Health.

While there are many opportunities to re-build our Nations, we must always be cautious. In keeping with our objective any change must be put to a simple test: “Will it make the lives of our community members better?” We must never lose sight of this test and ensure our vision remains relevant to our communities as we move forward together.