The facts

As sad as the tragic deaths on the Oneida Reserve are, the cause was not inadequate housing funding.  Although no investigation has been done, the chief is already blaming the federal government.  As usual it's not enough money.

That's complete BS.  Maybe it was smoking?  Maybe it was drinking?  Who knows?  All I know from a few google searches is that there is no need to apply for housing funding.  INAC determines what it will be and it amounts to $146 million per year -- over and above the $17 billion handed out annually to 1.2 million natives.  As the great-granddaughter of a Mohawk, whose reserve was the Tyendinaga, Oneida was part of the same Iroquois nation.  I also discovered that in 1992, the Oneida opted out of the housing funding agreement with the federal government for another arrangement through the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres. 

For them now to turn around and slam INAC is outrageous.  But the problem remains:  journalists do no research and never, ever, ever report the numbers.  I am not a native because my great-grandmother married off-reserve (thank God), but I wish card-carrying natives would speak up.  Because the Oneida purchased their lands outright, the government does not follow all sections of the Indian Act with regards to the Oneida settlement, to the band's peril because it is now in charge of its money. 

The community holds its own elections for self-government under the Indian Act, however participation is below 40%.

That's the problem.  The tragic fire was not the federal government's fault.  It was the fault of the community.  But I am sure Minister Bennett and Trudeau will continue to take the fall while the cynical Perry Bellegarde laughs up his sleeve.