Tribes lost

Former National Chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations, David Ahenakew, has been invited to rejoin the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FISN).

In extending the invitation, FISN head Chief Lawrence Joseph said:

"He's apologized, he's won an appeal, he's been stripped of everything he had, including an opportunity to make a living, and he has not repeated that mistake in over five years. Let's be reasonable," Mr. Joseph said.

Mr. Ahenakew, a former member of the Order of Canada, became a pariah when comments he made to a local reporter in December 2002, following a speech he gave at an FISN gathering, became public.

Quoth he:

The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war. ... That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe. That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the goddamned world. And look what they're doing. They're killing people in Arab countries.

In 2005 he was convicted of 'willfully promoting hatred' and fined $1000, but the conviction was overturned on appeal a year later.

One wonders how Mr. Joseph would have felt regarding someone making similar remarks about native North Americans.

Showing more wisdom than the FISN, Mr. Ahenakew declined the offer.

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