AMC History, Mandate & Organization The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) was created in 1988 by First Nations in Manitoba to coordinate political action and technical work on common issues. It is a product of political and social developments that have been underway for decades. Faced with the domination and assimilationist policies of Canada's Department of Indian Affairs, First Nations have long recognized their common interests and the strength to be found in solidarity. Creating an organization able to accommodate the linguistic, cultural and geographic diversity of First Nations has been a major accomplishment. Early efforts at province-wide organization culminated in the creation of the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (MIB) in the late 1960s. MIB provided a representative political body based on regionally elected vice-presidents and a president who provided the first common voice for First Nations in the province. MIB (later renamed the First Nations Confederacy) endured through a period of intense struggle to gain recognition of Treaty and Aboriginal Rights in Canadian courts and legislatures and to begin the process of development and healing of First Nations. By the early 1980s, the strains of an increasingly complex agenda and emerging regional interests led to dissolution of the province-wide body. For a number of years, common interests of First Nations in Manitoba were pursued through less formal cooperative efforts of First Nations, Tribal Councils and the regional political organizations of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakinak (Northern Chiefs) and First Nations Confederacy (a coalition of several southern Tribal Councils). In the intervening years, the merits and practical requirements for province-wide political cooperation continued to be discussed. By 1987 an All Chiefs Unity Assembly had convened to adopt by consensus a statement of principles of political unity. The following year the Chiefs in Assembly ratified a model for political coordination and cooperation which set out the basic structure and mandate for the AMC and its Secretariat. AMC remains true to the original model which aimed to provide a mechanism which could balance respect for local and regional autonomy with the need for collective positions and decisions. AMC has been structured and mandated to provide a forum for discussion, coordination and consensus building. It is intended to be comprehensive in terms of scope of issues and the integration of political and technical institutions of First Nations. AMC functions under the direction of a Grand Chief, Executive Council of Chiefs and Standing Chiefs Committees on Justice; Self-Determination and Treaties; First Nations Women; Child Welfare; Education; Housing; Health; and Economic Development. The Grand Chief, elected by the Chiefs-in-Assembly, is mandated as the principle spokesperson on common issues for First Nations in Manitoba. The Chiefs-in-Assembly are the source of all authority for AMC. The role of the AMC is essentially political. Internally, the organization functions to build consensus on issues and priorities. Externally, the AMC presents a common front in pursuing issues in many different ways. Since 1988, the AMC agenda and priorities and the capacity of its Secretariat have developed and expanded. Increasingly, the Assembly s mandate involves complex consultation, planning and negotiations relating to self-government. Major undertakings are broadly similar in the goals of re-establishing jurisdiction and developing First Nation government capacities.