Cree student

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For a little more than three hours recently, part of the United Kingdom was unofficially in the hands of a 19-year-old Cree man and all of Canada's First Nations.

"As far as I know, I'm the first Aboriginal to claim England," chuckled John McDonald, who staked his claim with a Canadian flag bearing a maple leaf and the image of an Aboriginal person on Cambridge University campus, while taking part in a British student-exchange program in July.

The low-key protest on July 27 was to make Europeans realize that Canada and the rest of North America wasn't discovered by explorers such as English-backed John Cabot, Frenchman Jacques Cartier or Spanish-sponsored Christopher Columbus.

"You can't discover anything when people are already there," said McDonald after his trip during an interview in Prince Albert where he currently lives. "I want society to realize there were people here first."

Wearing a moose-hide jacket, an eagle feather in his hair, a T-shirt with the image of Big Bear and carrying a traditional dancing stick, McDonald took his unconventional Canadian flag and claimed England in front of about 80 people in a park behind Queen's College at Cambridge University.

"It had a lot of open space," said McDonald, adding the area is also a main thoroughfare for the university's students.

As for McDonald's attire, he said the T-shirt of Chief Big Bear fit the event since Bear was a proud Canadian Plains Cree leader during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, an armed uprising of Metis, Indians and white settlers in Saskatchewan lead by Louis Riel, who proclaimed a provisional government for Western Canada with the capital at Batoche, 90 km southwest of Prince Albert.

Despite Big Bear's calls for moderation among his followers, he was convicted of treason-felony in 1885 and sentenced to three years imprisonment.

Bear is one of McDonald's heroes, along with Sitting Bull, a Sioux chief who resisted the United States government's order of 1875 forcibly resettling the Sioux on reservations.

"These are people I try emulating," said McDonald.

The jacket and eagle feather were used because they are traditional Aboriginal items.

The dancing stick, which is deer antlers wrapped in raccoon hide, is traditionally used to bring heated rocks into sweat lodges, a ceremony used for praying and cleansing the soul. McDonald also uses the stick as part of his costume during powwows and traditional singing.

Once McDonald and his outfit were in place, he began to make his claim in front of the curious crowd.

"I hereby claim this as Native land for all Aboriginals," said McDonald. "Then I stuck the flag in the ground."

The member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation near Marcelin, 70 km southwest of Prince Albert, said his actions were similar to the explorers because his claim was on land where people already have an established culture, religion and justice system.

By bringing awareness to the issue, McDonald said he hopes the history books will begin saying the explorers landed in North America rather than using the word "discovered."

The crowd's reaction to the event - which McDonald said was to make a point, but in a humorous, peaceful way - was positive.

"When I did it, I got a lot of applause," said McDonald. "They understood the point I got across."

McDonald said he also got a lot of questions asking whether Canadian Natives still live in teepees and hunt buffalo.

McDonald said he told people most Aboriginals were the same technologically as non-Aboriginals, while still practicing their traditional cultural ceremonies.

About 30 people in the crowd were McDonald's classmates from the university, while others heard about the event through different international media agencies such as Reuters and The Canadian Press, which published a story in advance about the event earlier in July.

McDonald, who was contacted before leaving for England by CBC Newsworld and a Toronto radio station which had picked up on the story, said he was pleased with allthe advance media attention.

However, British and Canadian press stationed in England were unable to cover the actual event. That's because the world's attention was focused on a Concorde crash in France.

"It was discouraging. But I said I was going to do it and I did it," said McDonald, who had been getting used to seeing his name in print or hearing it over the airwaves.

"It would've been nice to have (the media) there. But a plane crashing is a much bigger story than a guy claiming England."

The idea for the stunt originally came from Ron Bentley, a former principal at Won Ska Cultural School, a Prince Albert educational facility incorporating Aboriginal culture with education that McDonald attended. The pair were chuckling about the idea at first, but McDonald later began to think about it seriously.

"What had begun as a passing joke built momentum," said McDonald.

McDonald's scholarship was arranged through Cambridge University, which contacted Reclaiming Youth International, a group based in Sioux Falls, S.D., that helps at-risk youths. In turn, Reclaiming Youth International got in touch with Won Ska Cultural School because McDonald was a youth who had turned his life around.

That's because prior to attending Won Ska Cultural School, McDonald's life was a mess. He said he was mixed up with gangs and getting into trouble while living in Calgary. So, he decided to move to Prince Albert, but found attending regular high school was difficult because of racism.

After dropping out of Prince Albert's Carlton Comprehensive High School, McDonald met an elder who suggested attending Won Ska. McDonald enrolled at the cultural school in the fall of 1997. He is now taking adult education classes in Prince Albert at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology.

When he completes his Grade 12 equivalency course in June 2001, McDonald has a full scholarship to attend university in North Dakota. He plans to study native North American history.

While in Cambrige this past July, McDonald studied the ethics of war and Greek rhetoric. He didn't get credit for the classes because he isn't in university yet, but he did get a certificate that says he attended summer school at Cambridge University.

But McDonald said he has brought back other experiences and habits from England that can't be taught in a classroom.

For instance, he said he still looks in the wrong direction for oncoming traffic while crossing the streets in Canada, since British vehicles drive on the opposite side of the road as compared to their North American counterparts.

Watching the television program Antiques Road Show has also become a bit of a pastime for McDonald since he said he still like to hear prices quoted in British pounds.

British terminology has also been difficult to shake.

"I find myself saying water closet instead of bathroom," said McDonald, who plans to go back to Britain one day.

If he does, he will be able to go back to the two favorite things he discovered while in England. The first was the choir and bells at King's College Chapel at Cambridge University. McDonald said he used to wake up at 5:30 a.m. just to listen.

"I'd walk around (campus) and there would be nobody. But I'd hear the choir as the sun came up," said McDonald.

His other favorite pastime was hearing all the different languages at noon throughout Cambridge's market.

"Those are the two things that will stay with me. They just hit me and left a lasting impression."

McDonald said his English experience has opened up a whole new world, which used to just consist of Prince Albert and Calgary. He said he hopes to share his experience with other Aboriginal people.

"I want to show people there's a life off the rez."