Education not enough

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The former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations told a Sudbury gathering that Native people must come into their own identity and vision and stop fighting each other before the white culture will be attentive.

Ovide Mercredi, speaking at Laurentian University during its Native Awareness Week, opened his remarks by advising his audience that "we have to remind ourselves

we haven't been good at keeping up our conversation."

Mercredi said Natives must know their history, culture and traditions, emphasizing "if we're always divided, we won't win. If we really believe in our treaties, then we better grow up. It's not good enough to have education. We need to know our culture, its spiritual foundations."

Stressing unity, Mercredi said Natives must commit to putting aside jealousy, selfishness and apathy and think in terms of a common journey.

"Assimilation is too difficult, so we must build a road by walking on it," he said. "If we want to have an impact on the next generation of our people, we must have our road."

Natives are good at talking about Canadians, Mercredi said. He compared their relationship to Canada as "journeying together separately while not knowing where we're going.

"My people are rebuilding, trying to end confusion and find that elusive good life," he said.

Canada's politicians say Canadians have found the good life, Mercredi declared, but "they did so on our land where they built their culture, boasting their standard of life was unequaled." He was referring to a United Nations finding that Canada is the best country in the world to live.

Mercredi asked "where is that better country for us? I don't see it. We've never defined a common journey, so with no common vision there is conflict. Someone wants to win."

"It's a conflict we've lost time after time," Mercredi said. Right now (Ontario Premier Mike) Harris is setting up northern Ontario discussions. Why? They want to

use the land to keep their standard of life:"

"What is it as Indigenous people that these things are happening to us? I try to understand it from an intellectual point. I try, but I can't," he said.

"The pressure is to conform," he said, citing the current Ontario teachers; dispute as Harris' aim to get them to conform.

"All we Natives can do it demonstrate. If we had economic power like teachers we would strike." Mercredi said the system breeds a winner and loser.