OTTAWA, ON —Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief RoseAnne Archibald issued the following statement following her attendance at the Platinum Jubilee reception at Rideau Hall in Ottawa this evening as part of the Canadian Royal Tour of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. The event brought together Canadians who have dedicated their lives to the service of their communities.
“In my moment with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, I emphasized Truth and Reconciliation with First Nations peoples and the need for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to acknowledge and then apologize for the Crown’s ongoing failure to fulfil its Treaty agreements with its First Nations partners as well as acknowledge and apologize to Survivors and Intergenerational Trauma Survivors as leader of the Anglican faith for the role the Church played in Institutions of Assimilation and Genocide in Canada.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued with the Royal Will and Pleasure of His Majesty King George III, declared that the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom the Crown of the United Kingdom is connected and who live under the Protection of the Crown, should not be molested or disturbed.
Between 1820 and 1996, the Anglican Church of Canada managed, with express authorisation of the Canadian government, close to 40 Institutions of Assimilation and Genocide.
As leader of the AFN, it is my duty to advise His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales that the very frauds and abuses which The Royal Proclamation directed be ended have only been perpetrated and permitted and that cannot and should not occur further. It’s essential that the Sovereign now intercede to ensure that the directives of the Proclamation and the promises of Treaty be strictly observed; that full equitable restitution of the subsequent genocides, frauds, abuses, and infringements occur; and that Inherent and Treaty Rights of Indigenous Peoples are maintained, preserved, and protected.”
Media Contact:
Andrew St. Germain
Office of the National Chief
[email protected]