May 17 In 2013, Elijah Harper, the Cree politician who clutched an eagle feather as he blocked the Meech Lake constitutional accord in 1990 and led Canadian indigenous people into a new era, died of cardiac failure due to diabetes complications. He was 64. May 19 In 1996, the RCMP stormed an armed barricade to end a five-week standoff at the Waterhen native reserve in Manitoba. Thirty-two people were arrested. May 20 In 2021, Nunavut’s sole MP said she would not seek re-election. New Democrat Mumilaaq Qaqqaq said after weeks of reflection and consultation with friends and family that she had decided not to run for a second term. The 27-year-old said federal institutions like the House of Commons are not easily changed and that governments fail to help Indigenous
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