Chi-Naakinagewin
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 LEGAL DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Community Consultation
Ongoing
Upcoming
Community Consultation
- Business Licensing Law
- Community Protection Law
- Justice Circle Law
Ongoing
- Waste Management Law
- Community Approval Law: This law is to consolidate all of the voting process that we use in MFN for different approvals into one overall law, including having online voting.
- Noise Control Law: There have been a number of concerns about the noise level on and around MFN homes and streets. This law clarifies what noises are unacceptable and offers and application for exemption for special events.
- Harvesting Guidelines: In partnership with the Lands & Resources department, the guidelines are meant to promote Anishinaabe responsibilities towards sustainable harvest. There was a community consultation held in September which will lay more of the content for the guidelines.
- Community Protection Law: A law to protect MFN from people who are doing harm in the community. It may also be a method directing members to the justice circle when they are doing harm to themselves and others.
- Justice Circle Development: A law to govern how the Justice Circle will function and develop – who is on the circle, how it is formed, what its mandate it, and what resolutions it may put down.
- Waste Management Law: A law to govern the collection of waste as well as the prohibition on dumping and littering.
Upcoming
- Indian Act amendments: Assisting the Membership department do community consultations on federal legislation to change section 6 on status of the Indian Act.
- Traditional Governance Strategic Plan: Development of a plan that aligns with our election cycle to move Mississaugi towards Anishinaabe methods of governance. The plan requires community consultations on the goals and the outcomes of an Anishinaabe governance system as well as needed changed to the Election Code.
Department Overview
The Chi-Naakinagewin Department is currently comprised of a single employee – the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager, Laura Mayer.
Past Year activities: List the goals that you set for your department last year and briefly describe your department’s progress in meeting the goals.
Mississauga First Nation, encouraged by the other Mississauga Nation members, pursued funding with the Ministry of the Attorney General to do Indigenous Traditional Governance activates with the Mississauga Nation. The members of the Mississauga Nation are our community, Curve Lake FN, Alderville FN, Hiawatha FN, Mississauga of the New Credit FN, Misssissaugas of Scugog Island FN. The Naakinagewin Project was conceived to revitalize traditional governance structures and dispute resolution mechanisms. The goals were; (1) Reclamation of Mississauga LegalKnowledge; (2) Integration of Legal Knowledge into InstitutionalPractices; and (3) Increased Cooperation of MississaugaNations. The project team took the questions to all of the Mississauga communities in a number of different ways, as individual communities and as a collective body. A final report was completed and is available on our own website; as well as the Mississauga Nation website, .
During the summer, the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager was on Maternity Leave, and a Chi-Naakinagewin Lead position was created as a short-term contract to begin the community engagement process with the citizens of Mississauga First Nation on a number of issues. The process began by identifying areas that required input and feedback from the membership, the identified timeline being July 16, 2017 – September 18, 2017. There were three areas of focus; (1) the possibility of changing our logo, (2) a draft trespass law, and (3) draft succession planning guidelines. The Coordinator made every effort to engage the whole community, being visible at events such as the Pow Wow, parent night, hosting luncheon sessions, evening session, and home visits with the elders. The community engagement participation was highest at community events, such as the Pow Wow and Parent Night. The logo survey received the most participation at 85, the Draft Trespass Law had 47, and the Succession Planning Policy had 50.
The results indicated strong support of both changing the logo to the Thunderbird and implementing the Draft Succession Planning Guidelines. Both received higher than 70% of participants in agreement to move forward on those changes. The community is ready for some advancement in the administration of the organization in supporting our band members to gain employment through education and succession planning. They are also ready to see a new logo image, one reflective of our community and the Thunderbird.
The Draft Trespass Law Survey had nearly half of its participants answering in neither support nor disagreement; the other half were largely in support, with a small percentage in disagreement. After the consultation is was agreed that the name would be changed to the Community Protection Law. There will be alternative dispute mechanisms available to ensure our traditional values are protected. There will be another consultation on this law in early 2018.
