Cassandra Locklear’s two children, Sydney, 5, and Gene, 7, have Native American myopathy, a degenerative muscular disorder. Researchers on June 4 identified the gene mutation that causes the disease, which has only been found to affect Lumbees. (Fay Observer staff photo by Andrew Craft)

As the Fay Observer’s Ali Rockett reports, scientist have identified the genetic mutation that causes Native American myopathy, a rare genetic muscular disorder found only in the Lumbee population.

Cassandra Locklear’s two children, Sydney, 5, and Gene, 7, have myophathy.

Powell estimates the disease affects one in 5,000 Lumbees, but the numbers could be much higher. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, with 55,000 members, is the largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi. Its members primarily live in Robeson, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland counties.

It wasn’t until June 4 that doctors at the University of Michigan, with the help of Powell’s research, identified a gene mutation that causes the disease.

The breakthrough will take the guesswork out of diagnosis, Powell said, and is the first step to finding treatments for the disease.

Locklear said Gene had to undergo a battery of invasive and sometimes painful tests to rule out several other diseases.

“I don’t remember what they were,” Locklear said. “But I came home and read about them and it scared the bejesus out of me.”

Powell, who has been studying the disease for more than 20 years, said before the mutation was identified, there was no way to know for sure that someone had the disease.

“It was really a matter of ruling other things out,” she said. “Because there was no test that ruled it in.”

Now, Powell said, doctors can run a gene test.

Symptoms of myopathy can include developmental delays, muscle weakness, cleft palate and clubfoot.

Locklear hopes the breakthrough will bring more attention to the disease by the medical community and the tribe itself.

She began a Facebook page in 2010 dedicated to Native American myopathy, which she said has seen an increase in traffic since the gene discovery.

Locklear said because the disease is unique to Lumbees, it could help in the tribe’s ongoing struggle for full federal recognition.

“They are things that are individual to this tribe. This is one of them,” Locklear said.

Jenna Cederberg

By Brandon Ecoffey, Native Sun News managing editor

RAPID CITY — Wounded Knee will end up in the hands of the Oglala Lakota people. The question that remains however is will it be an individual tribal member or the tribal government?

The Wounded Knee Memorial has been neglected for many years until Tribal member steps in to restore it. (Photo by Karin Eagle, courtesy of Native Sun News)

The deal could go through as early as the end of this week.
The two sites that were put up for sale by land owner Jim Czywczysnki for a total of $4.9 million are located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. The Wounded Knee site is the place where the United States government massacred approximately 300 Hunkpapa and Mnicoujou Lakota in 1890, and is also where the 1973 takeover by the American Indian Movement occurred.

According to sources within the tribal government the Oglala Sioux Tribe is currently working with a financial backer who represents a large national organization whose sole purpose is the preservation of national historic sites. The organization would purchase the land on behalf of the tribe and then donate it to them.

The organization is currently collecting the necessary funds needed to purchase the land from Czywczysnki. The official also told Native Sun News that the tribe has been approached by several philanthropic groups interested in purchasing the lands on behalf of the tribe. However according to the source OST President Bryan Brewer has been skeptical of several of the groups and has been extremely diligent in assuring that the tribe would not be taken advantage of.

When contacted by NSN, Czywczysnki said that he has not spoken with anyone representing the Oglala Sioux Tribal government.

“The tribe has not responded to anything that I have sent them. It has always been my hope that the tribe would end up with the land. The group who I am meeting with this week also hopes that the land will end up in the right hands rather it be a tribal member or the Tribe as a government,” said Czywczysnki.

The group that Czywczysnki is set to meet with this week is represented by a local realtor and an attorney from California. The attorney who flew to South Dakota this week is the spokesperson for anonymous donors that refuse to publicly take credit for the purchase of the land if it goes through. According to Czywczysnki and emails acquired by NSN the attorney is working with a mediator who is an Oglala Sioux tribal member charged with assuring that the land does become the property of owners who are connected to the tribe in some capacity.

The tribal official who spoke with NSN on the condition of anonymity said that the tribal government’s financiers would be meeting with the tribe in the coming days.

“I am hopeful that the deal goes through this week and the land can be returned to the tribe. If not this group then hopefully the tribe will approach me with an offer from their group. I have put two other potential buyers on hold while I work with this group who wants the tribe or a tribal member to have it,” said Czywczysnki.

