Reflecting the rising strength of grassroots Aboriginal movements, a second annual “National Day of Action” has been called on May 29 by the Assembly of First Nations. The AFN’s Call reflects the just demands of Treaty-status nations on reserves. For us, the Day is a welcome opportunity to support the AFN’s Call and to raise a larger discussion involving all Aboriginal peoples in the land called Canada, status and non-status alike.

The NDOA comes at a critical moment in the growing struggles by Aboriginal peoples to defend their traditional territories and to end racism and poverty. The Communist Party of Canada urges wide participation by the labour and democratic movements in the NDOA and all Aboriginal struggles. We vow to amplify our call for the genuine equality of all nations within Canada, and for resolving the just demands of Aboriginal peoples, including swift settlement of lands claims based on full recognition of inherent Aboriginal title. We demand that Aboriginal peoples be able to legally enforce an end to resource exploration and all other development on their traditional lands pending settlement of claims if they so choose.

Over five hundred years after the genocidal beginning of imperialist colonization, the indigenous peoples of the Americas are increasing their resistance today with growing strength and unity. We salute the historic political advances of the working class in Latin America, such as the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, which are based in large part on the powerful struggles of indigenous movements against US imperialism and its local allies.

Canada is not isolated from this process, just as Aboriginal peoples in this country suffer from the same oppression as in the rest of this hemisphere. The shameful truth is that unemployment and poverty rates are far higher for Aboriginal peoples than any other group in Canada. The suicide rate among Aboriginal youth is estimated at nearly ten times the rate in the wider population. Among First Nations children, 43 per cent lack basic dental care. Over 100 Aboriginal communities have been under “boil water” advisories for years, a situation which would not be tolerated in other areas. Overcrowding among Aboriginal families is double the rate of that for all Canadian families, and mould contaminates almost half of all First Nations households. Asbestos, pesticides and mine tailings are a particularly deadly problem for Aboriginal communities.

Decade after decade, these appalling numbers rarely shift. But instead of taking decisive measures to improve living conditions, the Harper government scrapped even the Kelowna Accord’s limited fiscal supports, and rejected the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Forced by public opinion to make at least a token gesture towards equality, PM Stephen Harper has announced plans for an “apology” for the genocidal history of the residential schools. But more Aboriginal children are separated from their families today than ever before, and the murders of hundreds of Native women remain unsolved and unrecognized.

At the same time, the Tories and their police agencies are criminalizing Aboriginal youth, claiming for example that opposition to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is driven by “Native terrorists.” This lie follows last year’s revelation that a Canadian Armed Forces manual lists Aboriginal resistance movements among so-called “terrorist” groups, clearly targets for military attack. In Ontario, the KI Six and Ardoch Algonquin spokesperson Robert Lovelace remain in jail for the “crime” of opposing corporate exploitation of their traditional territories. The racist policies of the Harper Tories and provincial governments are setting the stage for new police attacks on Aboriginal peoples, with the tragic potential for future Ipperwashes.

Those who refuse to accept injustice and oppression are not “terrorists” or “criminals.” The real criminals are the corporations and governments which profit by the theft of Aboriginal lands while families live in desperate poverty.

The truth is that the Canadian state was founded on the theft of Aboriginal territories. Most of the land Canada occupies was simply stolen from Indigenous people for settler use. Wherever nation-to-nation treaties were in fact signed, the colonizing powers soon violated these agreements to further encroach upon Aboriginal lands. While these lands and resources have been exploited to generate vast wealth for the domestic and foreign transnational corporations which dominate the Canadian economy, Aboriginal peoples continue to suffer intolerable levels of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and disease.

Now, the time has come to pay the rent. The First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples are demanding an end to decades and centuries of agony and countless national humiliations. The Six Nations land reclamation at Caledonia, the struggles of the Tyendinaga Mohawks, the KI resistance against mineral exploration on their traditional territories, the Grassy Narrows blockade in northwestern Ontario, the rising protests against Olympics-related resort development on unceded aboriginal lands in British Columbia – these are among the warnings that the racist and criminal denial of Aboriginal rights will not be accepted. Despite legal setbacks, the Manitoba Métis continue their struggle to reverse the theft of their lands at the time of Confederation.

The Communist Party condemns the racist policies of the Harper Tories, and expresses full solidarity with the May 29 National Day of Action and with all Aboriginal struggles being conducted across Canada. We will continue to do our part to help mobilize full support for all these actions.

We want equal and just relations among all nations in Canada. We want a new, democratic constitution based on an equal and voluntary partnership of the Aboriginal peoples, Quebec, and English-speaking Canada, recognizing the national rights of Aboriginal peoples and Quebec to self-determination, up to and including secession. We want swift and just settlement of Aboriginal land claims, including over natural resources, and for emergency action to improve living conditions, employment, health and housing of Aboriginal peoples.

No process of achieving these aims can work without respecting the full national rights of Aboriginal nations, especially the right of self-determination and existing treaty and constitutional rights.

We are proud of our party’s vision for Canada. The growing interest by Aboriginal people in the Communist Party of Canada comes after many decades of fighting for genuine national equality and for the goal of a socialist Canada which will make these policies a long overdue reality. Nothing less can end the tragic consequences of five hundred years of racist colonial oppression. We will never rest until this terrible legacy is erased!