I'm going to play the part of a devil's advocate here, Joe, and dispute a lot of what you say.

While a whack up the side of his head may seem a good suggestion, and one I have used myself on too many occasions, we make the statement from our position in mainstream canadian society. Moonias sees things through a very different set of glasses. He simply does not place the same value on the same set of standards.

While you or I can make as long a list as we choose, of the benefits that accrue from development of the ROF, these items are things that we understand, from our side of the tracks. They do not.

They do not want to be like us. They do not want to be assimilated. We have been trying for the last 150 years or more to do just that, through programs such as the schools that were prominent for so many years, and failed so miserably.

They want simply to be able to maintain their lifestyle as they know it, at home. Many of them have tried living in the white man's world, and if they are lucky to survive, have opted to return to the squalor (our word) of the reserve, in favor of the squalor they lived in , in the ghettos that seem to be present in most of the white man's communities.

At the moment, what they are actively seeking are very basic. They are things you and I take for granted. The water system is not potable, and they have to use bottled water. Such a shame. My water from the tap is quite potable, and yet it is amazing to watch the huge amount of bottled water that local people take out of Costco on a daily basis.

I can climb in my vehicle on any given day, and drive to a dentist, doctor, or just down to the local grocery store to buy whatever my heart desires. If I want, I can take a day and drive to the bigger city just down the road, and really shop.They cannot.

I have all the hydro power I want, cheap. If I overuse it, I simply pay a premium for more, but can use all I want, still cheap.

While their demands may seem outrageous to many of us, they are just that, demands. At the end of the day an agreement will be struck, where they get many of the things they want, and will have to do with many the can't have. That is a negotiation as it should be, and one that you or I would use.

At any rate, all of this is useless dribble. First Nations are a federal responsibility. So far we have heard from CLF, and from the Prov gov't, neither of which would be expected to offer anything more then necessary. Once the feds come out with their position on the matter serious negotiation can then begin, as it should.

Best regards

K