“If not then I am going to go ahead and move forward with the groups who are not connected to anyone in the tribe. I don’t want to do that but there are offers and I have no choice but to entertain them.”

Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com. Copyright permission by Native Sun News.

Concerning statistics were reported about the Native teen high school graduation rates in a recent Education Week report.

According to U.S.News and World Report‘s Kelsey Sheehy, as black and Latino students are graduating at higher rates, the number of Native students earning diplomas has fallen.

Roughly 51 percent of Native American students in the class of 2010 earned a high school diploma. That’s down from 54 percent in 2008, when graduation rates for the group reached its peak.

“What we’re dealing with here is a tremendous issue,” says RiShawn Biddle, director of communications for the National Indian Education Association. “Native education is in crisis.”

Part of the issue stems from American Indian students winding up in schools that are already “dropout factories,” Biddle says. Lack of recognition is also a key concern.

“In many ways, our students are invisible,” Biddle says. “We’re not the largest percentage of the population, so people forget for a moment that we’re at the table.”

Students in Alaska and South Dakota had the lowest graduation rates. Oklahoma was the bright spot, Sheehy reported.

“The reason why Oklahoma stands out in many cases is because there is a closer working relationship between the state and tribes,” says Biddle. “It’s not a perfect relationship, there are issues, but … tribes such as Cherokee Nation, Osage Nation, Chickasaw Nation [are] all really doing interesting work pulling together academics and culture.”

Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Hawaii and Massachusetts achieved the highest graduation rates for American Indian students in 2010.
Those rates range from close to 69 percent in Florida to 64 percent in Kansas. The overall graduation rate in Florida was 72.9 percent, the report states.

“When a state is doing well by Native children, they’re also, more than likely, going to work to do well by everyone,” Biddel says.

But the declining graduation rates among Native American students are in sharp contrast to the improvement among other minority groups.

Graduation rates among Latino students jumped by more than 5 percentage points for the second year in a row, and rates for black students improved 13.2 percentage points in the past decade. For the class of 2010, roughly 62 and 68 percent of black and Latino students, respectively, earned diplomas nationwide.

Jenna Cederberg

ICTNM’s Brian Daffron details a new website that is helping to get much needed supplies and aid to more than 50 Native families whose lives where torn apart by the recent string of tornadoes in Oklahoma.

In the story, Daffron introduces readers to Trails of H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People Earnestly), a website that is sending items directly to families in need.

At Trails of H.O.P.E., people can donate directly to Native American families.

The website is the idea of Oklahoma City area social worker Cortney Yarholar, who is of the Sac & Fox, Creek, Pawnee and Otoe tribes. He was inspired, he said, by words he had been told while growing up.

“ ‘Don’t ask for permission,’ his family elders often told him. ” ‘If you see something that needs to be done, just go do it.’ ”

Yarholar’s wife is from Moore, so he had seen firsthand the aftermath of both the 1999 and 2003 tornadoes that had hit the area. Her family had lost their home both times. He also knew that although FEMA and the American Red Cross handled immediate relief needs, these types of government and non-profit organizations are not always there for the long term. To fill this gap, Yarholar collaborated with the website Last Real Indians to create Trails of H.O.P.E., which is collecting donations to go directly to the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference disaster response committee.

The Oklahoma Indian Missionary is the governing body of the American Indian Methodist churches within Oklahoma and exists to assist American Indian disaster victims.

“They’re really in it for the long haul, the long term, in helping families rebuild their lives—not only their physical homes but also their lives,” Yarholar said.

You can also donated by sending checks directly to the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, 3020 S. Harvey, OKC, OK 73109. ATTN: Disaster Relief.

Jenna Cederberg

Roughly $1.4 million worth of Native art will go up for auction this week as a part of a sell off of pieces from Jim and Lauris Phillips’ massive collection.

A Yokuts polychrome gambling tray (Courtesy of Bonham’s, via Forbes.com)

Forbes contributor Jonathon Keats examined the history of the collection and the prices the rare pieces fetch.

What does the continued popularity of the pieces mean for Native culture?

…the Phillips’ Navajo blankets are expected to realize some of the highest prices. Last year, an exceptionally rare chief’s blanket from 1850 sold at John Moran Auctioneers in Pasadena, California for a record $1.8 million, and in May Sotheby’s auctioned 61 blankets from the world-renowned collection of the late singer Andy Williams: The top lot, a first-phase chief’s blanket from 1860, went for $221,000.

