Harold Cardinal (January 27, 1945 – June 3, 2005) was a Cree writer, political leader, teacher, negotiator, and lawyer. Throughout his career he advocated, on behalf of all First Nation peoples, for the right to be "the red tile in the Canadian mosaic." Cardinal was a lifelong student of First Nations law as practised by Cree and other Aboriginal Elders; he complimented this with extensive study of law in mainstream educational institutions. He was also a mentor and inspiration to many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, professionals, and political leaders. He died of lung cancer in 2005 at the age of 60. Early life and education Cardinal was born in High Prairie, Alberta to Frank and Agnes (Cunningham) Cardinal. He grew up on the Sucker Creek Reserve. He attended high school in Edmonton, and studied sociology at St. Patrick's College in Ottawa, now a part of Carleton University. Political career Cardinal's activism began early in life; he was elected president of the Canadian Indian Youth Council in 1966. His leadership qualities began to surface in 1968 when, at age 23, he was elected leader of the Indian Association of Alberta for an unprecedented nine terms, during which he was instrumental in the formation of the National Indian Brotherhood (the forerunner of the Assembly of First Nations). Cardinal then served the people of his home community, the Sucker Creek Indian Band, as their Chief. Cardinal served as the Vice Chief of the Assembly of First Nations during the period of the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in the early 1980s. Cardinal was instrumental in the creation, in 1984, of the Prairie Treaty Nations Alliance, representing all First Nations of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, to advance issues of concern to those First Nations with particular emphasis on their treaties with the Crown. Cardinal also participated in Canadian federal politics, in 2000 running unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Liberal Party in the riding of Athabasca. He ran against David Chatters, who had been accused of being anti-Native, in explicit opposition to the apparent revival of popular and political support for policies of Aboriginal assimilation. The "White Paper" and The Unjust Society Cardinal rose to national prominence in the late 1960s. In 1968, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proclaimed Canada to be a "just society." However, after a promising round of consultations between the government of Canada and aboriginal leaders in which issues of Aboriginal