Spring 2012 issue

Leaders, Tribes & Family

A Call to Duty, Not a Step up in Power~ Russ LeticaMadawaska Maliseet First Nation

For years, I have been hearing of many problems facing other Native nations: the poverty, lack of funding, no heat, no running water, boarded up windows, black mold in houses, addictions, violence and, by far the worst, our youth suicide statistic. It breaks my heart and I have focused all my fundraising efforts tocontinually help all my Native brothers and sisters. No one should have to live in these conditions, no matter what ethnicity you are.

This has also made me stop and think of my own Nation, the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation. I think how lucky we are as a people and how much we have as a community. I wonder why is it that some nations suffer while others prosper? The answer is always the same; we must look at the leadership we elect. So, I did just that. I contacted the chief of my nation, Chief Joanna Bernard, and asked her for an interview. She graciously complied.

RL: Chief Bernard, can you explain to us who you are and tell our readers a little about yourself; who is Chief Joanna Bernard?

Chief Bernard: I was born in Boston, Massachusetts. My mother is Italian and from Boston. My father is a Maliseet from the Madawaska First Nation. We moved back to the reserve in 1971.

My life has been fairly good. Growing up on the reserve was okay. I went to school in the town of Edmundston, graduated in 1982 from the local high school, and was accepted to the University of New Brunswick where I received my Bachelor of Science degree. I had to drop out when I became pregnant. I married at 19 years old and, five years later, I was divorced.

Later on, I met my husband Elmer. We have been together for 25 years. I have six children and eight grandchildren. I was on welfare for a long time, until I decided to go back to school in 1999. While in college I decided to run for Council and was elected in 2001. I graduated in 2002 and ran for chief in 2003.  The rest is history. 

RL: When did you begin your leadership role within your Nation and why did you get involved in working for the Nation's members?

Chief Bernard: The first time I ever thought of running for chief was when I was a councilor and witnessed the exploitation by the chief who was in office at that time. I felt strongly that he really did not have a vision for the community. I felt we needed someone who would come up with a plan to move us forward,someone who cared about the members and their future.  This situation, coupled with yearly government cutbacks, meant we were not able to meet the needs of the members and the future looked grim.

I worked for the band back in the mid 90's as a program officer. I worked with band members that were looking for jobs. I managed them case-by-case. I got to know them, their education level, their experience, and their goals in life.  And every single one wanted to just have a job that made them happy. 

While I was project officer I was able to take advantage of the training given to me during the few years that I was employed and I am now a certified economic development officer. 

RL: How many different roles have you played in your years of leadership?

Chief Bernard: I am on the Board of Directors and President of the Union of New Brunswick Indian Chiefs. I have also served as Vice President for them for two terms.  I have held the title of Executive Director of the Atlantic Policy Congress since its beginning. I am on the board of the Natural Resource Committee, the Board of Education Committee, and the Chiefs Committee on Economic Development representing the Atlantic Chiefs. This is a national committee.  I also represent the New Brunswick Chiefs on the Indian Resource Council, and I sit on the board of the Maliseet Natural Conservation Council.

RL: How have your years as a leader changed your visions and goals? How has this impacted you?

Chief Bernard: My vision for the community has never changed, it has only expanded.  It has become more exciting, knowing that we will be able to take care of ourselves, be able to govern ourselves. Someday we will not need the government to tell us what we as a Nation can do.

RL: You are currently in your 5th mandate as the Leader of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation. What are some of your accomplishments of the last years eight years?

Chief Bernard: In the last eight years, the Council and I have done more for the community than has been done in the past 50 years combined. We set up a government that has included the band membership to help guide us in finding solutions to the problems that we face as a Nation, and to work together for the future of this Nation. We have increased our band’s residency by about one-third, with more band members returning home to the reserve. We had about 50 houses and now we have over 90 efficient homes in our community.

Our band membership increased by one-third, when the Indian Act was amended, allowing the grandchildren of the Bill C-31 women to regain their status. I'd like to mention that our Nation voted in these children as status band members prior to the official announcement from INAC.

