Not all can celebrate Aboriginal Day. . . yet

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After the dances and songs of the National Aboriginal Day performers had ended at Canada Place in Edmonton, a smaller ceremony was held two blocks away at Edmonton's City Hall.

Numerous presenters took the podium and praised the Aboriginal people for their determination, culture and tradition, but it was the comments of University of Alberta political science professor Dr. Joyce Green that brought the importance of the day into sharp focus.

"It is the celebration of our survival in the face of a state that has sought to erase us as Aboriginal people," she said.

As people celebrate about Aboriginal people, there are still injustices being done to them.

"I want National Aboriginal Day to not just be a token day."

When more people realize and accept that, "then I will have something to celebrate," she said.

Jane Woodward, who helped to co-ordinate the day's events with Edmonton's Urban Affairs Committee, said people need to realize that Aboriginal people don't exist only to put on powwows and perform dances.

"We are more than that," she said.