Native entrepreneurs must be shrewd -- Diamond

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Native businessmen should be as shrewd and ambitious as their white counterparts, says former James Bay Cree chief Billy Diamond.

After all, says Diamond "we have access to the same resources as they do."

Diamond, whose business and political dealings have brought him national and international recognition, told delegates at the Indian Economic Development Conference that the entrepreneurial

spirit among Native communities is alive and well.

It just needs to break away from government control to flourish, he said.

"We have to use our strengths to our advantage," he told a capacity crowd during a banquet presentation at the Edmonton Inn Sept. 27.

Diamond's keynote speech drew praise and criticism from Native leaders and Canadian politicians. He is renowned for his shrewd business tactics and philosophy.

During the third day of the conference, he didn't let his audience down.

Diamond said Native people have to rise above their "petty jealousies" and refuse to accept limitations placed on them by government agencies.

He scoffed at government policies that inhibit Native people from reaching their potential as business people and said the James Bay Cree have learned to use government resources to their

advantage.

Diamond said Native people should never become reliant on government assistance to get by and should use their business acumen to compete with Canadian entrepreneurs.

"The fact of the matter is that huge bureaucracies have been set up to insure its clients (Native people) remain captive, underdeveloped and under government control," he said.

"But the development of Native business will have to take place despite the government."

Diamond said his airline - Air Creebec - which services northern Quebec and northern Ontario, would have never have gotten off the ground if he didn't use his ambitions to make waves in the

Canadian business community.

Now, Diamond said, he has financial interests in Asia and West Germany.

"Native people should realize they have no limitations in business."

As chief of the James Bay Cree from 1970 to 1976, Diamond gained national acclaim when he negotiated the country's first comprehensive land-claim settlement.

He has also been involved in the Canadian constitutional talks and has sat on United Nations subcommittees on Aboriginal Affairs. He is also a founding member of the Grand Council of the Crees

and served as its chief from 1074 to 1984.

Diamond has since mastered the commercial markets and non-profit industry.