Here are some of the things my councilors and I have accomplished:

> The MMFN was in a deficit of 1 million dollars when I was first elected Chief. We settled many legitimate disputes within our Nation, amongst band members. We are now operating within budgets and producing profits.

> We worked to implement our Nation's policies to self govern. We produced our Nation's by-laws and began new development.

> We implemented residential by-laws.

> We implemented a recycling program, where residents are encouraged to recycle in our efforts to go green within the community.

>Negotiated a land settlement that had been ongoing since the 1970's, over 30 years, where band members then vote to distribute a percentage to each band member and then used more the 50% of the agreement fund to begin our Economic Development Plan under my administrations mandate.

> Negotiated a $5 million dollar land claim and now have a lease agreement with Twin River, which used to be named Frasier Paper Mill.

> We purchased as a band owned business to fund our programs, the Eagle View Store and the Wallace Lumber Co., where we now operate the Madawaska Entertainment Center and a restaurant.  In the last 7 years these investments have produced over 8 million dollars in profits which fund our community programs.

> We expanded the Eagle View Store and its success continues to fund the programs that are needed in the community to move forward.

> We worked to clean up the Burbe Property, which used to house a propane and natural gas company. The land was deemed contaminated and not inhabitable, therefore could not be considered as part of our reserve. We cleaned it up, demolished two old structures and it is now part of our lands.

> We did a complete renovation to our Community Recreation Center inside and out. The Recreation Center now houses our Head Start program for our children and holds our community and charity events. We created improvements to the land surrounding our Center and dedicated an area to our past chiefs, honoring each one by planting an apple tree in their memory.

> We also use our Center to hold our Elders' dinners, which they have become accustomed to. It is a way to bring them all together for an evening of food, games and fun. The Center is also used to host many of our charity events, where as a community we raise money for social issues in our area. We currently host an annual haunted house, walk for cancer, and several fund raisers throughout the year, where 100% of the dollars generated is donated to charity.

> We rezoned our community and added residential development and subdivision as a means to protect our sacred grounds.

> Complete renovation on our 8 family apartment complex, with paved parking.

> We supported our members in bringing the culture back into the community and now have our sweat lodge. Our dancers and our drummers represent our Nation proudly.

> Fixed drainage problems in several areas of our community.

> We worked with the city of Edmundston and we have now connected to the water and sewer system of the town for all our businesses and homes that are currently in the community as well as for those to be built in the future.

>We added emergency house lighting to all our homes for the purpose of identify houses within our community for ambulance, police and fire department crews.

> We applied for funding and used that money to bring sidewalks into the community for the safety of our pedestrians.

> We created a night security team to continue to ensure the safety of our entire community.

> Through the funding of our programs by band owned businesses, our Elders have their rent and utilities paid for, whether they own their home or live in new and well maintained band housing.

> We increased jobs by 200% with our business ventures, administration office, and community projects. We created over 1/3 more jobs that make our Nation move and I am proud to say currently we have only 3% of our band members utilizing the welfare system.

> We created the position of Housing Director, which oversees any housing issues in the community and assist in housing for band members who wish to return to the land.

> We created the position of Education Director to oversee the educational needs of all our students in school and post secondary school.

> We created the Hot Lunch Program where all children in school get a hot lunch.

> We purchased a new school bus to transport our children, and recently have applied for funding to purchase a larger bus. There is a need for this new bus with our members moving back into the community over the last several years.

> We fund $500 a year per child for extracurricular activities, whether it is a dance class, learning an instrument, or taking a class on pottery. We also fund $250 per child yearly for gym clothes, school supplies, etc. We have a 0% drop out rate.

> We cleaned up the playground and brought it to provincial standards and now operate a daycare center.  This service is essential to our working parents who have young children in the household.

> We sponsor summer games to keep our children's minds active and to bring them out of the house and into nature, where what we believe is the true lesson in nurturing our children for success in their future.

> We produce and publish a newsletter for all band members on and off reserve to keep us all connected with what is happening within our community. Two band members run social media sites for the community to keep us all connected. We maintain a website that represents our Nation and regularly send out memos in our efforts to produce a sound foundation of communication within our Nation.

