Elijah Harper Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Elijah Harper (born March 3, 1949) is a Aboriginal Cree Canadian politician and band chief.Harper was born in Red Sucker Lake, a reserve in northern Manitoba, and served there as Band Chief from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, Harper became the first Treaty Indian to be elected as a provincial politician when he contested and won the sprawling northern Manitoba riding of Rupertsland for the New Democratic Party. On April 17, 1986, he was appointed to cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio, responsible for Native Affairs. On February 4, 1987, he was named Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister in charge of the Communities Economic Development Fund Act. He resigned from these portfolios on September 9, 1987, but was reappointed as Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for Native Affairs, on November 23, 1987, serving until the defeat of Howard Pawley's government in 1988.
In 1990, Harper achieved national fame by holding an eagle feather when he took his stand in the Manitoba legislature and refused to accept the Meech Lake Accord proposed by the federal government. The accord did not guarantee rights to Canada's Aboriginal peoples. Harper's refusal meant that the Manitoba assembly could not achieve the unanimous consent it needed to approve the Accord before a previously set deadline. As a result, it did not become law.
In the 1993 federal election, Harper was elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa, as a Liberal. He served as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Aboriginal Affairs, but was otherwise not a prominent MP. He was defeated by New Democrat Bev Desjarlais in 1997, and again in 2000.
Elijah Harper is also known for bringing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples together from across Canada to find a spiritual basis for healing and understanding. One such gathering, called the Sacred Assembly '95, took place in Hull, Quebec in December 1995. From this Sacred Assembly, people developed a Reconciliation Proclamation and a Statement of Principles and Priorities. These documents would guide people in the sharing at the Assembly. A second Sacred Assembly took place at the Sagkeeng First Nation in August 1997, just northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
For his work for his people, Harper received the Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award in 1991, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1996. Elijah Harper was appointed Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission on January 21, 1999, and remains in demand as a speaker.
This is an Article on Elijah Harper. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Elijah Harper