Harold Cardinal – Sucker Creek Cree First Nation

Harold Cardinal was elected as leader of the Indian Association of Alberta in 1968, at age 23.

That year Pierre Elliott Trudeau spoke of his vision for Canada as “A Just Society.”

In 1969, Trudeau released what is commonly called “The White Paper.”

It abolished the rights for First Nations peoples and the elimination of reserve lands.

First Nation communities across Canada were furious… Including Harold Cardinal.

In response Cardinal wrote a book entitled “The Unjust Society.”

Fiercely satirical and brutally honest the book called for radical changes in policy on Indigenous rights, education, social programs and economic development.

Cardinal’s book stopped the White Paper and opened a new discussion between Indigenous peoples and Canadians.