Trading for 20 horses or 100 buffalo hides when they were made, Navajo chief’s blankets were once “arguably the most expensive garments in the world,” says Sotheby’s senior consultant David Roche. Appreciated at the time for their watertight weave of colored wool, they’ve since been recognized as “a unique American art form” and collected by artists such as Frank Stella and Andy Warhol. (Williams hung one of his next to a painting by Mark Rothko.)

The top Phillips blanket was created five to ten years later than the $221,000 Williams tapestry, and, like the Yokuts tray, was quite possibly made for the burgeoning tourist trade.

It’s also less staid than striped first-phase blankets, according to Bonhams vice president Jim Haas. “White folk liked things that were brilliant and ornate,” he says.

The natives appeased them by artfully restyling their traditions. What could be more American?

Jenna Cederberg

Keenan Blackbird receives his eagle feather from Sandra Boham on Thursday. (Photo by Rion Sanders/ of the Great Falls Tribune)

“The eagle flies higher than any other bird and it is a sacred being.”
- Russell Boham, cultural adviser to Great Falls’ Public Schools Indian Education department.

Great Falls Tribune reporter Kristen Cates was at a special graduation ceremony for 45 Native students graduating from high school in central Montana last week.

Eagle feathers were presented to the students who, as Cates put it, “are ready to soar to new destinations.”

(Boham) said in Native culture an eagle is an emissary between human beings and the creator. An eagle feather is typically given as an honor for a great achievement.

“When they hold that feather, they are actually getting God — the creator’s — attention,” he said. “(This is) a ceremony that gets you ready for the next stage in existence.”

Click here to view a video of the ceremony.

Over the last two years, Great Falls Public Schools has seen a marked improvement in how ready its Native American students are for the next stage in life. Indian Education Director Sandra Boham said graduation rates among Native American students have risen from 47 percent to 68 percent. Where there used to be a 30 percent gap between native and non-native students in that achievement area is now just 17 percent.

“We’re pretty excited about this,” Sandra Boham said. “We still have a ways to go.”

Parents and extended family attended Thursday night’s ceremony, equally as proud of their students’ achievement as they were.

Agnes and Fred Green promised their grandson Nathan Rodarte a new hunting rifle if he earned his eagle feather in time to walk across the graduation stage at CMR. He came through.

“We’re so thankful he could graduate,” Fred said. “He’s had a lot of problems and learning disabilities he’s overcome and he’s done really well. We’re just tickled to death.”

Jenna Cederberg

By Martin Kidston, of the Missoulian

Educators from Indian Country and beyond gathered at the University of Montana this week, launching a two-day seminar focused on the state of Native American education and efforts to drive it forward.

From building university-based outreach centers on reservations to exploring the balance of diversity, experts attending the Native American Student Advocacy Institute’s sixth annual conference spent the day discussing resources and ways to get more Indian students to college.

“I hope we find an opportunity to stabilize some programs and do better outreach with the public, and find a way to make transition a reality,” said Joyce Silverthorne, director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. “I hope the communication from the communities out here continues. I hope we’re able to address some of the concerns people have.”

A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and a UM graduate, Silverthorne began her career years ago as a faculty member at Salish Kootenai College. Kicking off the seminar, she shared her own experiences representing Indian County in a federal agency that lacks a Native American perspective.

Efforts are being made to bring more Indian educators into the Department of Education to give the agency representation Silverthorne says it has lacked. Job preference has been approved for Native Americans within the DOE, and funding from the Udall Foundation has been secured to pay for 12 new interns in Washington, D.C., from 12 tribes and 11 universities.

Silverthorne told the morning audience of several hundred attendees that national education must include Native American input. She said the Department of Education needs a ground-level perspective from those with firsthand experience.

“Their window of understanding is limited,” Silverthorne said. “It’s not that they’re wrong. It’s that they don’t know what they don’t know. Without us being in those offices (at the DOE), people representing the Indian children of our country, in all its diverse nature – it would look different.”

The Office of Indian Education also received a $2 million increase in funding through recent congressional appropriations. It was enough to establish a pilot program funding new tribal education agencies in four different states.

Silverthorne said the agencies, to be established by the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, and the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, will partner with their respective state education offices to build the new program.

The novel effort aims to promote collaboration between tribal and state education agencies, while helping tribes develop and enhance their role, responsibilities and accountability in Indian education.

“We know four programs are not representative of all the tribes, but it’s a beginning,” Silverthorne said. “We’re working hard to support those programs and ensure they come out successful and give us a road map of where we need to go next.”

