"Conference Aims to Rebuild Nations"

OHSWEKEN - Last year, about this time, I wrote about the Drumbeat Conference by native people at McMaster University in Hamilton. By the time my column appeared, the conference had passed, so this time I will tell you about it in advance in case you would like to attend.

The theme of this year's Drumbeat Conference is rebuilding Our Nations. Like last year, it will be hosted by the Hodenosaunee Confederacy of the Six Nations.

One of the scheduled speakers is Chief Jake Thomas, a Cayuga sachem.

The Hodenosaune Confederacy is the traditional name for what most people call the Six Nations Confederacy. Before the Tuscaroras joined, there were five Iroquoian nations. These five nations united to form the original Hodenosaunee confederacy long before Europeans set foot on these shores.

This year's conference will begin Friday at 10 a.m. in the Burke Science Building, Room 147. This is a large lecture theatre. It will move outdoors to the football field on Saturday and Sunday, then continue on Monday at the Woodland Cultural Centre on Mohawk Street in Brantford.

The rain site for Saturday and Sunday will be the Burke Science Building.

Some of the outstanding speakers will be Elijah Harper, MLA from Manitoba, Matthew Coon-come Grand Chief of the Cree people of Quebec, Chief Bernard Ominayak from Lubicon Lake, Alberta and Chief Daniel Ashini of the Innu people of Labrador.

Donald Marshall Jr. a Mic Mac from Nova Scotia, who was wrongly imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, will return for a second time. And the list goes on and on.

There will be an admission fee of $6 a day or $20 for a four-day pass. No registration is required and the general public is welcome. The facilities at McMaster are very good and with school out there is plenty of room for a crowd. You may even bring your own lawn chair if you don't want to sit in the bleachers.

I guarantee you will learn something that you never knew before.