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Idle No More: First Nations’ meeting fall-out highlights more divisions; what’s next?

Idle No More demonstrators protest in Vancouver.

There are two distinct narratives coming out of the meeting between First Nations' leaders and Prime Minster Stephen Harper on Friday afternoon.

One — the positive one — is that the meeting was a success and that the relationship between First Nations and the government is moving forward after weeks of escalating Idle No More protests.

"We've been pressing for ... a mandate to engage in treaty implementation and reforming comprehensive claims and that mandate has been achieved," Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Chief Shawn Atleo told APTN News.

"The way forward is to see treaty rights implemented, which means that we have a fair share of the wealth and resources of our lands and that they're only developed with our free, prior and informed consent. The ability now to have direct prime ministerial engagement on matters of great concern of our people ... we now have a forum ... that we did not have before."

The second narrative, however, is a little more worrisome.

Idle No More spokesperson and Mi'kmaq lawyer Pam Palmater says that the events of the last two days may have escalated tensions. Palmater was part of a large contingent of First Nations' voices who wanted Atleo to boycott the meeting with Harper because it wasn't completely inclusive and because Governor General David Johnston did not attend.

"For someone who is supposed to represent the decisions of the chiefs, he should have respected that," she told CBC Radio's The House on Saturday afternoon.

"I think the Idle No More movement is really going to take different ... forms all across the country. Just what feedback I got from grassroots people ... is that they were not happy. That the AFN was working against their interests and they were going to have to really ramp up their activities, their public education."

More mass protests are planned for later this month. According to the Sun News Network, Aboriginal leaders who are openly against Atleo are calling for a national day of action on Jan. 16 which could include road and border blockades.

Another set of global protests is being planned for Jan. 28.

Meanwhile, Chief Theresa Spence, who has been on an all-liquid diet in concert with the Idle No More protests since Dec. 11, vows to continue her 'hunger strike.'

Spence refused to participate in the meeting with the Prime Minister, but did attend a ceremonial event that included the Governor General in the evening.

"The meeting with the Governor General ... was not a triumph, it was simply a time to send a strong message to the powers that be," Spence's spokesman Danny Metatawabin said in an email according to Reuters.

"The hunger strike continues."

Essentially, it seems that the events of Friday took us one step forward, but two steps back.

What happens next is anyone's guess.