The current economic downturn is the Creator's way of punishing all Albertans for being greedy and extracting oil from the land to live a lavish lifestyle, an indigenous elder says.
John Sinclair made that comment to the Albertan during the first-ever Chinook's Edge School Division Indigenous Youth Conference.
More than 220 students from across the division -- including many of First Nations, Métis and Inuit heritage -- attended the event held Oct. 5 at the Olds College Alumni Centre.
“You see what happens? We get lessons from the Creator. He sends helpers to teach us not to do these things,” Sinclair said.
“Look at all the people who work in that extracting field, right? How did they suffer when that oil got shut down (when the price dropped)? They're losing their homes, they're losing all their big toys they bought – all of that.
“And that's the lesson they learn from that: do not abuse our mother – the earth. Do not abuse her. Those lessons will come fast and furious,” he added.
Sinclair said his own family is not immune. His brother, a boilermaker in Fort McMurray, lost his job when the price of oil dropped.
Sinclair said we can repair mother earth and improve our lives by moving our economy off its dependence on oil and gas.
“Quit taking that stuff. There's other things we can use; there's other ways to live,” he said.
Some people say we should obtain energy from the wind and the sun. However, the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine, yet we need energy all the time to warm our homes and power our devices and vehicles.
Sinclair is confident that problem can be overcome.
“There are a lot of good-thinking people out there,” he said.
When he spoke to students during the conference, Sinclair said the Creator didn't create people to be richer than each other.
“The Creator made sure that we only had two feet. We didn't get wings to fly above the ground. We have to walk on the ground. That tells me that I'm not above anyone else, and all of us are equal in that way,” he said.
"You see what happens? We get lessons from the Creator. He sends helpers to teach us not to do these things."JOHN SINCLAIRELDER
