Former aboriginal chief’s comments during trip to Iran the latest in a long line of provocative stunts

A visit to Iran by two former First Nations chiefs from Manitoba, where they slammed Canada's treatment of aboriginals, has created the predictable backlash at home.

Terry Nelson and Dennis Pashe made the rounds in Tehran, culminating in a lengthy interview on the Iranian television outlet Press TV.

Nelson, who Press TV described as "the top Chief of Canada Aboriginals," told the audience he and Pashe were pressured not to make the trip.

"But we were pretty clear that the dehumanization, 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," he said, according to an article on the Press TV web site.

The trip is notable because of the deep diplomatic rift between Canada and Iran mainly over the Islamic state's reported attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Nelson, who according to the Winnipeg Free Press also travelled to Iraq in 1990 to meet Saddam Hussein, attacked Canada's record on First Nations; high unemployment, decrepit reserve housing and the disappearance and murder of some 600 aboriginal women in recent years. He reportedly referred to reserves as "concentration camps."

[ Related: Iran's state-owned Press TV continues attacks on Canada's human rights record ]

Nelson told the Free Press that he was only telling the truth about conditions aboriginals live under in Canada.

But the Free Press said that in an email to other chiefs on the weekend, Nelson also revealed he was in Iran to discuss the presence of First Nations astride the oil and gas pipelines that feed petroleum to the United States.

"We, the indigenous people in the three Prairie provinces are currently the most powerful people in the world. We sit on the pipelines that deliver 2.5 million barrels of oil a day to the United States...," he said in he email, according to the Free Press.

"I'm in Tehran to ask Iran to open the doors to OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) for the indigenous people of Canada."

In an interview with the Free Press, Nelson suggested aboriginal chiefs making common ground with OPEC members over oil ownership would send a powerful message to the Canadian and U.S. governments about the need to respect treaty rights.

"Any country that can influence the indigenous people has to realize what kind of leverage they have," he said. "I don't think everybody [is] understanding that the chiefs won't sit back anymore and say, 'Take our oil.'"

Predictably, the federal government was less than happy.

"We're disappointed that Mr. Nelson has allowed himself to be used as a pawn by the Iranian regime in yet another PR stunt to distract from their own record," Jason MacDonald, a spokesman for Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan, told the Free Press.

[ Related: Former Manitoba First Nation chief asks Iran for help with a human rights matter ]

Calgary Herald columnist Naomi Lakritz said Nelson had made a fool of himself in Iran.

"Nelson, Pashe and the Iranians can have all the meetings they want, but OPEC has no say over Canada's internal affairs, and as former chiefs, Nelson and Pashe have no say over aboriginal affairs. So it sounds like a meeting of equals — all equally powerless," she wrote.

Toronto Sun columnist Lorne Gunter condemned Nelson's trip and comments as the latest in a long line of provocative stunts, including a sustained attack on Jews in the media.

"On several occasions [including as recently as this week], Nelson has blamed Jewish media for the bad coverage he receives," Gunter wrote. "Since a paper I used to work for was owned for a time by a Jewish family and since it was also very critical of him, Nelson often blamed our coverage on the owners' faith."

Gunter said Nelson has no credibility with his own people, having been removed as chief by his Roseau River band council last September over questions about the band's finances and "governance issues." An auditor also questioned more than half a million dollars in loans and advances to several current and former band employees, including Nelson's daughter, that weren't included in financial statements, Gunter wrote.

"Nelson vehemently denied any impropriety and offered counter-explanations of where the money had gone, but ultimately his explanations were deemed insufficient by his own band's council, which expelled him from office," Gunter wrote.

"Not to worry. I'm sure Nelson will find all sorts of new friends in Iran."