1. Chief Clarence Louie, Osoyoos First Nations Part 1 to 7

Mi'kmaq youths need to be inspired, they need to see more leaders achieving goals for them, they need people that pay attention to them,make them feel like they are important. Many communities do not have much offered for the youths. Many of the youths are bored and have noting offered within the community. Many of them are turning to drugs and crime.  Yes this type of behavior needs to stop but what does a person do when the community is so poor that they can't get anything going for the youths. One things will be is just be there for them let them know that your there to talk, help or even plays games and sport with. Having someone like this in their life to and look up too can change a youth.

Chief Clarence Louie speech was very inspiring and I love how blint and outspoken he is about things. He shared about how he put inspiring quotes on the building within the community this is a really good idea. His main focus is on the Mi'kmaq youths he wants to show these youths and others how important working and having a jobs is. He speaks about how important the economical development is in communities and the issues within the communities when people do not work. He says a couple times in his speech that "people should be in school, at work or in counselling". Many of the Mi'kmaq people have to stop looking for hand outs and stop living on welfare. Doing something like going to school working or both will make a person feel so much better about life.

Strategy and Leadership: The Path to Self-Determination

Strategy and Leadership: The Path to Self-Determination : Speakers Peterson Zah and Angela Russell

Strategy, leadership and self-determination is this the missing link for communities.I say yes!  I know from personal exiperence that if a group of people do not have a strong smart and responsible leader. They will usually fail at what they are doing or not do well. A community needs struture, a strategy and someone who has good leadership skill. Peterson Zah and Angela Russell state that “leaders need support and encouragement, a vision for the people, goals, thick skin, they have to know how to overcome challenges and problems, they have to be responsibility, good communication skills, a media outlet, they need to prioritize their work and learn how to delegate.” Leadership skills is not something that someone learns over night but a great leader would be open minded and learn from his or her mistakes.

Giants and Little People: Indigenous Law in Context

Giants and Little People: Indigenous Law in Context the presenter is John Borrow.

I think that many Mikmaq people would agree that the law system that they have create does not fit the Mi'kmaq society. Many walk out of a court room or house and say hey I feel like I was treated unfairly, or when they try to share a story with a non Mi'kmaq and you know they just don't understand what your point was or why you still would do that. So why is it that non Mi'kmaq people are still being able to choose how Mikmaq people should be judged. These non Mi'kmaq people do not understand the society and how things work. It is unfair because they do not live the life of people living in Mi'kmaq society. The Mi'kmaq people have to create law institute that are create for them by Mi'kmaq people.

John Borrow the presenter in this video also shares about the books that he had wrote. The books help people understand Indigenous law from the "inside out and then from the outside in"  John shares that there is "so much law to be learned in the relationship of the land" I think yes that is true if we just took the time to listen to stories and elders we could learn. Things such as what type of things Mi'kmaq people are entitled to. Mi'kmaq people have always had a special relationship with the land that many non Mi'kmaq people wont understand. Mi'kmaq people need these types of teachings apart of the law system.

Professor Borrows' lecture focuses on the interpretation and application of Indigenous law in a community context. Using ancient Ojibway stories and contemporary texts, this talk will explore the contemporary cultural expression of Anishinabek legal principles and their relevance for and relationship to other legal systems in North America.

Sovereignty: Your Best Tool for Development

          Sovereignty: Your Best Tool for Development  features Joseph Kalt. Joseph has travel the world to many different Mi'kmaq nation communities. He has research many different types Mikmaq businesses. He argues that sovereignty is the best tool for development, how sovereignty is the key for Mi'kmaq Nation community to have successful businesses. One example he talks about is a Mikmaq nation community in the City of Citadel. This tribe has create the second federal charter town they have exercised sovereignty and started asserting jurisdiction  in the town. The town is now one of the most successful city in Citadel. The city is operated and owned by the tribe, many different types of businesses and jobs are offered with this tribe from them excising sovereignty.

               Joseph speaks proudly of Mikmaq nation communities that have been successful and he has clearly got his point across how much sovereignty does work.  The proof is the communities that he speaks about. Yes severity does work because communities are implying it into the business world. He gives examples of different tribes and what tative worked for them. He is very open and explains the steps that are involved with making businesses. It is a different approach yes. Many communities rely on taking out grants which clearly that way is not working. But the approach that Joseph is using is clearly working and sounds like a smarter approach.

         When I watched his presentation it showed me that he is involved in the process. His not just reading about these things from books and he not afraid to get his hands dirty and get involved. Joseph does not seem like he is just trying to sell a product. He seems like he wants to help Mi'kmaq nation communities reach each of their goals by gathering information and creating a plans.

Governance, Enterprises, and Rebuilding Native Economies

  Stephen Cornell the director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and Professor of Sociology and of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Arizona. In this video Cornell is at his first focus seminar, the focus seminars is a very good way for him to share the information that he has research. I think the more he does this type of approach with the seminars, people will become more aware with nation building it will begin to become more known to others.  Cornell speaks to the guest and gives quick overview of nation owed enterprises, how they work, different approaches and economical development issues. He shares that this seminar was something different for him because he usually spend two days just sitting down and talking to tribal council and senior leader going over nation building from A to Z.  Cornell shares the mistakes that most Indian Country's make with using something called the home ran approach, to start a business. The home ran approach is what many reservation do, they take out grants, hire as many people possible and do not take the steps or research to see if the business will work. They hope for the best but it ends up failing. This is because it is not properly organized they look for the quick fix. The second approach is nation building, this approach looks at ways to properly own and organize a business so that the business is will succeed in the future as well.

Induction to Nation Building

The guest speakers that are in the video are Dr. Manley Begay, "is both Director of the Native Nations Institute at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and Senior Lecturer in the American Indian Studies Program at the University of Arizona . He is also Codirector of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University". The other guest speaker is Dr Stephen Cornell  "is director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and Professor of Sociology and of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Arizona . He also is co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, a research program headquartered at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University".

Nation building should be exercised in every aboriginal community, people need to explore new ways on how to start successful businesses. It seem to me that many communities are stuck in a cycle of making businesses that make out good at first and then end up failing. Having people like Cornell and Begay come and educate each community would help leaders and communities begin to open their eyes to new ways and methods.

 Begay and Coronell speak about effective ways to build successful economical development in aboriginal communities.  Nation Building is what the two speak about, they researched about how to make nation building a successful reality. Nation building is a chance to rethink, restructure, reorganized a chance to start a strong successful business. The five keys that make nation building successful are self governance, cultural match, strategic orientation, leadership and taking charge by making their own self-rule. I think when communities learn how to make nation building a reality each community could be strong and successful. Cornell and Begay shared about many other communities that have been using the nation building step and tools and how effective the outcomes has been for them. All the stories shared were all very good ones and all were successful with nation building, that just shows that it does work.

Federalism/ Constitutional Issues

Acts of Defiance



       This Film was made in 1992 by Alec Maclead. The film is about the mohawk crisis the events that happened in Kahnwake, Quebec back in 1990. A group of mohawks that called themselves the warriors made a barricades to protect the pines the place that the government was trying to expand a golf course onto aboriginal burial grounds. When the warriors did not open the barricades the army became very violent and the two were at war with each other. Many Mohawk women are on the film showing their support for the community and to the warriors by voicing their opinion to the public and protesting while the warriors were fighting inside the barricade. The film has many interviews with many different people, the film is not one sided and shows different things that were happening in and outside the community.