FRAMING THE ISSUES - Royal Commission goes to the people to find out what they want

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The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples has issued a report based on its first round of meetings. Commissioners visited 36 locations, held 44 days of public hearings and heard from about 850 individuals and organizations, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. Following are some highlights of that report.

Aboriginal and non-aboriginal speakers at the first round of public hearings and special consultations gave voice repeatedly to hope: hope that aboriginal culture and identity in all its diversity would be safe-guarded; hope that aboriginal history would be told with honesty and respect; hope that policies and legislation rooted in the racist attitudes of the past would be abolished; hope that treaties would be respected and their terms implemented; hope that the Metis would gain the recognition long denied them as a unique people with historical rights; hope of Inuit elders for a recognition of their love of their land, their government, and their young people; hope that inequalities would be rectified and divisions healed within the aboriginal community and between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people.

Looking cautiously to the future and the prospects for action on recommendations still to come, Elijah Harper said at the launch of hearings in Winnipeg, "I hope this is the last Commission."

The expressions of hope were usually preceded by references to pain or threats of further loss. Young people spoke of their fears that the links with their past would be further weakened and broken.

"It boils down to this: we have had our share of pain. We are now reaching out for equality, fairness, quality of life and, most importantly, justice. The time has arrived to start a new direction, a new hope for our people.

April 22, Winniepg, Manitoba

Mary Guilbeault