Oka outcome critical - Harper

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Clutching a cloth in his hands, Elijah Harper chose his words carefully.

A young woman fanned him with a feather to help him endure the sweltering heat at Paul-Sauve Park just outside Oka.

"I', very honored to be here in the land of the Mohawks," he said, urging Indian people to unite behind the Kanesatake Mohawks.

The outcome of their fight with the federal government is critical to all aboriginal people, he said.

"Our relationship as aboriginal people (with the government) will be determined by the outcome of the situation. Either it will go back again to the way we were before or we can move forward with some hope and achieve peace with justice."

Nonetheless, he said, the die is cast.

The journey, the direction we are takind, we cannot turn back.

"We are fighting for our children and generations to come."

"We will not make a deal for today but a deal for tomorrow which will ensure our aboriginal people will survive," said Harper, who received a hero's welcome from the 2,000 people, who had gathered in the park as a show of solidarity with the Mohawks.

United, Native people can move mountains, he said. "We can be a powerful voice in this country just as we were in Winnipeg when we stood together and said 'No' to Meech Lake."

Harper, the first treaty Indian to be elected as an MLA in Manitoba, said he favored a non-violent approach to achieve justice for Canada's aboriginal people.

"We speak with respect, we speak with honor, we speak with dignity, we speak the loudest and the greatest when we speak without violence and guns."