> I have added 3 flag poles in front of our Administration Office. We proudly fly the Maliseet First Nation flag on the center pole, which flies above the Canadian flag and the Providence's flag.

> We created the position of Health Director, which oversees our Health Center and the medical needs of all band members residing within the community.

> We applied for and received $150,000 to complete our Community Health Center, where we work on the health issues of our band members within their own community.

> We established an agreement with a doctor and we bring in our doctor once a week, where all band members are looked after in the community, now at their own health center.

> We used to employ a nurse just two days a week. We now have a nurse coming in four days a week to ensure that we are addressing our members' health needs.

> Through our programs we fund non-insured health benefits for our members. This fund ensures our members that prescriptions not covered by the Providence are still paid for in addressing their medical needs. This fund also helps members with travel expenses when they must travel outside the local area for medical assistance, testing or treatment.

> We built a state of the art fitness center to be used by band members and we employee a fitness instructor to assist members in a workout program.

> We worked with the ATR Policy to join a section of land purchased on the outskirts of the reserve, where we housed our Hatchery. We also worked with the ATR policy to assure easy access for band members to receive their CP (certificate of procession/title) to their homes.

> We successfully renovated our hatchery into a lobster processing plant, where we process the lobster for our own restaurant and another one outside our community.

> I was successful in obtaining 4 fishing licenses and 4 fishing boats with full gear for the Nation.

> We began a forestry thinning project, where we cut trees and produce firewood for sale. We receive the royalties from these sales and we use this money to help our community band members heat their homes in the winter months.

> Through the referendum vote of the band members, pertaining to the land claim settlement, we implemented our Business Complex/Highway Project at the beginning of Trans-Canada in New Brunswick, where we will house many businesses that will produce taxes. Through agreement with the Providence, 95% of these tax dollars will be returned to the Corporation to be distributed to the program accounts that continue to move our Nation into the future. Band members will work in these jobs tax free.

> Also in this agreement we were able to persuade the city of Edmundston to not only build but to maintain the ramps on and off the highway, saving our nation $5 million dollars and the maintenance cost. We also received 33 acres added to our reserve surrounding the area of these ramps, when the band members agreed in a referendum vote to exchange 10 acres of land on the opposite side of our reserve.

RL: What is your proudest accomplishment on behalf of your People?

Chief Bernard: My proudest accomplishment is of course the highway development project and the governance that has been in the works for past eight years under my mandate, starting from the various policies and bylaws we implemented, and the work that still continues in writing the constitution of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation.

RL: What remains to be completed in the current mandate?

Chief Bernard: Before I finish my mandate as chief, I want to see the first check from the province on the tax returns of our corporation. I will then know that what I started has begun to bear fruit, meaning that every year that check will increase, year after year for the rest of our lives, our children's lives and all descendants to come.

RL: When you finish this mandate what are your plans for the future?

Chief Bernard: When I retire from politics, I may go into business for myself. But, in the mean time, I would like to run for council next term and continue fine tuning things. As a councilor, I will be able to stay home and sleep in my own bed every night.  As Chief there is a lot of traveling involved to be sufficient in your call to duty.

RL: As a Leader to your Nation, can you share with us the message you wish to deliver to our young Native women and men?

Chief Bernard: I believe that staying in school is one of the most important things that our youth need to know.  Be proud of who you are. Take pride in your life and be the best you can be, in school, at home, wherever you are, in whatever you do. This would be my message to either gender of our youth.

RL: What is your vision for the future of the Maliseet First Nation?

Chief Bernard: That the people will come together for what is best for the whole and for us to be self-governed.

RL: In generations to come, what do you believe will be your legacy?

Chief Bernard: That I have made a difference; this is a hard question.

Woliwon for this interview, Chief Joanna Bernard. I am very proud of your accomplishments and I am honored by your commitment to our People as a whole. In my opinion, you are truly the definition of a leader.

I invite our readers to our website, where you can see firsthand what we are doing and some pictures of our community. www.madawaskamaliseetfirstnation.com