The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC; preceded by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood) is an

association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

that advocates on issues affecting

First Nations in Manitoba First Nations in Manitoba constitute of over 130,000 registered people, about 60% of whom live on reserve. There are 63 First Nations in the province and five indigenous linguistic groups. The languages are Nēhiyawēwin, Ojibwe, Dakota, Oji-Cree, ...

. Representing 62 of the 63 First Nations in

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

, it advocates on behalf of over 151,000 First Nation citizens in Manitoba. The Grand Chief is Cathy Merrick of

Cross Lake Cross Lake is a lake on the border of Cayuga and Onondaga Counties in New York, United States. The lake lies within the boundaries of the traditional Onondaga Indian Nation, and is reputed in local tradition to be the boyhood home of Hiawatha, ...

History

Preceding the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs was the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (MIB; later renamed the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs), which was created in the late 1960s as a province-wide body to provide a common voice for

. The MIB presented their landmark

position paper A position paper (sometimes position piece for brief items) is an essay that presents an arguable opinion about an issue – typically that of the author or some specified entity. Position papers are published in academia, in politics, in law and ...

—entitled, "Wahbung: Our Tomorrows"—in opposition to then-Prime Minister

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

's 1969 White Paper which proposed the abolition of the ''Indian Act.'' The federal government at the time argued that the ''Indian Act'' was discriminatory and that the special legal relationship between

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

and the Canadian state should be dismantled in favour of equality, in accordance with Trudeau's vision of a " just society". The federal government proposed that by eliminating "

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

" as a distinct

legal status Legal status is the status or position held by an entity as determined by the law. It includes or entails a set of privileges, obligations, powers or restrictions that a person or thing has as encompassed in or declared by legislation. Jack Balki ...

, the resulting equality among all

Canadians Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

would help resolve the problems faced by Indigenous peoples. After opposition from many Indigenous leaders—including the MIB—the white paper was abandoned in 1970. The MIB paper was presented to Trudeau and the Government of Canada in 1971.
Wahbung: Our Tomorrows
', October 1971 The body would dissolve by the early 1980s due to the difficulties of an increasingly elaborate agenda and emerging regional interests. An "All Chiefs Unity Assembly" eventually convened in 1987 to adopt by consensus a statement of principles of political unity. That year, Louis Stevenson was appointed as the first Provincial Leader for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. In 1988, the Chiefs-in-Assembly formulated a model for province-wide political cooperation among the First Nations, thereby establishing the basic structure and mandate for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and its

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

. In 1990, the title of ''Provincial Leader for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs'' was changed to ''Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs''. In September 1994, the AMC adopted its constitution.

Leaders

Mandated organizations

The mandated organizations of AMC include: * Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC), established in 1998 * Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba (TRCM), opened in 2005 * First Peoples Economic Growth Fund, established in 2005 * First Peoples Development Inc. (FPDI), established in 2012 * First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, established in 2013

References

Notes

External links

*
Constitution of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
{{authority control First Nations in Manitoba First Nations organizations *