Progress with Strategic Planning
Congratulation to the community for ratifying the Constitution in 2015. This was the identified goal of the Strategic Plan and we accomplished it with the help of the Constitution Committee and a dedicated Chief and Council.
Moving forward, Council and Committee thought it prudent to hire the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager to continue on with legal development. The Manager with the Constitution Committee did a strategic planning session, aided by surveys put out to the community, and identified following law making categories as priorities:
High Priority
Education
Governance
Judiciary
Constitution
Medium Priority
Land
Membership
Administration
Health
Infrastructure
Low Priority
Research
Confederacy
Stewardship
In 2016, the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager was responsible for conducting the community vote on the Anishinabek Education System. And although that was ultimately unsuccessful, the opportunity still exists for our own law making around Education. The Naakinagewin Project was a direct correlation with the priorities of Governance and Judiciary. The questions were centred on how to achieve and create traditional forms of governance and dispute resolution. The Manager also assisted with a number of policy development initiatives within the administration. The next major policy will the Law Making Handbook which will outline how the community will pass laws considering the Constitution.
Administrative Changes: summarize any significant changes in staffing and infrastructure.
There was a significance is a change in funding resources. The Chi-Naakinagewin position was initially funded with Mississagi Trust and Casino Rama funding supplemented by a contract with the Union of Ontario Indians to do the Anishinabek Education Agreement vote coordination. Starting in late 2017, funding was secured through the Ministry of the Attorney General for traditional justice activities through until 2019 with the possibility of renewal.
Special Initiatives: Describe changes in current initiatives, any new initiatives beyond the normal scope of your department’s activities.
The department will focus on traditional dispute resolution for the next two years, while maintaining action on other law making areas. The goals of the department will be:
Significant accomplishments: provide a list of the most significant accomplishments in your department last year. (ie. new programs approved, milestones etc. )
New programming approved through MAG – Indigenous Restorative Justice – Justice Circle project. This is great news, because we get to follow up on the recommendations of the Naakinagewin Project completed in 2017. The following is a summary of the community recommendations from the final report:
Mississauga First Nation Goals for Governance & Dispute Resolution:
The Chi-Naakinagewin Department is currently comprised of a single employee – the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager, Laura Mayer.
- Responsible for the implementation of Misswezahging Constitution
- To plan and facilitate community consultation by developing and ensuring effective communication
- To develop projects to continue the work of Mississauga FN legal self-determination based on the Misswezahging Constitution
- To assist Chief & Council and administrative departments pursuing legal development; whether it be Codes, by-laws, policies, or strategies.
- To continue addressing community issues and concerns regarding the MFN legal development
- To lobby for and secure adequate resources, (human, natural, physical, and financial) for the continuous growth of the community, land base and different levels of the constitution
Past Year activities: List the goals that you set for your department last year and briefly describe your department’s progress in meeting the goals.
Mississauga First Nation, encouraged by the other Mississauga Nation members, pursued funding with the Ministry of the Attorney General to do Indigenous Traditional Governance activates with the Mississauga Nation. The members of the Mississauga Nation are our community, Curve Lake FN, Alderville FN, Hiawatha FN, Mississauga of the New Credit FN, Misssissaugas of Scugog Island FN. The Naakinagewin Project was conceived to revitalize traditional governance structures and dispute resolution mechanisms. The goals were; (1) Reclamation of Mississauga LegalKnowledge; (2) Integration of Legal Knowledge into InstitutionalPractices; and (3) Increased Cooperation of MississaugaNations. The project team took the questions to all of the Mississauga communities in a number of different ways, as individual communities and as a collective body. A final report was completed and is available on our own website; as well as the Mississauga Nation website, .
During the summer, the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager was on Maternity Leave, and a Chi-Naakinagewin Lead position was created as a short-term contract to begin the community engagement process with the citizens of Mississauga First Nation on a number of issues. The process began by identifying areas that required input and feedback from the membership, the identified timeline being July 16, 2017 – September 18, 2017. There were three areas of focus; (1) the possibility of changing our logo, (2) a draft trespass law, and (3) draft succession planning guidelines. The Coordinator made every effort to engage the whole community, being visible at events such as the Pow Wow, parent night, hosting luncheon sessions, evening session, and home visits with the elders. The community engagement participation was highest at community events, such as the Pow Wow and Parent Night. The logo survey received the most participation at 85, the Draft Trespass Law had 47, and the Succession Planning Policy had 50.
