Harold Cardinal is glad to be back at home

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In the mid-1970s, he was practically a household name. He was the first president of the National Indian Youth Council, past president of the Indian Association of Alberta, former regional director of Indian Affairs and author of the bestselling book, Unjust Society.

In June, Harold Cardinal and his wife Masie returned home to Alberta with degrees in hand - Harold received a Master of Law, Masie received a Master of Education - all this in the short span of one year. The degrees were earned at none other than the world-renowned Harvard University.

Why Harvard?

"Wanting to teach and work with young people," is one reason, said Harold. And having no further interests in political life, the desire of the Elders to see Aboriginals educated was a strong motivator.

Harold credits the Elders for their "strong sense of independence." We have to "build on those strengths," define what self government means and how it should work. "It's all part of our own healing process and is essential to building the kind of strong communities, people, that we can be."

It's like the missing link to Harold, who argues the need for a stronger organizational base linking communities and people to form a more clearly defined sense of community.

The expectations of the Elders, he adds, was that education "be used, developed [to] bring into being contemporary communities. . . the only way we can go."

People need not be fearful of progress or change.

"I see people paralyzed by fear. . . when you're fearful of everything and don't move, then you become so much more dependent on someone else to do things for you."

Harold would eventually like to see the creation of a legal education program based on traditional values. It's one of the reasons he is considering pursuing a doctorate. He highly values the time he spent, after leaving politics, with traditional Elders and said those were probably "the most gratifying years of my life."

But, if he does pursue a PhD, it'll likely be in Canada which he claims instructs Indian-related matters through programs "far superior to that which you would find at Harvard."

His thesis at Harvard looked at Treaty 8 and the principles underlying the treaty, particularly from an Indian perspective. Most of his law program has centered around comparative and Constitutional law, and somewhat on human rights.

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Business influence increases

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Paul Barnsley , Windspeaker Staff Writer, Vancouver

More and more, First Nations in British Columbia, after years of civil disobedience, legal action and other forms of protest, are playing a part in resource-based businesses.

The change from exclusion to inclusion is not going to be without a few bumps in the road, however. Recent news stories have revealed that the Nuxalk First Nation is working with the environmental activist group, Greenpeace, in an attempt to stop the company Interfor from logging on King Island near Bella Coola. At the same time, the Kitasoo First Nation told Greenpeace to mind its own business and let them get on with doing business and creating jobs as they work together with Western Forest Products, Ltd.

Greenpeace isn't backing off.It recently announced that the preservation of the British Columbia central coast rain forests will be one of its key projects around the world.

During a meeting with Greenpeace activists last month, Kitasoo members said that First Nations have tough choices to make as they get involved in this area. Jobs and profits for their communities are sometimes pitted against environmental concerns. And because of years of economic exclusion, many reserve communities have shockingly high unemployment rates. Working with Western Forest Products - as the Kitasoo are doing - or forming joint ventures with companies such as MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd. - something the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council recently announced they would do - can make the difference between poverty and prosperity.

The British Columbia treaty proces raised the possibility that First Nations will assume more control of resource-rich lands. If the Supreme Court of Canada rules in favor of the Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan chiefs, that will be more than a possibility because the court will be ruling that Aboriginal people own and control their traditional territories. Anticipating the business opportunities that will arise if that happens, big companies are seeking to work with Aboriginal governments. Many Aboriginal leaders, in turn, say they have to reach out to the non-Aboriginal community.

In early June, the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en chiefs issued a press release saying that a decision in their favor in their Supreme Court case would be good economic news for everyone.

"All we're doing with this court action is taking our rightful place in this country," said Wet'suwet'en spokesman, Hereditary Chief Herb George. "We seek to benefit from the resources on our land. How is that different from other Canadians?"