The cultural vibrancy and social health of the aboriginal communities of any new, migrant based nation, such as Canada, is an important indicator of national well-being. Well-being is certainly tied to standards of living, but also includes the degree to which the country is a just society and a cohesive and unified nation. Aboriginal communities, while very diverse themselves, provide overarching national symbols, are inextricably tied to founding myths, and are vital to providing common ground in multi-ethnic societies. While present-day citizens, aboriginal and abmigrant¹ , cannot be held directly responsible for historical acts and sentiments, they must take responsibility for today's social dynamics and their national implications.

Most Canadians are proud of the rich cultural heritage we connect to through aboriginal communities, and also recognize the role of this heritage in modern nation-building. There are, however, pervasive misunderstandings that may still take many generations to fully put behind us. For uni.ca, one of the most important myths that needs to be dispelled is the notion that First Nations people and communities are fundamentally separate from other "Canadians".

The "them and us" mentality is one of the greatest Canadian fallacies - First Nations are, indeed, the first Canadians. They started "us", and they are still here, contributing significantly to our society from the earliest days to today and tomorrow. They shaped our beginnings, they influenced our arts and culture, our social, political, and economic landscape, and they fought and died in our wars. They are one of our most beautiful and important parts.

This truth has been clouded by the persistent negativity and sensationalism of traditional media. Of course the Oka stand-off and the Miq'maq tensions make the news. Glue sniffing and poverty - that's deemed more interesting than stories of First Nations people excelling in academia and business. This is not to say that raising awareness of the problems is not sometimes necessary and helpful, but that the imbalance of messages has contributed to the persistent sense that First Nations people are not part of "regular" Canada.

As with all Canadians, First Nations Canadians have several facets to their individual and collective identities. They are Canadians, and First Nations, and members of particular First Nations bands, and also members of professions, interest groups, sports teams, families and friends. Just as Scots don't stand out if they aren't wearing kilts and playing bag pipes, First Nations people also contribute to the life of Canada in non-obvious ways, person by person. This should be obvious, but sadly, it needs to be explicitly stated more often to counter-balance the presentations of traditional media.

While there are all sorts of "solutions" to fix the "problems", and uni.ca hopes that the current focus on governance will go some way to "solving" some of them, we humbly offer two suggestions:

The first is simply a call to governments and mainstream media to take greater responsibility for the way that perceptions of First Nations affect nation-building. While sincerity is of utmost importance, this is a rich resource that should be effectively used to enhance national unity. Perhaps curriculum changes are in order, perhaps national, provincial, and local First Nations awareness and appreciation campaigns would be helpful. The opportunities are endless - it is the motivation that needs reinforcement and focus.

Second, it would be a positive step to see First Nations people in senior positions at the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, including the Minister and Deputy Minister. Businesspeople are actively recruited to become Ministers of Finance, lawyers to be Ministers of Justice, Ministers of Agriculture tend to come from agricultural communities, and members of Cabinet with provincial or regional responsibilities almost exclusively come from those regions. This is presumably because these people have a special insight or expertise and would be plugged in to the relevant community.

Why has this rationale been suspended where First Nations are involved? It would be sad to think that this is paternalistic post-colonialism, or even racism, but something is wrong. In any case, it is best to focus on the steps towards a positive future. It would be reasonable to follow a general convention to appoint First Nations people to senior posts in Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. We would certainly not suggest a hard and fast rule, as it might stunt meritocratic concerns. However, merit is precisely the grounds upon which appointments would be based. First Nations people know the issues and the community intimately, as no other Canadians can.

We hope that these will soon become moot points. As it has always been, the way forward must be forged together, with all the varied communities of Canada actively engaged. As an important facet of our national identity, the cooperative integration, not homogenization, of First Nations people and communities is vital to the future of Canada. We have a lot to be proud of - let's ensure that the history and future of our First Nations is one of them.

1. Abmigrant: citizen locally born of immigrant ancestry.