Elder applauded by caravan supporters

Page 5

VANCOUVER - The crowd of approximately 2,000 at the Canada Place Rally ending the South Moresby Caravan applauded loudly following the words of wisdom and prayer spoken by the spiritual leader of the Micmac Indians from Nova Scotia, Noel Noughtwood.

Noughtwood led the crowd in a prayer, saying it was traditional of Indian people to pray at the onset of such a gathering:

"Oh Great Spirit, who art before all and dwells in every object, person and place,

I cry onto Thee. I summon Thee from far places to our present awareness. Grandfather, Grandmother, God, who art the utmost force that created the universe and all life within and to many spirits, You have given to life upon this earth and to each You have instructed to live according to Your way. As I have come from the womb of Mother, the Earth You gave me life and You have given me and my people many sacred objects from which I could learn - relatives, the wind, the two-legged and the four-legged and those that live in the water and dwell in the air to walk the good life.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, God, today I am reminded to think of the millions and millions of buffalo, elk, deer, eagle and all the rest of natural life that You have created and given purpose.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, God, today I am reminded to think of the millions of Indian men, women and children that have sacrificed their life so that we the coming generation lived to see this day, today.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, God please forgive us if we allow the continued destruction of our Mother, the Earth. Grandfather, Grandmother, God, today I ask of you to enter the spirits of all humans who walk on this earth plains.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, God, you have created the white man, the red man, the yellow man, and the black man. Today as the red stands before the yellow, black and white, I pray that you will enter into their spirits so that they will understand our purpose and as one body, one spirit, one voice we have given you this prayer."

Noughtwood went on to tell of the history of the Indian people and their lands very briefly, saying "that lands belong to the Native people. Before the Europeans came to this country, the Indian people had absolute control of this land. They had their own laws, and conservation within their tribal areas. They had a good life."

"In 1497, when the Europeans came to our land and placed their feet on our

sacred land, they were lost, confused; they suffered from scurvy, from diseases, from malnutrition, and our ancestors took pity on them and invited them in. The price we've had to pay to be an Indian has been high. We paid with our lives, with our religious beliefs.

"The Europeans brought with them the three M's - military, missionary and merchant. The military invaded our communities. The missionaries declared our religious beliefs and sacred ceremonies to be barbaric. The merchant exploited our people. We, the Indian people, paid with our land, beliefs, and our language for inviting the Europeans into our land.

"We, the Micmac people, urge Mr. Bennett and the B.C. government to halt the destruction by loggers of Indians homelands."

The crowd cheered and applauded following Noughtwood's presentation and the good feelings were felt by those present, with numerous comments made in favor of the Haida land claim.