Mi'kmaw advocate, leader and elder Calvin White to receive Order of Canada

One of the leaders in the fight to create the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nationis receiving one of the country's highest honours Friday, as elder Calvin White of Flat Bay is appointed to the Order of Canada.

Whitehas spent 50 years advocating for Indigenous recognition and rights in Newfoundland and Labrador, along the wayhelping organize the Federation of Newfoundland Indians, the Bay St. GeorgeMi'kmaqCultural Revival Committee, andestablishingQalipu.

His Order of Canada citation credits his "steadfast conviction and determination" in leading the legal fight of the latter, and notes as "an elder and cultural mentor to his community and to Mi'kmaq across the province, he strives to preserve and celebrate their uniqueidentity."

But White himself sees the honour as less a personal one, and more about the cause so close to his heart.

"Ilook at it as a sanctioning of the work that took place. While I'mthe recipient, it's the cause that's actually being celebrated and recognized. solidifying the fact that it's a reality, that there was Aboriginal people in Newfoundland in 1949 when we joined Confederation, and due justice hadn't been done," he told CBC in the hours before the ceremony.

"It's a struggle that needed to take place, and will need to continue, because all of the wrongs have not yet been corrected."

'I would do it all over again'

White, a former chief of the Flat Bay band,is the first member of theQalipuFirst Nation to be inducted into the Order of Canada, at a ceremony in Ottawa on Friday.

The band itself is Canada's newest to be federally recognized, established in 2011 amid a fraught enrolment process that still drags on today.

• Who belongs in Canada's newest and possibly largest First Nation?

"I am saddened about the end result. The end result is not what we started out for," said White, adding another tinge of sadness is the length of time it tookto be recognized, with some of his fellowfirst advocatesnot living long enough to see the end result.

However, White has no regrets or hesitationsabout his life's work.

"Iwould do it all over again. Because Ibelieved in what Iwas doing, and still believe in it today. It was an opportunity to correct a wrong," he said.

White joins a short list of other Indigenous leaders and advocates from Newfoundland and Labrador in the Order of Canada; others include Chief Mi'sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation, and Inuitartist Michael Massie.

Last year, White wasinducted into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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