Tribute to Elijah Harper Memorial Service Glory and Peace Church Monday, May 20, 2013, 7:00 p.m.

It is a great honour for me to pay tribute today to the legacy of Elijah Harper. Just as Martin Luther King had a dream, Elijah Harper had a vision, a vision for Canada. It was not a complicated vision, but it was strong. Just about 3 weeks ago today, I was with Elijah in the nation of Korea. He was there in the nation of Korea, along with some 30 other First Nations leaders from Canada, including Raymond and Jean McLean, and Irvin and Dolly Wilson, who are here tonight. We were participating in the Korean North American Aboriginal Mission Conference. Elijah was there, standing up for the vision that he believed in, and he never failed to seize an opportunity to share it. My first connection to the Harper family goes back to August of 1992 when I was welcomed to Red Sucker Lake by Elijahs father, Allan B. Harper. It has been mentioned here tonight how close that Elijah was to his father, who was a faithful pastor in the community of Red Sucker Lake for 54 years. During an evening Gathering in a tent meeting that summer, Allan B. Harper called me up to the front to lead out in prayer for his son Elijah was plagued with a mysterious illness for which the doctors could find no explanation or cure. Two years later, by the summer of 1994, I was invited to the same tent meeting once again, and this time Elijah came to one of the services, and when the time came for me to get up and speak, I spoke to Elijah in the audience, and told him that we were praying for him, and that God had given him a significant voice in the nation of Canada, and that God was going to use that voice for His honour and for His glory to call us back to the spiritual foundation without which no nation can long endure. It is a vision that calls for a recognition of the spiritual and relational authority that the Creator has given to the original peoples of the land. It was less than a year later that Elijah had a powerful spiritual experience, after which his health began to improve, and he identified his life with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in water baptism in the summer of 1995. This came after the Oka Crisis of 1990-1991, and almost at the same time as the Ipperwash Crisis in the summer of 1995. There needed to be somebody from within the First Nations community that had the national stature to speak to the heart of the nation, that the political process had failed us, and since violence is not the solution, the answer had to be a spiritual one. Just as strongly as Elijah said a resounding No! to Meech Lake, a No! which shook the nation, he just as strongly advocated a spiritual solution to the land claims and treaty issues which have never been resolved since Confederation. Elijah recognized that there is a spiritual connection between the original peoples of the land, the people whom the Creator put here first, and the land itself. Until we properly honour that connection between the First Peoples and the land itself, the rest of us remain in captivity. So while it was the desire of Elijah Harper to release and to forgive, he knew that there had to be a recognition of the spiritual stewardship that the Creator had given to the First Peoples in order for this to happen.

And so, when he called for a Sacred Assembly in what is now Gatineau, Quebec, right across the river from Ottawa, in December of 1995, he made it the first order of business to have his father, Pastor Allan B. Harper, to give the invocation in the presence of the Prime Minister, and with representatives from all political parties, and leaders from all the major denominations right across Canada. These are the exact words that Allan B. Harper invoked in opening up the Sacred Assembly, speaking in Ojicree with Wally McKay translating into English. His words were, God has helped me throughout my life. It has been many years. And it is the Commission that we have received that we do everything in Gods Name, and upon this Assembly we invoke the blessing of God, and of His Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Immediately after that, Elijah articulated his vision before those assembled, which included several thousand leaders from all different belief systems from right across Canada who had answered the call to this Assembly. Elijah boldly declared right before the Prime Minister, who was Jean Chretien at the time: I have a vision for this country we call Canada. It is not my vision. It is not a new vision at all. It is a vision of our people, the First Nations. It is a vision of our forefathers. It is a vision that lies in the heart and soul of our people. It is inherent in our traditional values and beliefs. It is inherent in our philosophy, and the way we look at life. Above all, it is a vision that acknowledges and embraces the supremacy of God our Creator. This is the vision that is inherent in the treaties that were made with the newcomers that came to this land with their government. We agreed to respect and to honour each other, to co-exist, and to live side-by-side in harmony, to share the knowledge that we have of the land, and the resources. This vision is not very complicated, but it is strong. It embraces unity, caring, loving and sharing, but this vision has been dormant. It has not been understood or appreciated by many ordinary Canadians. We know that God created people and nations all over the world. We know that God has established landmarks and boundaries. The Creator so happened to place the Aboriginal people in this part of the world that we call Canada. And when He placed us here, He gave us certain responsibilities to this land. With this identity, as Aboriginal people, God, the Creator, wants us to maintain our language and culture. We have a responsibility to maintain the unity of this land, and to sustain the environment. Our forefathers had difficulty in understanding the concept of owning land. It is alien, like the concept of owning air. But we understand the need to use the land for the benefit of everybody, not for greed. It is important for all Canadians to understand and appreciate this, that our relationship with this land is a responsibility that it is not within our power to extinguish. It has become more apparent that these things need to be resolved, and that the political process has failed us. I believe that there is something missing, which is the spiritual element. Thus came the idea of the Sacred Assembly to bring spiritual leaders together, to bring understanding amongst our communities in the whole country of Canada. There needs to be a healing in the land and in the people.

There needs to be reconciliation, restoration and restitution. Because of our relationship with the Creator in this land, this is a spiritual process, a sacred process, and this is the reason why we have called a Sacred Assembly. A nation without a vision has no hope. A nation without a vision has no future. We now embark on this journey together for the benefit of all people here in Canada. Meegwetch! After that, then Prime Minister Jean Chretien made his remarks. He said, Elijah said it very well in an earlier statement. What has been missing from all the hard work that has gone into reclaiming Aboriginal lands and self-government through the courts and the political process in recent years has been the spiritual perspective that lies behind these demands for justice. Elijah recognizes that the reasons behind the demands are as important as the demands themselves. These values are spiritual, not political. They must come from leaders like you, but we in the political world must help too. As we look to the future, we will need to learn from and about one another. As it was said before, when there is justice, God is there. And I think, Mr. Harper, that you have found a new way. Spirituality is missing a lot in our society, and spirituality is absolutely needed to find the right way. I know that this was Elijahs vision and passion until his dying day. He realized full well that he may not see the complete fulfillment of this vision in his life-time, but he had a long-term view, and he believed that it would come to pass within the life-time of his children and grandchildren. He never missed an opportunity to participate in a reconciliation event, or in any opportunity that could contribute toward a greater understanding, and a meeting of the minds. It is now incumbent upon the next generation to carry his legacy forward. He served his generation well, but the fulfillment of what was in Elijahs heart is far from finished. He died in faith, believing that the vision for which he gave his all, and laid down his life, would yet be fulfilled in the future, because he based his life on truth that is eternal, and that will outlast all temporary, short-term and stop-gap measures. May our eyes be opened today, to see the vision that Elijah saw clearly, and be willing to give our whole hearts and lives to see that vision come to pass. May it come soon, and in our days! That is how we will truly honour the legacy of Elijah Harper, a man who shook everything that was shakeable in the nation of Canada, in order that we might build upon a more enduring, substantial and spiritual foundation. Thank you. Meegwetch.