***

Teresa Branch, vice president of student affairs at the University of Montana, said the seminar represents a starting point from which to discuss the future of Indian education across the country and at home.

The issue is a fundamental part of making Montana whole, Branch said. The state is home to seven tribal colleges, four governor-appointed Indian officials, and the highest per-capita Native American representation in a state legislature.

Roughly 250 Native American students registered at UM for the 2012-13 academic year, one of the largest classes on record. Several schools, including UM, Montana State University and Northern Arizona University, had recruitment literature displayed at Thursday’s conference.

“UM is recognized as a national leader in Native American studies and it currently has one of the highest enrollment rates of Native Americans in the nation,” Branch said. “We recognize the cultural and social obstacles Native students face in order to obtain an education.”

Efforts to address those obstacles served as a conference focus Thursday, drawing experts from across the country, including Alfred Herrera, the assistant vice provost for academic partnerships at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Herrera said the shortcomings of Native American education can be traced back to reservation schools and their lack of resources and technology. College officials, he said, must be sensitive to cultural differences.

“For us at UCLA, we’ve learned a lot from these national organizations,” Herrera said. “Learning about the cultural backgrounds, the important issues for that tribe and that community – it’s important for us to make sure we’re sensitive to that and provide whatever assistance we can.”

David Yarlott Jr., president of Little Bighorn College on the Crow Reservation, said Indian educators and their students are contributing to the nation’s larger educational process.

A member of the Greasy Mouth Clan and a fluent Crow speaker, Yarlott said it’s important that educators of non-Native students understand that the needs of Indian education are no different from other schools.

“We’re contributors to the education system,” Yarlott said. “The students we teach become contributors to the state and the nation. Whenever we find ways to have our students succeed, we’re getting closer to the goals of the U.S. as a whole.

“Any time we have these conferences and sit down and talk about the things we do, it provides encouragement to each other knowing we’re not in this alone. We move forward together.”

The conference continues Friday at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo.

Does an increase in prosecution of criminal cases in Indian Country lead to safer communities?

That’s the hope and new stats released by the U.S. Department of Justice show there has been a marked increase in prosecutions from 2009 to 2012.

The DOJ will release a report this week detailing the increases, according to the Associated Press.

The report scheduled for release later Thursday marks the first look at government investigations and prosecutions on tribal lands. It comes as a result of the 2010 Tribal Law and Order Act, which requires the Justice Department to publicly release such figures.

Justice officials acknowledge that their work is far from done, but they say the numbers demonstrate the government’s commitment to combating violent crime on reservations where rates are higher than the national average.

The report also shows that nearly 6,000 Indian reservation cases were referred to the federal government between calendar years 2011 and 2012. Arizona, home to the nation’s largest American Indian reservation, had the highest number with more than 2,000, followed by South Dakota with nearly 1,000 and Montana with more than 500.

Of the 5,985 cases referred from reservations across the country over the two years, about two-thirds led to convictions, while about one-third were declined for prosecution.

“It shows that we’re walking the talk at the Department of Justice,” said Tim Purdon, U.S. attorney in North Dakota.

Many in Indian Country were enthused by stats.

Federal authorities have “really stepped up trying to improve criminal justice in Indian Country and ensure public safety,” said Leonhard of the Umatilla Tribe’s Office of Legal Counsel.

Still, nearly 2,000 cases were declined for prosecution, a matter for which the DOJ has been criticized in the past.

“There are cases that are legitimately declined, and that is appropriate and expected,” said Leonhard.

The DOJ’s report shows that the matters declined in 2011 and 2012 were mostly because of insufficient evidence. Rates for individual states varied widely _ from Montana, where 52 percent of cases were turned down, to Arizona, where 20 percent were declined over the two years.

Federal prosecutors, however, don’t measure their performance in Indian Country by declination statistics. Instead, they point to the relationships they’ve built with tribal police, investigators, prosecutors and community members.

Read the full story here.

Jenna Cederberg

By By Brandon Ecoffey, Native Sun News managing editor

The Wounded Knee Memorial has been neglected for many years until Tribal member steps in to restore it. (Photo by Karin Eagle, courtesy of Native Sun News)

Nonetheless as the months have passed and several potential buyers are now negotiating a final deal on the land the Oglala Sioux Tribe has decided to take action and file in federal court under the premise of eminent domain to seize the land.

