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September 5, 2001

NATIVE AMERICAN WORLD
Native American chief stirs controversy at UN conference on racism

By Debra Fieguth and Jim Uttley
Special to ASSIST News Service

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA -- Palestine Authority leader Yasser Arafat's anti-Semitic speech and the racial slurs being promoted within the United Nations' World Conference Against Racism and outside were not the only statements stirring controversy.  Canada's Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come stirred more than feathers when he presented Canada as carrying out  racist policies in her treatment of Native Canadians.

However, Coon Come's appearance before the conference was not the first time that he has spoken out on behalf of his people, which have raised objections from people across the board.

Pundits predicted that Chief Coon Come would take an aggressive role in aboriginal politics when he was elected to his post over a year ago.

There is something most unique about this chief's reputation.  Not only is he known as an aggressive Indian politician, but he is also known for his strong stand for Jesus Christ.

"He's a leader of absolute excellence," said Mohawk evangelist Ross Maracle and host of Spirit Alive, a Canadian national TV broadcast. "Through his skills and experience he will move our people from the margins to the mainstream."

"He's not a militant," says Kenny Blacksmith, a former colleague of Coon Come on the Cree Grand Council in northern Quebec.  "He strongly believes in national reconciliation, healing and unity."

Coon Come, 44, was only 31 when he was elected as grand chief of the Grand Council of the Crees in 1987.  He brought many improvements to his community,  including a new arena, an adult educational center, a bank, new administrative offices, new health facilities and improvements to housing and community infrastructure.

Married to Maryann Matoush since 1976, he became a Christian in the mid-1970s and has never looked back.  "I was prepared to lose this election," he told NATIONAL POST writer Allen Abel. "But I am not prepared to abandon the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Terry LeBlanc, aboriginal programs manager for World Vision, says Coon Come has a "strong, vibrant, active, life-changing faith."  Coon Come recently spent a year in Florida studying at a Bible college.

The new chief has a close attachment to his parents, who are traditional hunters and trappers.  He learned a lot from them regarding life on the land.  In fact, he was born on the land, in a wood-frame tent on the shores of a lake in the spring of 1956.  He was named Ne-Ha-Ba-Nus, "the one who wakes up with the sun."

He was given the name Matthew by the priest who baptized him, and Coon Come ("coon" is "snow" in Cree) by an Indian Affairs official.

WINNING BATTLES

Fiercely committed to protecting the traditional way of life for Aboriginal people, Coon Come is known for fighting epic battles and winning.

Ten years ago, for example, Coon Come led a canoeing expedition down the Hudson River into New York City to protest Hydro-Quebec's $7.5 billion Great Whale hydroelectric project on Cree land.  New York media loved the charismatic young chief's presence, and in the end, the state cancelled a contract to buy electric power from Quebec.

For his efforts, Coon Come was awarded the Goldman Prize, referred to as the "Nobel Prize of environmental awards," in 1994.  He has also received the Equinox Environmental Award, the Conde Naste Environmental Award, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

His other major victory was holding a Cree referendum in 1995, when then-Bloc Quebecois leader Lucien Bouchard was pushing for a separation vote.   Ninety-six percent of Crees voted to stay in Canada rather than go with a separate Quebec.

Now that he has taken his place on the national and international stage, Coon Come's friends and colleagues in the Aboriginal Christian community are confident that he has risen to the challenge.  "He will not compromise his own faith as a Christian," says his friend Kenny Blacksmith.

In Philippians 2:4, it says to think of things that are noble, pure and praiseworthy, Blacksmith notes.  "I think Matthew has that...He will move away from the spirit of negative, confrontational relationships."

Neither will he compromise his commitment to working against poverty and injustice in Native communities, says Maracle.  "Matthew is going to aggressively push for the rights of our people, specifically in the areas of dealing with the poverty on Native territory and structures of self-government," he says.

Although many took his comments this week in South Africa as being racist, they were merely a declaration of the current situation, which is facing many of the 1.3 million Aboriginals living in Canada today.  In the end, Chief Coon Come will be seen as a man who speaks the truth and sometimes the truth hurts.  But in all, he will be one who stands for righteousness and biblical principles.  "He will be a man of integrity," says Maracle.
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Note: Debra Fieguth is a freelance writer based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.   Jim Uttley is the editor of Indian Life and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The purpose of Indian Life is to see Native people come to know, love and worship the true Creator, Jesus Christ, and through Him, find hope, healing and honor.

Canadian Mailing Address:  PO Box 3765 RPO Redwood Centre, Winnipeg MB R2W 3R6 Canada. American Mailing Address:  PO Box 32 Pembina, ND 58271, USA. Phone (204) 661-9333. Fax (204) 661-3982. Web Page http://www.indianlife.org   Jim Uttley can be contacted by e-mail at jim.editor@indianlife.org. 

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