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24/07/2006

Canadian First Nations author delivers message of peace at the International Poetry Festival in Medellín

"Although our languages are different, our connection to the earth is the same."

Al Hunter, a published poet and former Chief of the Rainy River First Nations of Ontario, visited Medellín, Colombia, from June 24 to July 2, 2006, to take part in the city's sixteenth International Poetry Festival. Established in 1991, this annual celebration of poetry gathers quality authors from every continent, and makes an explicit political statement against violence in Colombia and other contexts around the world. As usual, more than seven thousand people attended its inaugural outdoors session featuring poets from Colombia, New Zealand, Iraq, and Nicaragua.

The Canadian Embassy organized a speech at the leading regional indigenous organization, OIA (Indigenous Organization of Antioquia).  Before an audience of mostly young and indigenous people, Hunter delivered a message of reconciliation among human beings of all ethnicities, and called for the urgent protection of the earth's natural resources. The author described poetry as a way of understanding and expressing vital connections perceived by indigenous thought (between spirituality and science; modern medicine, healing rituals, and traditional cures). For Hunter, engaging children and young people in this reconciling, holistic thinking is crucial, for the new generations are the ones most interested in change as well as in connecting with one another.

After his speech, Hunter got acquainted with the staff of the OIA, including its President, Mr. Guillermo Tascón, and announced his plans of building bridges between Canadian and Colombian youth, both indigenous and non-indigenous, through exchange visits focussed on aboriginal influences in various artistic fields.