Harold Cardinal Quotes
From the beginning the Indian accepted the white man in Canada. We allowed him differences. We helped him overcome his weakness in trying to make his way in our environment. We taught him to know our world, to avoid the pitfalls and deadfalls, how to trap and hunt and fish, how to live in a strange environment. Is it too much to ask the white man to reciprocate?
Harold Cardinal, Canadian Indian leader, President, Indian Association of Alberta, Quoted in William and Christine Mowat, Themes in Canadian literature: Native peoples in Canadian literature
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Fiji is a nation which at the time was beset with ethnic strife and tension. In addition to the religious tension there were Indian immigrants who tended to be economically more successful than the indigenous Fijians. There was an English tradition from the days of being a British Colony and the traditional tribal leaders and chiefs were being disenfranchised by modern democratic structures. The military was not under the control of the civilian government and coups pitted some ethnic groups against others.
Unlike the United States where there is great toleration for immigrants to retain their old language and culture, there is an expectation in Germany, France and much of the rest of Europe that immigrants when they come to Germany will act like Germans, dress like Germans, speak German, and follow German social customs.
Harold Cardinal was a Cree writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator, and lawyer. Throughout his career he advocated, on behalf of all First Nation peoples, for the right to be "the red tile in the Canadian mosaic."
