There are other ways

Indigenous economics supported by the Canadian power elite is the large-scale sale of natural resources and the re-sale of petroleum and tobacco products produced by mainstream businesses.

Indigenous decision-makers enter into agreements in the fossil fuel industry and for timber and so-called renewable resources. Also supported for its economic impact on the Canadian economy are the tobacco and petroleum industries that exists on-reserves. The tobacco industry generates a lot of money in the Canadian economy because the only place we can spend that money is with settler businesses.

Arguably, the sale of the narcotic “nicotine” is a major economic driver through the Indigenous tobacco industry. Many health researchers characterize “nicotine” as a narcotic because of its addictive nature. It doesn’t take a master of commerce to push the only legal narcotic.

Canada and the US have been marketing social-change to ban tobacco products since the 1970s. This marketing exists in PSAs for heart attacks and cancer, graphic illustrations of health problems on packaging, and the recruitment of municipalities, institution, and businesses to ban smoking. Tobacco will be banned. The impact on the tobacco industry that is part of the Canadian excise tax system will be immediate.

Crime Bill C-10 is portrayed as an attack on our sovereignty by the tobacco industry. However, we can exercise our sovereignty by asking three questions.

How do we diversify our economies?

Should we base our Indigenous economies on selling tobacco-narcotic products?

Should we be participating in increasing the size of western civilization’s carbon footprint?

We could produce ethanol, and the secondary production in feeder lots and fish farms. We could grow corn for pelletized fuel. We could weld the stoves to burn a pellet stove designed by our craftspeople. We have the arts that have long been an economic factor in Canada. We could re-design our communities into eco-villages that use wind turbines, solar panels, and incineration to produce electricity and heat water. We could reforest our lands to mitigate environmental contaminants while creating a timber construction industry.

An education system that increases our capacity in a diversified economy also encourages our People to grow. Why not try.

Thohahoken
(Michael Doxtater)

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