Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America GREEN PAPER 3: Freedoms That Are Abolished

Table of Contents Introduction 1) Trade and Investment: a little history 2) What is in the FTAA Agreement? Biotechnology and the FTAA Protecting Intellectual Property Free Flowing Capital What about Free Flow of People? Militarization and Globalization in the Americas Free Trade and Economic Developmen 3) Making the FTAA a Reality Corporate Globalization in the Americas Dry Canal Megaprojects and the FTAA Dry Canal Megaprojects and the FTAA 4) The FTAA and the Future of the Hemisphere Protecting Corporate Profits FTAA Attacks the Forests 5) Is THIS What Democracy Looks Like? The FTAA's Threat to Democracy North American First Nations: Going Corporate? Free Trade and the Proliferation of Sweatshops 6)THIS is What Democracy Looks Like Free Trade and the Proliferation of Sweatshops 7) What You Can Do Sources Acronym List download this document (488k). ACERCA

North American First Nations: Going Corporate? by Sosar Easlo Wabanaki Indian, D'Nakinna Economic globalization, NAFTA, MAI, and the FTAA are just another attempt at undermining the traditional aboriginal concepts of communal ownership, stewardship of lands in the U.S. and Canada as well as elsewhere in the world. Little by little the unique legal domain of Indian Country is being assimilated into the bank system. Already large separations between traditional indigenous self government and the Federal recognized Band Council system is used to enforce National law by promoting ³Band Councils² to achieve any or most monied programs. Traditional concepts continue to exist, although native reserve band councils have had difficulty accessing finance capital for local community development because the common property concept of aboriginal communities made it difficult for banks to seize the assets if the borrower failed to pay up the loan. With the encouragement of the Canadian, U.S. governments and the development of business opportunities in resource-rich First Nation territories, financial institutions have started to support indigenous corporate projects. Will the banks replace missionary Church and the Federal departments of Indian Affairs as the dominating factors in the lives of First Peoples, North and South? Private banks, WTO, and the IMF have a history of imposing the agenda of monied interests on indigenous peoples at the expense of sovereignty and the right to self-determination. Washington and Ottawa continue trying to assimilate native peoples into a European-style culture using an apartheid system that robs native peoples of their sovereignty and their access to resources. The belief systems of First Nations have always been in conflict with the colonizer. Many great orators of our past have inspired countless generations of First Peoples to resist full assimilation and to continue the sacred mission of our beliefs, peoples and cultures. Perhaps it is the concept and role of money that has provided the greatest contrast between us, Canada and the U.S., as evidenced by this statement of Chief Crowfoot of the Blackfoot Nation: "Our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever. It will not even perish by the flames of fire. As long as the sun shines and the water flows, this land will be here to give life to men and animals. It was put here by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us."1 Yes, First Nation Peoples are still fighting to retain our lands and we continue to resist governments and international organizations that entice First Peoples to surrender their Aboriginal title. Now we are faced with another weapon of money investing. That gives contemporary significance to the words spoken on our behalf: "Our land is more valuable than your money."