Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy says the smell of greasy food almost made him cry after eating authentic Indian food for nearly a week.
Beardy, Elder Sam Achneepineskum and two staff members from NAN attended the fourth International World Conference of Elders of Ancient Traditions in New Delhi earlier this month.
The conference was for indigenous people across the globe.
Beardy joined other representatives from more than 30 countries for the conference. Beardy represented indigenous people in North America and spoke on the importance of balance in nature with development.
The talk followed the theme of nourishing the balance of the universe.
The conference covered hotel and accommodations but NAN had to foot the bill for the flight over.
While Beardy said it was an interesting trip, he said it was happy to be back home.
“When I landed in Frankfurt just to smell that food, that grease, I think I had tears in my eyes,” Beardy said.
“The food is strange and I’m not used to eating spices at all. It was a totally different experience. India was quite different. The food was different, infrastructure was different, the language and what they dress.”
Beardy said it was rewarding to go to the conference because it recognized that the Aboriginal people have an ancient history worth sharing to the world.
“We as Aboriginal people have been dealing with colonization for the last hundred years or so,” he said. “The fact that we were recognized as an indigenous culture with ancient history, I think gives confidence to us as a people to what we have to offer the world.”
The main message that Beardy took away from the conference was the importance of maintaining those traditional ways. He said there needed to be a way to sustain the various cultures while assisting humankind.
During the conference, Beardy and other dignitaries received an honourary doctorate for their work to preserve and maintain their ancient culture while finding ways to move their communities forward.
