Harold Cardinal

Dr. Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.

From the start Cardinal steadfastly demanded, on behalf of all First Nation peoples, the right to be "the red tile in the Canadian mosaic."

Cardinal was a lifelong student of First Nations law as practiced by Cree and other Aboriginal Elders, and this study has been complemented, but in no way supplanted, by extensive study of law in mainstream educational institutions. He was also a generous mentor and inspiration to a very great many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, professionals and political leaders.

He died of lung cancer in 2005 at the age of 60.

Political career

Cardinal's leadership qualities began to surface in 1968 when, at age 23, he was elected leader of the Indian Association of Alberta for an unprecedented nine terms, during which he was instrumental in the formation of the National Indian Brotherhood (the forerunner of the Assembly of First Nations).

Cardinal then served the people of his home community, the Sucker Creek Indian Band, as their Chief.

Cardinal served as the Vice Chief of the Assembly of First Nations during the period of the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in the early 1980s.

Cardinal was instrumental in the creation, in 1984, of the Prairie Treaty Nations Alliance, representing all First Nations of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, to advance issues of concern to those First Nations with particular emphasis on their treaties with the Crown.

Cardinal also participated in Canadian federal politics, in 2000 running unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Liberal Party in the riding of Athabasca. He ran against Dave Chatters, who had been accused of being anti-Native, in explicit opposition to the apparent revival of popular and political support for policies of Aboriginal assimilation.

The "White Paper" and "The Unjust Society"

Cardinal rose to national prominence in the late 1960s. In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proclaimed Canada to be a "just society." However, after a promising round of consultations between the government of Canada and aboriginal leaders in which issues of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and the right of self-government were prominently discussed, Aboriginal people were outraged when Trudeau’s Minister of Indian Affairs, the Hon. Jean Chrétien (later Prime Minister of Canada) introduced a "White Paper" which advocated the elimination of separate legal status for native people in Canada. The white paper amounted to an assimilation program which, if implemented, would have repealed the "Indian Act", transferred responsibility for Indian Affairs to the provinces and terminated the rights of Indians under the various treaties they had made with the Crown.

In 1969, Cardinal swept open what he called, in his first book "The Unjust Society," (cf. Just Society) the "buckskin curtain" between aboriginal people and mainstream society with force that was backed up with knowledge, understanding, dignity, anger and pride. The result, as expressed in the title of his second book, published in 1977, was "The Rebirth of Canada's Indians" as a political force in Canada. "The Unjust Society" was Cardinal's personal response to the Chrétien/Trudeau White Paper. It became an immediate Canadian best-seller and was reprinted in 2000 with a new introduction by Cardinal. "The Unjust Society" was instrumental in causing the Canadian government to abandon the assimilationist policy of the White Paper. Cardinal was also the principal author of the Indian Association of Alberta's response to the White Paper, entitled "Citizen's Plus' or known as 'The Red Paper". Cardinal's words galvanized the First Nations of Canada into action. The result was a complete about-face by the federal government on the policies of the White Paper and the establishment of joint meetings between First Nations and the federal cabinet in the early 1970s.

Cardinal’s gift for satire was displayed in his early writings, turning Trudeau's promise of a “just society” into an “unjust society” and a “white paper” into “red paper”, and then equating the brutal slaughter of American Indians by the U.S. Cavalry with bayonet and Hotchkiss guns with the cultural genocide which the Canadian government was perpetrating on aboriginal people with paper.

Cardinal’s lifelong demand for radical changes in policy on aboriginal rights, education, social programs and economic development was a beacon of hope for Canada’s First Nations people.

Professional life

In addition to his political posts, Cardinal had a full and varied career. In the 1970s Cardinal was the first Aboriginal person to be appointed to the post of regional director general of Indian Affairs. His tenure was brief and controversial.

In 1984 Cardinal was appointed by the chiefs of Treaty 8 to negotiate an agreement to "renovate" that treaty. The failure of the negotiations after a promising beginning caused Cardinal to undertake a lengthy period of personal reflection, including much study with elders.

Cardinal also acted as a negotiator and consultant to many First Nations relating to land and other issues, usually relating to treaty rights.

Cardinal made a significant contribution to the work of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, as well as the work of the Assembly of First Nations, particularly on the need for recognition of the sovereignty of First Nations as expressed through their treaties with the Crown. His life-long position has been that the spirit and intent of the treaties must be the principal instrument governing relations between First Nations and the Crown.

Legal career

After a career in First Nations politics and extensive study with First Nation elders, Cardinal undertook the formal study of law in his 40s. While studying law at the University of Saskatchewan he also served as an assistant professor at that University. He completed his LLM at Harvard University. A Doctorate in Law from the University of British Columbia was awarded to Cardinal days before his death in June, 2005.

On November 4, 2004, two months before his 60th birthday, Cardinal was admitted to the Bar of Alberta.

Other honours

In 1999, Cardinal received an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Alberta in recognition of his unique achievements in leadership, public policy and law.

In 2001 Cardinal received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award lifetime achievement award.

Publications

* "The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada's Indians", 1969 (reprinted with a new introduction 2000).

* "The Rebirth of Canada's Indians", 1977.

* "Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan: Our Dream Is That Our Peoples Will One Day Be Clearly Recognized As Nations", 2000 (with Walter Hildebrandt.)