Fonds F2528 - Harold Cardinal fonds

Harold Cardinal, 1945-2005, was born at High Prairie, Alberta, a Cree from the Sucker Creek Reserve. He was president of the Indian Association of Alberta from 1968 to 1977 and was noted as an articulate spokesman for the status of First Nations as equal partners within the Canadian confederation. He helped draft the “Red Paper” of 1970 entitled Citizens Plus and was the author of The Unjust Society and The Rebirth of Canada’s Indians. He subsequently pursued a career as a consultant, administrator, and lecturer; became chief of the Sucker Creek Band, 1982-1983; and ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. He was an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan and completed a degree in law there. He received a Master's degree in law from Harvard in 2004 and a PhD in law from the University of British Columbia in 2005.