On Thursday, May16, the Oglala Sioux Tribal council voted 14-0 to file in federal court for eminent domain over the land that Czywczynski, a nonmember, owns at Wounded Knee. While many have praised the tribe for exercising an established right of any government, the legal efficacy of this action is still undetermined.

Eminent domain is the power of a government to seize the private property of an individual or group of people for use by the state. The most common examples are when city, state, or federal governments seize lands for the construction of civil infrastructure.

Article 4 of the Oglala Sioux tribal constitution grants the tribe the authority to “purchase under condemnation proceedings in courts of competent jurisdiction, land or property needed for public purpose”. The right of the tribe to acquire land for public use is further supported within the OST Bill of Rights which states that the tribe cannot, “Take any private property for public use without compensation.”

Although the tribe is granted this authority under its own constitution the legal waters become murky when it is acknowledged that the land owned by the seller is not tribal land and the seller is not a tribal member.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity one top federal Indian law attorney in Washington D.C. told Native Sun News that it would be highly unlikely that eminent domain could be used on the lands at Wounded Knee.

“It would be very hard for me to see the tribe pull this off,” the source said. “If this was truly a viable option for tribes than it would be extremely easy for tribes to consolidate their land bases. They could simply seize whatever they wanted from non-members within the confines of the reservation, provided they pay just compensation. Who determines what just compensation is?”

The lawyer also said that historically tribal jurisdiction is respected when the land is tribal land held in trust however when the land is owned by a non-Native and is not in trust the situation has been interpreted inversely by the courts.

Some tribal legal experts however feel that the tribe does have some legal standing to seize the land.

“The land in question is private, it is on the reservation and is needed for a public purpose, given its historical, cultural and traditional significance to the tribe,” said longtime tribal judge and law professor Patrick Lee. “Jurisdiction is always an issue when nonmembers are involved. Tribal ordinance 93-12 provides that nonmembers impliedly consent to tribal jurisdiction by owning land or by possession or use of any property situated within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Procedurally that is a very strong position for the tribe to be in should the owner challenge tribal jurisdiction” added Lee.

The tribe changed their legal code in 1993 establishing implied consent as the legal standard for jurisdiction over non-members.

Prior to 1993 non-Natives owning land or operating a businesses on the reservation submitted to tribal jurisdiction through expressed consent, meaning verbally or through written agreement.

Legal standards over land disputes on the northern plains however are far from set in stone and are extremely complicated when dealing with land on the reservation.

“The whole issue over tribal jurisdiction over deeded land is in flux. If you talk to any lawyer in this area it is a nightmare right now,” said Rosebud Sioux Tribal member and practicing attorney Terry Pechota. “Tribes do have the authority to use Eminent Domain but it is undetermined as far as to what it covers.

Is it barred by local legislation? Does it only apply to trust land? These are all questions that come up and another big factor is where it will be filed at.”

Pechota would go on to say that the land owner would most likely lean on the fact that he is not a tribal member.

“Obviously the land owner would say he is a non-Indian so tribal law does not apply to him. He would say that it is not tribal land it is deeded land and that under Supreme Court precedence the tribe has no authority to take it from him.”

Prior to seizing property under Eminent Domain the tribe would first be required to enter in to condemnation proceedings over the land to determine what is just compensation. This would be determined in a court of law. The owner of the property would have the option to challenge the right of the tribe to seize the land. The tribe would then bear the burden of proving that there seizure of the land for public use is justified.

“Just compensation is a matter of interpretation. The amount that he is asking for the land is unreasonable and is worth much more to the tribe in terms of its cultural value. You cannot put a dollar value on historical, cultural and traditional value of the tribe.

Mr. Czywczynski is attempting to capitalize on the tribe’s cultural interest in the land including the place-name which has much more value to the tribe than it does to outsiders,” said Patrick Lee.

“The tribal courts are courts of competent jurisdiction because its decisions are recognized all over the United States including the federal government. The tribe could assign its own monetary value on the land by having it appraised not for its cultural significance, but for its agricultural or grazing value that would apply to a non-Indian, and purchase it for that amount which would, in my opinion, be reasonable compensation.”

The historical significance of the site however extends beyond the tribe. Both the massacre of 300 Mnicoujou and Hunkpapa Lakota there in 1890 and the takeover by the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee in 1973 are recognized as significant events in mainstream American history. A fact the Czywczynski is quick to note.

