Harold Cardinal
Encyclopedia
Dr. Harold Cardinal was a Cree
writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.
Dr. Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree
writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.
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.
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.
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.
Cardinal was not only an architect of change on the political level, he was also instrumental in engaging and redefining the manner in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people related to one another. One of the foundations of his life work was the insistence of the need for mutual recognition, understanding, and respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. While he acknowledged difference, he still fundamentally believed in the power of relationship: “Two more disparate people, speaking in different tongues, speaking from different worlds, would be hard to find anywhere, and yet their dreams, their visions, their hopes, and their aspirations could not find any greater fusion”(Cardinal,1977,p.-). Cardinal is also one of the first Indigenous scholars who actively sought “…a convergence between the knowledge systems of the Cree people and other First Nations and the knowledge systems found in Western educational institutions” (Cardinal,2007, p.65). Upon recognition of the power of colonization over both societies, Cardinal foresaw a bridge of understanding between them.
As embedded in Cardinal’s philosophical praxis, his most profound legacy was felt within Indigenous communities. He was one of the first contemporary Indigenous scholars to articulate the notion that Indigenous people could still hold onto traditions while fully engaging in modernity. Cardinal also opened the mindset of the Canadian public to the idea that Indigenous Elders were effectively “public intellectuals,” tacitly, raising the profile of Indigenous knowledge. He made further intellectual road maps between Indigenous scholarship and traditional knowledge by articulating the Elders’ desires to see Indigenous scholars become familiar with conceptual and theoretical frameworks of Indigenous thought through Indigenous languages in order to maintain cultural strength.
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.
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.
in recognition of his unique achievements in leadership, public policy and law.
In 2001 Cardinal received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award lifetime achievement award.
Cardinal, Harold. The Rebirth of Canada’s Indians. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1977.
Cardinal, Harold and Walter Hildebrandt. Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan. Calgary: University
of Calgary Press, 2000.
Natives & Settlers: Now & Then” Historical Issues and Current Perspectives on Treaties and
Land Claims in Canada Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2007.
McLeod, Neal. Cree Narrative Memory. Saskatoon: Puritch Publishing, 2007.
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.
Dr. Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.
Dr. Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
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
Cultural mosaic
"Cultural mosaic" is a term used to describe the mix of ethnic groups, languages and cultures that co-exist within Canadian society. The idea of a cultural mosaic is intended to champion an ideal of multiculturalism, differently from other systems like the melting pot, which is often used to...
."
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
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
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 AlbertaIndian Association of Alberta
The Indian Association of Alberta is a province-wide First Nations rights organization. It was founded in 1939, after splitting off from the League of Indians in Western Canada.-Further reading:...
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
Assembly of First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations , formerly known as the National Indian Brotherhood, is a body of First Nations leaders in Canada...
).
Cardinal then served the people of his home community, the Sucker Creek Indian Band
Sucker Creek Cree First Nation
Sucker Creek Cree First Nation is a Cree nation located along the shore of Lesser Slave Lake near Enilda, Alberta. It is a Treaty 8 nation.-Notable members:*Harold Cardinal*Linsay Willier*Lorne Cardinal...
, 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
Fort McMurray—Athabasca
Fort McMurray—Athabasca is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968...
. 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 TrudeauPierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
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
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Canada)
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who heads two different departments...
, the Hon. Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
(later Prime Minister of Canada) introduced a "White Paper
1969 White Paper
The 1969 White Paper was a Canadian policy document in which then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, proposed the abolition of the Indian Act, the rejection of land claims, and the assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population with the status of other ethnic minorities...
" 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
Indian Act
The Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
, 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
Just Society
The idea of a "just society" first gained modern attention when philosophers such as John Stuart Mill asked the question, "What is a 'just society?" Their writings covered several different perspectives including allowing individuals to live their lives as long as they didn't infringe on the...
) 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.
Intellectual Legacy
In 1969, along with Indigenous communities, Elders, and other leaders, Cardinal radically questioned the hegemony of the nation state through his efforts to stop The White Paper, which culminated in his book The Unjust Society. The book was instrumental in bringing Indigenous people’s voices and issues to a center stage in Canadian life; it also critically engaged the theoretical foundation and practice of Canadian liberalism as found in then Prime Minister Trudeau’s conceptualizations of a “just society” where all citizens would be considered “equal” in the context of the current nation state. Cardinal argued the state’s premise of equality and justice was a false one because it failed to take into account the historical conditions under which the nation state was created: conditions that denied Indigenous people’s rights as entrenched in the treaties and conditions that, subsequently, oppressed and subjugated them.Cardinal was not only an architect of change on the political level, he was also instrumental in engaging and redefining the manner in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people related to one another. One of the foundations of his life work was the insistence of the need for mutual recognition, understanding, and respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. While he acknowledged difference, he still fundamentally believed in the power of relationship: “Two more disparate people, speaking in different tongues, speaking from different worlds, would be hard to find anywhere, and yet their dreams, their visions, their hopes, and their aspirations could not find any greater fusion”(Cardinal,1977,p.-). Cardinal is also one of the first Indigenous scholars who actively sought “…a convergence between the knowledge systems of the Cree people and other First Nations and the knowledge systems found in Western educational institutions” (Cardinal,2007, p.65). Upon recognition of the power of colonization over both societies, Cardinal foresaw a bridge of understanding between them.
As embedded in Cardinal’s philosophical praxis, his most profound legacy was felt within Indigenous communities. He was one of the first contemporary Indigenous scholars to articulate the notion that Indigenous people could still hold onto traditions while fully engaging in modernity. Cardinal also opened the mindset of the Canadian public to the idea that Indigenous Elders were effectively “public intellectuals,” tacitly, raising the profile of Indigenous knowledge. He made further intellectual road maps between Indigenous scholarship and traditional knowledge by articulating the Elders’ desires to see Indigenous scholars become familiar with conceptual and theoretical frameworks of Indigenous thought through Indigenous languages in order to maintain cultural strength.
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
Assembly of First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations , formerly known as the National Indian Brotherhood, is a body of First Nations leaders in Canada...
, 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 SaskatchewanUniversity of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
he also served as an assistant professor at that University. He completed his LLM at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. A Doctorate in Law from the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
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 AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
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.)
Sources
Cardinal, Harold. The Unjust Society. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1969.Cardinal, Harold. The Rebirth of Canada’s Indians. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1977.
Cardinal, Harold and Walter Hildebrandt. Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan. Calgary: University
of Calgary Press, 2000.
Natives & Settlers: Now & Then” Historical Issues and Current Perspectives on Treaties and
Land Claims in Canada Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2007.
McLeod, Neal. Cree Narrative Memory. Saskatoon: Puritch Publishing, 2007.