Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have a question for you. Why would you be fearful?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's a very complex issue to say that.... No, you shouldn't. We don't want the keys to your house, but we also want to stop the theft of our lands. If you feel that is a threat to your safety, think of how we feel when we look at all of the land that's been taken under the guise of the rule of law.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are several issues. When developers come into the communities, there is an old uranium mine that was closed in 1980 that a company wants to open up. Included in the consultations are our neighbouring Québécois. What we need to really examine are the original title holders to the land, which are the women of the Haudenosaunee nations, the nations whose traditional territory this belongs to, and that free, prior and informed consent is not being practised.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, hunting and fishing are ways, especially, as you know, with the high cost of living and because of pandemic shortages.... This is a multi-generational issue. To be able to hunt, you need to have access to the land. National parks on our traditional territory prevent us from having access to those traditional ways of life that are part of food sovereignty.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I should preface by saying that I'm not a treaty person. The Haudenosaunee people are not treaty people. We had treaties like the Two Row Wampum treaty, which is referenced quite often. We know the royal proclamation did not include Quebec, so that doesn't apply here. In regard to how land is used by the Haudenosaunee people, it's the women who hold title to the land.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a good question, and I think it's the $22-trillion question. We're talking about politicians who are concerned about their constituents' priorities, and indigenous people are not the priority in Canada. It's pretty evident. We have spoken about the return of lands, which includes national parks.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I want to clarify that I am not a doctor. There is just Dr. King. I am going to greet you in my language. [Witness spoke in Mohawk] [English] I wanted to greet you in my language, because that is one of the things related to land. I just want to alert the translators that I might be veering off-script.

Status of Women committee  Yes. On top of that is the fear of reprisals if you speak out. This is coming from within and outside the community, especially given the circumstances we're living under here in Kanesatake.

Status of Women committee  We need to put action into words and not just apologies. We don't need more apologies that do nothing.

Status of Women committee  I think one of the things we need to tackle is the elephant in the room, which is corrupt governments, corrupt organizations that come into our communities and threaten the safety and well-being of our people. We need to implement free, prior and informed consent. I've always said that a traditional warrior society in our communities needs to be not policing but just people like us.

Status of Women committee  That's a good question. I think free, prior and informed consent should be the initiating process. We as Haudenosaunee people have always said that the band council are service providers and they do not have a right to negotiate on land. Any negotiations on land should come to the traditional Haudenosaunee people, a government that existed before European arrival.

Status of Women committee  Education that tells the truth about Canada's colonial history is a good starting place, because we don't want to see the rhetoric that's being told in the schools today. Education is extremely important.

Status of Women committee  I'm not sure what “reasonable due diligence” means, but I think due diligence should be indigenous-led. It's affecting our rights. It needs to include, for sure, the interests of everybody, but according to our ways and customs, we need to look at whether our needs are going to be negatively impacting future generations and their needs.

Status of Women committee  No, there's nothing. It's very adversarial and racist.

Status of Women committee  I like where you're going with this. It's impossible to do this in five minutes. I've been looking at some of the legislation regarding the implementation of the UN declaration. There are parts that indigenous people were not happy with. It still goes back to this imposition of the sovereignty of Canada and Canada's refusal to repudiate the doctrine of discovery, which means that we are indigenous people without the “s”.