Mercredi turning focus away from politics towards healing of people, communities

Pages 8 and 9

The chief of all chiefs has been speaking an hour or more about how he is going to change the nature of the Indian movement. The focus will shift from legal reform to practical reform; from the Constitution to community healing.

Ovide Mercredi is charting a dramatic new direction for the Assembly of First Nations, but there is a nagging sense of things unsaid. Something doesn't add up.

Yes, the constitutional file is dead - slain by referendum - for at least two more years, the length of Mercredi's remaining mandate. Yes, the recent events at Davis Inlet have shocked natives, Canadians, the world. It makes sense to move away from negotiations to helping Indian homes and families. But there must be more to it than that. The shift in emphasis make sense for the Indian movement, but it makes no sense at all for Ovide Mercredi.

Mercredi is the Indian constitutional file. His sole intent in Native politics has been to change what he calls the Supreme Law. He succeeded once in killing the Canadian Constitution, then almost succeeded in getting a new one with Aboriginal rights included.