Elijah Harper

Elijah Harper, OM (March 3, 1949 – May 17, 2013) was a Canadian politician and Chief of his Red Sucker Lake community. He was a key player in the rejection of the Meech Lake Accord, an attempt at Canadian constitutional reform.

Early life

Harper was born in Red Sucker Lake, a reserve in northern Manitoba. He attended residential schools in Norway House, Brandon and Birtle, Manitoba, then secondary school at Garden Hill and Winnipeg. He studied at the University of Manitoba in 1971 and 1972, and later worked as a community development worker, a supervisor for the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, and a program analyst for the Manitoba Department of Northern Affairs.

Politics

In 1978, he was elected as the Chief for Red Sucker Lake Band (now Red Sucker Lake First Nation), a position he held for four years.

In 1981, Harper contested and won the sprawling northern Manitoba riding of Rupertsland for the New Democratic Party to become the first Treaty Indian to be elected as a provincial politician. On April 17, 1986, he was appointed to cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio, responsible for Native Affairs. On February 4, 1987, he was named Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister in charge of the Communities Economic Fund Act. He was dropped from the Cabinet on September 9, 1987, after being involved in a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. No one was injured in the incident. Harper subsequently pleaded guilty to refusing a breathalyzer test, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while impaired. He was fined $450, and his driver's licence was suspended for a year. Harper acknowledged his mistake, and entered an alcohol-rehabilitation program. He stopped drinking for good, and voluntarily stopped driving for five years. He was reappointed as Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for Native Affairs, on November 23, 1987, and served until the defeat of Howard Pawley's government in 1988.

Elijah

Elijah (Hebrew: אֱלִיָּהוּ, Eliyahu, meaning "My God is Yahu") or Elias (/ᵻˈlaɪ.əs/; Greek: Ηλίας Elías; Syriac: ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ Elyāe;Arabic: إلياس or إليا, Ilyās or Ilyā) was a prophet and a wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab (9th century BC), according to the biblical Books of Kings. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the Canaanite idol Baal. God also performed many miracles through him, which included raising the dead, bringing fire down from the sky, and taking him up to heaven "by a whirlwind". In the Book of Malachi, Elijah's return is prophesied "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord", making him a harbinger of the Messiah and the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. References to Elijah appear in the New Testament, the Talmud, the Mishnah, and the Qur'an.

In Judaism, Elijah's name is invoked at the weekly Havdalah ritual that marks the end of Shabbat, and Elijah is invoked in other Jewish customs, among them the Passover seder and the Brit milah (ritual circumcision). He appears in numerous stories and references in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud.

Elijah (oratorio)

Elijah (German: Elias), Op. 70, MWV A 25, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn. It premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival. It depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament.

Music and its style

This piece was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's Baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, whose music he loved. In 1829 Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion since the composer's death and was instrumental in bringing this and other Bach works to widespread popularity. By contrast, Handel's oratorios never went out of fashion in England. Mendelssohn prepared a scholarly edition of some of Handel's oratorios for publication in London. Elijah is modelled on the oratorios of these two Baroque masters; however, in its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral colour the style clearly reflects Mendelssohn's own genius as an early Romantic composer.

The work is scored for four vocal soloists (bass-baritone, tenor, alto, soprano), full symphony orchestra including trombones, ophicleide, organ, and a large chorus singing usually in four, but occasionally eight or three (women only) parts. The title role is for bass-baritone and was sung at the premiere by the Austrian bass Joseph Staudigl.

Elijah (disambiguation)

Elijah was a prophet in Israel in the 9th century BCE, mentioned in several holy books. Elias is the Greek equivalent.

Elijah may also refer to:

People

Musical works

Miscellaneous