Re: Comments made by David Ahenakew.

Dear Editor:

We have all seen the recent words of David Ahenakew. The spirit is familiar. Here, again, the ugly spectre of anti-Semitism.

What is it that Aboriginal and Jewish peoples share, if not acquaintance with this swaggering abomination called hatred? It has devoured our peoples, has multiplied despair, has forged the machinery of domination and death.

Our Elders teach us to rebuke both the thought and deeds of hate, for according to the teachings it is the work of human beings to promote through their thoughts and actions peace and respect among the world's peoples. Indeed, we are taught that this is what makes us fully human. We know therefore that Mr. Ahenakew's hateful comments have no place in the world we are meant to create for future generations.

Today, many Aboriginal people are trying to undo the intergenerational legacy of colonizing institutions whose aim was the eradication of our cultures, our languages, and our ways of living in the world. In some measure, the efforts of colonization have succeeded. Even so, nothing of our ways as Aboriginal peoples would have survived to the present day, had the logic of racial superiority prevailed. We know that racism is an enemy.

And yet many of us have internalized the notions that we are stupid, dirty and inferior. Suicide, alcoholism, violence and self-hate continue to plague us. Healing consists in replacing the legacy of racism with a legacy of reconciliation and peace between peoples. Our well-being depends upon the success of this endeavor.

I acknowledge and honor the many Jewish people who have been active in the healing movement. As an Aboriginal person, I am saddened and sickened to see David Ahenakew's comments. He has offended Jewish people everywhere, and has marred a relationship between peoples, which I nonetheless believe will remain positive.

It is my hope that people respond to the spirit of hate, wherever it appears, by renewing their commitment to the long and difficult task of healing and reconciliation. We have seen, endured, and overcome much. But when the minds and spirits of our own peoples are conquered, we are lost.

Masi

Georges Erasmus

President, Aboriginal Healing Foundation