Elijah Harper’s dream of moving beyond tolerance

One of the founding principles of National Aboriginal Day, the summer solstice, is to help us concentrate on promoting positive interaction and facilitating healthy and thoughtful communication among all Canadians. These exchanges are seen in such form as traditional dance festivals, food and dress as cultural foci, speeches and performances by aboriginal artists and spokespersons. They encourage learning from the expressions of aboriginal voice.

We know that the summer solstice has always been significant for indigenous groups all over the world. For many, the sun is nature’s strongest creative force and the celebration of its northernmost point in the sky has been integrated into the cultural identity of the First Nations. As such, the days around the solstice are a reflection in terms of personal growth that also parallels nature’s augmentations from the sun’s placement in the summer season. From June 21 onward, the peoples’ spiritual growth complements summer’s continuing development. This is reason to celebrate — the natural world has revealed a guide for the maturity necessary to fulfil our totality as humans living in stewardship and care of ourselves and, indeed, the entire environment in which we live.

Regarding the historic roots of National Aboriginal Day in Canada, we can begin at Contact’s enduring imposition of European institutions and policies which obliterated many indigenous traditions. Then, as recently as 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood, the antecedent of the Assembly of First Nations, propelled action toward a day of national solidarity for aboriginal people. Continuous advocacy over the years was an impetus for the recommendation by the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) for this Day. It was in 1995, however, that the Sacred Assembly initiated by thenMP Elijah Harper, my husband, facilitated National Aboriginal Day as a Canadian institution.

Recognizing the role of spirituality in the calamitous outcomes of colonialism on the First Nations, Elijah focused on the holistic facets of living as a way to start restoring the pre-Contact health and well-being of First Nations in this country. As well as the Sacred Assembly propelling the meeting, exchange and reconciliation of different spiritual beliefs among people of all faiths, Elijah called for a National Aboriginal Day for June 21. It was specifically to celebrate aboriginal histories, cultures and identities and reach far beyond merely enduring or tolerating one another as aboriginal and nonaboriginal peoples.

In the following year, on June 13, then Governor General Roméo LeBlanc declared National Aboriginal Day which continues as a time of furthering the awareness of the different epistemologies, ontologies and belief systems of the First Nations. This Day, as Elijah saw it, was also about espousing harmony and goodwill in spite of all the differences between the First Nations and most other Canadians.

An appropriate way to commemorate National Aboriginal Day is to start educating ourselves about the state and status of aboriginal people in Canada today. Leaving behind any romanticizing or stereotyping to which we may have become accustomed, we can consider the issues faced by this population, their placement in Canadian society, and accepted thoughts of Canadians about aboriginal people. Viewing the comments following articles about aboriginal people is telling, and reveals many prevailing sentiments.

For example, a common complaint is from taxpayers who view their “hard-earned taxes” as supporting an indigent indigenous population. Linked to this thought is the assumption that it was aboriginal people who manoeuvred this arrangement with the government. Such premises can be investigated with an open mind, and by avoiding the comfort of retaining and perpetuating ill will against the native nations as a solution.

Readers can, for example, explore the paths of political treachery that have resulted in a juxtaposition that pits taxpayers’ interests against aboriginal people, many of whom are taxpayers themselves. They can also ask aboriginal leaders and other individuals about their thoughts regarding this and other contentious issues. Elijah himself always spoke about the impropriety of taxes being the source of the federal government’s fiduciary responsibility toward the First Nations. Rather, he believed, the fulfilling of these obligations must stem from an appropriate share in natural resources extraction, particularly in light of the formal treaties that still exist.

National Aboriginal Day, then, is a day of working to enhance relationships and of reconciliation between the descendants of European settlers and indigenous peoples in the lands that are now called Canada. It is also a time of learning about the cultural traditions and the hopes and goals of First Nations people. As Elijah is now of the spirit world, we can all learn from the legacy that he has left all Canadians, particularly from the foundational principles of National Aboriginal Day.