...no word for 'surrender'...

Chief Francois Paulette, Treaty and Tribal Council Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada:

'In my language there is no word for "surrender". There is no word. I cannot describe "surrender" to you in my language, so how do you expect my people to (have) put their X on "surrender"?'

Keywords: Canada, indigenous people

'People to People, Nation to Nation', Highlights from the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, p 10. Courtesy of the Privy Council Office, Canada. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1999.
Author: Nettheim, Garth