Canada had cautioned Nelson about being used as a “pawn” by the Islamic Republic in its propaganda campaign, which in recent years has painted Canada as a more vile country even than the United States.
Nelson arrived in Iran early this week and was swiftly given a platform on PressTV, the English-language outlet of Iranian state broadcasting. But it wasn’t yet known if he would be meeting with senior officials or given the platform of a speech to the Majlis that he said months ago Iran had promised him.
Back in April, Nelson said he would be flying off to Iran in May because he had been invited to address the Majlis.
He made very clear that his visit and speech were part of his campaign to win a July election as chairman of the Assembly of First Nations, the organization of tribes all across Canada.
But Nelson did not go to Iran then. And he lost the election.
The Iran Times contacted Nelson in August to ask what happened and why he did not go to Iran. He responded by email that he would provide full details. But he never sent any follow-up emails and did not respond to further enquiries from the Iran Times.
Nelson’s interest in Iran was sparked a few months ago after President Ahmadi-nejad spoke up about the mal-treatment of aborigines in Canada.
“I’m going to address the Iranian parliament at the end of May,” Nelson told the Winnipeg Free Press. “And that’s going to be broadcast…. It’s going all over the world.”
Nelson was elected three times—and was fired all three times after votes of no-confidence—as the leader of the Roseau River band of the Anishinabe, a part of the Ojibway nation of Indians. The Roseau River reservation is in the province of Manitoba about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Canadian border with Minnesota and North Dakota.
Both Canada and the United States have stopped using the term “Indians” in recent years, as many see it as derogatory. In the United States, the term “Native Americans” has been adopted while Canada uses “First Nations.”
Back in March, Nelson and three other First Nation leaders in Canada met at the Iranian embassy in Ottawa seeking aid, but the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry warned the aboriginal leaders not to let themselves be used by the Iranians.
Nelson, however, boasted that he was using the Islamic Republic. He told the Winnipeg Free Press he was using Iran to get the attention of the 634 Indian chiefs from all across Canada who were eligible to vote for the chairman of the Assembly of First Nations in July.
Four men and four women ran in that election. Incumbent chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo won re-election on the third ballot with two-thirds of the votes. Nelson dropped out after the second ballot.
Nelson said in March, “Iran has a long history of supporting indigenous sovereignty in North America.” Nelson said he’d written letters to many governments over the years seeking assistance without ever receiving a response. Ahmadi-nejad was the first leader to answer.
However, the Canadian government said this was not a serious offer by the Islamic Republic.
“The Iranian regime is now attempting to exploit tragedy and feign concern as yet another PR [public relations] stunt to distract from its own abhorrent [human rights] record,” said Joseph Lavoie, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. “We hope that the aboriginal leaders in question won’t allow themselves to be used as pawns in this sad game the Iranians are playing.”
Iran has a history of criticizing Canada on First Nations issues for almost a decade.
The Islamic Republic began this line of criticism after Canada responded to the death of Iranian-Canadian dual national Zahra Kazemi in 2003 by taking over the annual sponsorship of the UN General Assembly resolution criticizing Iran on its human rights record. Iran since then has said Canada has a terrible human rights record, and puts major emphasis on the First Nations. Iran has even issued a pamphlet in English scoring Canada as a major human rights violator.
Nelson’s current trip to Iran was not a result of Canada’s recent decision to break relations with Iran. Nelson announced this week’s trip to Iran three days before Canada severed relations.
Nelson said he would be making the visit with four or five other tribal leaders. But the only other person seen so far with Nelson in Tehran has been Dennis Pashe, the former chief of the Dakota Tipi First Nation.
Nelson said he believed Iran could help raise the profile of the First Nations people by taking the issue to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations (OPEC). He also said he wanted to do his part to try to prevent war with Iran, which he said would mean “economic suicide” for Canada because of Iran’s oil resources. But Canada is an oil exporter and could actually profit from a war that cut off Iranian oil exports.
Nelson also blamed the “Jewish media” for negative coverage of his plans to visit Iran.
David Matas of B’nai Brith Canada, a major Jewish organization, responded: “The only way we are going to get respect for aboriginal rights is if people accept equality, oppose discrimination, oppose incitement to hatred. And Terry Nelson, by wallowing in all of this stuff, is undercutting advocacy for rights for aboriginals.”
On PressTV Sunday, Nelson said Canada put Indians into “concentration camps” called reservations and imposed “economic sanctions” on them in order cause poverty. The result is mass death. But Nelson said, “There is holocaust denial in North America.”
He made a number of other curious accusations in fluent and well-spoken English. He said, “Canada is currently pumping 2.5 million barrels oil to the United States and it’s pretty clear that none of that oil is paid for.”
He lauded Iran. “The treatment of the Iranian people for us has been great. This is something the Western media has always said that, if you go to Iran, you will be treated very badly.”
He also said, “The demonization of the Iranian people has been one of the facts of Western media and we understand that because we , too, have also met with the crusader.”