|
Born First Nations Cree, March 05, 1949, in a tent at Red Sucker Lake in North East Manitoba, one of thirteen children. His parents were Ethel and Allen Harper. Weaned from his mother's milk, he was then left to live with his Grandparents while his parents worked their trap lines. Elijah remembers that his Grandfather also trapped for furs, fished for food and followed the geese. His Grandmother chewed skins to make soft leather for moccasins. She was a very strong force in his life, and she reminded him often of the suffering she had endured in the Mission School. Elijah's early education was hunting, learning about herbal medicines and cultural and religious traditions that dated back 7000 years. At that time he did not know a world existed beyond.
Nine years of age found him at Residential School at Norway House on Lake Winnipeg, and later, the Brandon Residential School in Manitoba, until the age of sixteen.
From there he chose life on a trap-line at Red Sucker Lake. Feeling he was not cut out for the life of the bush Indian, he returned to high school and then entered the University of Manitoba for a year with the intention of studying Anthropology. He went north again, and September 23, 1972, he married Elizabeth Ann Ross. At this time he took a job as Communications Divisions Officer for the Manitoba Second Brotherhood. This work made him an ECONOMIC Jack of all Trades. Promotions were small and he ended up filing UIC claims and writing applications for non-writers. In 1975 he became Area Supervisor. He was analyst for the Department of Northern Affairs under Sterling R. Lyon, following which, he ran for Chief of the Band. There was work to be done with Ed Schreyer. During 1981he found himself a spot as an NDP candidate for Rupertsland to the NW Territories and half the Province of Manitoba. He became Minister of Native Affairs for Howard Pawley during 1986-88. He found life for an Indian brutal as he straddled both the White and Indian World.
During 1988, J.J. Harper, a distant relative, was shot and killed on a North Winnipeg street by a Police Officer of the Winnipeg Force, which then sparked a Provincial Inquiry into Aboriginal Justice. However, from the Native point of view, the strength was in numbers and they were out for the downfall of the conquerors. Back in 1987, Elijah Harper had been charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Mr. Harper has paid an emotional price for his contribution to Parliament, which often included both native and non-native. He is now separated from his wife. When asked by Marlene Brant Castallano, Chairperson of the Mohawk Native Studies, Trent University, if it was lonely being the only voice to destroy Canada, he answered that he sees himself as a prototypical Indian; as instructor of the collective group of Indians. He draws strength from that to resist pressure. He speaks on behalf of Aborigines everywhere, "We have inherited this problem and must find a way to find a solution." Wearing sunglasses and a cap in which is inserted an Eagle Feather, he jokes that Oka is a National constipation for him to learn from.
The Financial Post interviewed Elijah Harper at Tswwassen, B.C., during the time he attended the Stein Valley Festival with the Nlaka'Pamux Indians, a band of 20,000 people, to help raise money to save the Stein Valley from the Corporate Axes. The Festival was a Spiritual and Political Marriage of the native values with environmentalism. Aboriginal Spiritualism places emphasis on living in Nature, the Green Moment fight and Vegetarianism. Their motto was that if we stick together we are a Powerful Voice.
A sign on Elijah Harper's desk reads "The Buck Stops Here." George Erasmus, Chief of the National Chiefs Assembly of First Nations that year, said the Natives needed a hero, and that a hero was difficult to find. George felt that because he was not afraid to stand alone against all public opinion, Mr. Harper was indeed that hero.
Mike Harcourt, NDP leader said that Elijah Harper's contribution has changed Canada for the better.
Harper states that the Aborigine is not a savage and that he will not stop until his People are represented in the Canadian Constitution. - (Excerpts From a Winnipeg Free Press Clipping, 1991.)
Born First Nations Cree, March 05, 1949, in a tent at Red Sucker Lake in North East Manitoba, one of thirteen children. His parents were Ethel and Allen Harper. Weaned from his mother's milk, he was then left to live with his Grandparents while his parents worked their trap lines. Elijah remembers that his Grandfather also trapped for furs, fished for food and followed the geese. His Grandmother chewed skins to make soft leather for moccasins. She was a very strong force in his life, and she reminded him often of the suffering she had endured in the Mission School. Elijah's early education was hunting, learning about herbal medicines and cultural and religious traditions that dated back 7000 years. At that time he did not know a world existed beyond.
Nine years of age found him at Residential School at Norway House on Lake Winnipeg, and later, the Brandon Residential School in Manitoba, until the age of sixteen.
From there he chose life on a trap-line at Red Sucker Lake. Feeling he was not cut out for the life of the bush Indian, he returned to high school and then entered the University of Manitoba for a year with the intention of studying Anthropology. He went north again, and September 23, 1972, he married Elizabeth Ann Ross. At this time he took a job as Communications Divisions Officer for the Manitoba Second Brotherhood. This work made him an ECONOMIC Jack of all Trades. Promotions were small and he ended up filing UIC claims and writing applications for non-writers. In 1975 he became Area Supervisor. He was analyst for the Department of Northern Affairs under Sterling R. Lyon, following which, he ran for Chief of the Band. There was work to be done with Ed Schreyer. During 1981he found himself a spot as an NDP candidate for Rupertsland to the NW Territories and half the Province of Manitoba. He became Minister of Native Affairs for Howard Pawley during 1986-88. He found life for an Indian brutal as he straddled both the White and Indian World.
During 1988, J.J. Harper, a distant relative, was shot and killed on a North Winnipeg street by a Police Officer of the Winnipeg Force, which then sparked a Provincial Inquiry into Aboriginal Justice. However, from the Native point of view, the strength was in numbers and they were out for the downfall of the conquerors. Back in 1987, Elijah Harper had been charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Mr. Harper has paid an emotional price for his contribution to Parliament, which often included both native and non-native. He is now separated from his wife. When asked by Marlene Brant Castallano, Chairperson of the Mohawk Native Studies, Trent University, if it was lonely being the only voice to destroy Canada, he answered that he sees himself as a prototypical Indian; as instructor of the collective group of Indians. He draws strength from that to resist pressure. He speaks on behalf of Aborigines everywhere, "We have inherited this problem and must find a way to find a solution." Wearing sunglasses and a cap in which is inserted an Eagle Feather, he jokes that Oka is a National constipation for him to learn from.
The Financial Post interviewed Elijah Harper at Tswwassen, B.C., during the time he attended the Stein Valley Festival with the Nlaka'Pamux Indians, a band of 20,000 people, to help raise money to save the Stein Valley from the Corporate Axes. The Festival was a Spiritual and Political Marriage of the native values with environmentalism. Aboriginal Spiritualism places emphasis on living in Nature, the Green Moment fight and Vegetarianism. Their motto was that if we stick together we are a Powerful Voice.
A sign on Elijah Harper's desk reads "The Buck Stops Here." George Erasmus, Chief of the National Chiefs Assembly of First Nations that year, said the Natives needed a hero, and that a hero was difficult to find. George felt that because he was not afraid to stand alone against all public opinion, Mr. Harper was indeed that hero.
Mike Harcourt, NDP leader said that Elijah Harper's contribution has changed Canada for the better.
Harper states that the Aborigine is not a savage and that he will not stop until his People are represented in the Canadian Constitution. - (Excerpts From a Winnipeg Free Press Clipping, 1991.)