“It is very hard to put a price on history. The events that took place there raise the monetary value of the land,” said Czywczynski. “There were two events that happened at Wounded Knee that the whole world knows took place, they were unfortunate events but they happened.”

Determining what exactly just compensation is for the land would be another major sticking point for the tribe. American courts have held the measure of just compensation is fair market value.

Although the land has been appraised as only being worth $7,000, current Supreme Court case law has determined fair market value to be what a an unpressured buyer would pay for a designated property voluntarily. In addition the courts have taken into account what would be the most profitable use the property being seized regardless of its current use or distinction.

NSN has viewed documents showing that Czywczynski currently has multiple buyers prepared to pay the $4.9 million asking price for the land.

“There are huge investment opportunities for the tribe or whoever else may buy the property at Wounded Knee,” said Czywczynski. “It could create jobs and it could be done in a respectful way, I don’t understand how the tribe cannot see this,” he added.

Czwczynski said that he had not been notified of any legal action taken by the tribe and was proceeding with negotiations.
“This will most likely end up in federal court if nothing is worked out,” said Terry Pechota.

Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com. Copyright permission by Native Sun News.

Elijah Harper. (Photo by RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

You can also read the Winnipeg Free Press’ obituary tribute to Harper, “The humble man who said no.”

Cree leader Elijah Harper was to be laid to rest on Thursday morning, May 23, at the reserve where it all began, after hundreds lined up to pay respects earlier in the week as Harper lay in state at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away at the 12th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Grand Chief Edward John opened the meeting with a tribute to the leader, who was felled on Friday May 18 at age 64 by cardiac complications related to diabetes. (Related: Elijah Harper, Iconic Aboriginal Leader Who Scuttled Meech Accord, Walks On)

“In our lifetime there are those few who touch our hearts and minds in profound ways,” John said in a statement. “Today, as he is being laid to rest, I wish to acknowledge the passing of Elijah Harper, a distinguished and respected Indigenous leader and parliamentarian in Canada. We extend our deepest condolence to his family and friends.”

John went on to relate the history of the Red Sucker Lake First Nation former chief, who first survived the residential school system, then went on to be elected to the Manitoba Legislative Assembly and then, Parliament.

A funeral service was held for the legendary leader on Monday evening after people flooded the legislative building to bid farewell. A Manitoba flag was draped over Harper’s open casket, and an eagle-feather headdress had been placed on top. Portraits of the iconic leader were placed nearby in which he was holding an eagle feather. (Related: Elijah Harper Lies in State at Manitoba Legislature)

From the other side of Turtle Island, John recounted the watershed moment in history that brought Harper—and aboriginals—to national prominence.

“He will be remembered for that moment when he took a stand, with an eagle feather in his hand, in the Manitoba Legislature in 1990 as the lone voice to vote against the Meech Lake Accord, which proposed amendments to Canada’s constitution but which ignored Indigenous Peoples rights,” John aid in his statement. “With this decisive action he stopped the amendment from proceeding which already had the political support from the federal and provincial leaders and governments.”

Harper’s reason: “In his quiet and humble way, he said, ‘I stalled and killed it because I didn’t think it offered anything to the aboriginal people,’ ” John continued. “His stand helped propel indigenous issues to the top of Canada’s political agenda and into the public consciousness of Canadians.”

Harper was known for uttering the simple word “no” repeatedly at that infamous voting session. But it was merely an example of the underlying spirit that guided him, wrote Don Marks, a Canadian writer and a close friend of Harper.

“Elijah Harper is most famous for saying that one word and changing the course of Canadian history,” Marks wrote in the Winnipeg Free Press. “And for far too many people, this is all that Elijah will be known for. But for those of us who learned early on to listen more closely, this man, who was raised by his grandparents on a trapline in northern Manitoba, was one of the most eloquent, in large part by being succinct, political spokespersons of all time; white, red, yellow or black.”

Condolences poured in from around the country, and about 700 people attended his funeral on the evening of May 20. The official burial service was to be held on Thursday morning, May 23, at the Full Gospel Church in Red Sucker Lake.

Harper’s daughter, Holly Harper, told CBC News she was overwhelmed by all the support.

“To see all the people, just not aboriginal, but the non-natives as well. And all the different people that are coming. It’s great to see,” she told the network.

“He was my support. He was my rock,” she said. “We have a lot to live up to.”

Back at the United Nations, John’s closing words echoed hundreds of well-wishers, including many inspired by his deeds: “Today we bow our heads in gratitude.”