The results indicated strong support of both changing the logo to the Thunderbird and implementing the Draft Succession Planning Guidelines. Both received higher than 70% of participants in agreement to move forward on those changes. The community is ready for some advancement in the administration of the organization in supporting our band members to gain employment through education and succession planning. They are also ready to see a new logo image, one reflective of our community and the Thunderbird.
The Draft Trespass Law Survey had nearly half of its participants answering in neither support nor disagreement; the other half were largely in support, with a small percentage in disagreement. After the consultation is was agreed that the name would be changed to the Community Protection Law. There will be alternative dispute mechanisms available to ensure our traditional values are protected. There will be another consultation on this law in early 2018.
Progress with Strategic Planning
Congratulation to the community for ratifying the Constitution in 2015. This was the identified goal of the Strategic Plan and we accomplished it with the help of the Constitution Committee and a dedicated Chief and Council.
Moving forward, Council and Committee thought it prudent to hire the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager to continue on with legal development. The Manager with the Constitution Committee did a strategic planning session, aided by surveys put out to the community, and identified following law making categories as priorities:
High Priority
Education
Governance
Judiciary
Constitution
Medium Priority
Land
Membership
Administration
Health
Infrastructure
Low Priority
Research
Confederacy
Stewardship
In 2016, the Chi-Naakinagewin Manager was responsible for conducting the community vote on the Anishinabek Education System. And although that was ultimately unsuccessful, the opportunity still exists for our own law making around Education. The Naakinagewin Project was a direct correlation with the priorities of Governance and Judiciary. The questions were centred on how to achieve and create traditional forms of governance and dispute resolution. The Manager also assisted with a number of policy development initiatives within the administration. The next major policy will the Law Making Handbook which will outline how the community will pass laws considering the Constitution.
Administrative Changes: summarize any significant changes in staffing and infrastructure.
There was a significance is a change in funding resources. The Chi-Naakinagewin position was initially funded with Mississagi Trust and Casino Rama funding supplemented by a contract with the Union of Ontario Indians to do the Anishinabek Education Agreement vote coordination. Starting in late 2017, funding was secured through the Ministry of the Attorney General for traditional justice activities through until 2019 with the possibility of renewal.
Special Initiatives: Describe changes in current initiatives, any new initiatives beyond the normal scope of your department’s activities.
The department will focus on traditional dispute resolution for the next two years, while maintaining action on other law making areas. The goals of the department will be:
- Host a community consultation with 40+ participants
- Draft a Restorative Justice law and have it accepted by the Community
- Hold a public mock trial with a trained Justice Circle
- Create a Traditional Governance Transitional plan
- Collaborate with Lands & Resources department to write and enforce community laws
- Work with Membership Committee and Chief & Council to make a submission to changes to the Indian Act on Membership
Significant accomplishments: provide a list of the most significant accomplishments in your department last year. (ie. new programs approved, milestones etc. )
New programming approved through MAG – Indigenous Restorative Justice – Justice Circle project. This is great news, because we get to follow up on the recommendations of the Naakinagewin Project completed in 2017. The following is a summary of the community recommendations from the final report:
- Revitalize Anishinaabe Law
- Build Traditional Government Structures
- Respect the Authority of the Grassroots
- Revive Mississauga Nationhood
- Renewal of Anishinaabe Leadership
- Empower Community Social Development
- Prevention is the key to Anishinaabe Justice
- Anishinaabe Justice = Restorative Justice
Mississauga First Nation Goals for Governance & Dispute Resolution:
- Trust our Advisors
- Abolish the Indian Act
- Tax Non-Members on our Territory
- Dispute Resolution Court
- Restorative Justice
- Recognize Chief as Internal Mediator
- Gatherings for Resolution