Harold Cardinal

Dr. Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator and lawyer.

Political career

Cardinal?s leadership qualities began to surface when, as a young man, he was elected leader of the Indian Association of Alberta 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).

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Cardinal then served the people of his home community, the Sucker Creek Indian Band, as their Chief.

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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 1980's.

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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.

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Cardinal also participated in Canadian federal politics, in 2000 running unsucessfully as a candidate for the Liberal Party in explicit opposition to the apparent revival of popular and political support for policies of Aboriginal assimilation.

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