Youth refuse sacred flame

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Native youth attending Elijah Harper's Sacred Assembly in Hull, Quebec last month said No to accepting the torch from Elders in a closing ceremony.

And they blamed their parents and their grandparents for not teaching them the traditional ways.

"You want us to take this fire, but we don't know how because you never taught us," one young man said.

Edie O'Mara said she refused to pass on the scroll of reconciliation to people of other nations, another part of the ceremony, "because we can't welcome other nations until our own people accept us."

She said about 40 youth met for a panel discussion the evening prior but only a handful of adults came to listen. "We were segregated last night," she said. "We felt left out."

Dave Denis from Vancouver who told Native leaders to "either support us or get out of the way" the day before, continued to express outrage at the lack of attention given to the problems of youth incarceration, addiction and hopelessness.

Before continuing with the official ceremonies, Harper, in full headdress and beaded buckskin jacket, responded to the youth.

He said the Creator works in mysterious ways. He said they had issued a challenge to the Elders by not accepting the torch. They had, in fact taken it in spirit, by acting wisely and responsibly. "It gives me great courage to see that," Harper said.