Article content continued

Trudeau also tweeted a picture of himself and the hunger striking chief.

Spence said her strike, part of the Idle No More movement, is ultimately about respect: for treaties and for aboriginal peoples.

And to show that respect, she thinks she deserves a meeting with no one less than the prime minister and the Queen’s representative in Canada.

“A treaty is a document upon which we were supposed to build our future together and trust and honour each other,” Spence said on Christmas Day, as she sat on Victoria Island in the middle of the Ottawa River, within view of the Peace Tower.

According to First Nations elders, the treaty was expected to be in place “as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the river flows.”

Spence, who says she feels strong despite her constant hunger, stopped eating solid food on Dec. 11. She continues to take lemon water, some fish broth “to ward off sickness,” and medicinal teas prepared each morning by a friend.

So far the Prime Minister’s Office has been silent, but Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan says he is concerned about Spence’s health.

In a letter sent on Tuesday, Duncan urged Spence to end her protest and informed her that he is prepared to set up a working group between federal and First Nations representatives to discuss treaty and rights issues.

Spence has so far been unresponsive to Duncan’s repeated attempts to contact her by phone.