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papâmihâw asiniy <> The Flying Rock
Contributed by Stewart Steinhauer

Before the arrival of Western Europeans (môniyâwak), Indigenous societies were organized around spiritual beliefs. One such belief was about the spiritual laws guiding economic activity, in those days primarily hunting and gathering. On the Northern Plains, parts of present day Alberta and Saskatchewan, a site of worship was long established: papâmihâw asiniy, whom môniyâwak see as an iron meteorite, offered leadership and support for survival, particularly as a protector of the buffalo herds. At that time, the buffalo herds were significant as money is today, and both Cree and Blackfoot made annual journeys to visit papâmihâw asiniy to make offerings to give thanks.

 With the arrival of rapacious môniyâwak,  indigenous societies were subjected to a wide variety of ‘colonial’ tactics developed in the course of Western European conquest of the world. One such tactic was to send in lone Christian missionaries trained in Indigenous languages, sometimes using Indigenous people as ‘helpers’, to break whatever ‘pagan’ spiritual beliefs that may exist, in preparation for the transition to acceptance of môniyâwak ‘might and right’ (the right to claim ownership of the entire world, and the sheer overwhelming brutality to back up this claim).

 In 1866, a Methodist missionary, George McDougall, in his own personal crusade to help indigenous people, decided, in a bold act, to remove papâmihâw asiniy, knowing full well the effect that this action would have on both Cree and Blackfoot. As the shock wave moved through indigenous society, fears of the dire predictions associated with moving papâmihâw asiniy began to circulate (war, famine, disease), and within 10 years, had all come to pass. By 1876, the indigenous economy and a major portion of indigenous populations had been destroyed and the fates of the survivors sealed through Treaties and the Indian Act (1876).

 With the destruction (genocide) of the ‘great living library’ inherent to oral traditions, accurate views of papâmihâw asiniy are hard to find. However, 135 years later, papâmihâw asiniy still exists, held in captivity by successors to the Methodists of that era. Currently, ‘on loan’ to Syncrude Aboriginal Gallery, official ‘ownership’ still resides with the United Church’s University of Victoria located in Toronto, Ontario.

 In 1999, papâmihâw asiniy initiated an effort to have himself repatriated to the descendents of the indigenous peoples he had been taken from. Blue Quills First Nations College, representing the 7 Cree bands in the region, and in consultation with all other interested First Nations people, including the Blackfoot/Blood Repatriation Committee, has been negotiating steadfastly for a peaceful resolution to this long-standing historical injustice. The return of papâmihâw asiniy could usher in a new era of self determination, bringing back our spiritual relationship with economy and ecology. In the future, the Indian Act must go, but it will be up to us, as First Nations people, to design and implement the new political and social structures that govern our lives. Perhaps in the future, we will assist the country of Canada in replacing their current ‘worship of money’ system with a 21st century version of the elegant governance systems we once enjoyed.

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