OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and National Chief Shawn Atleo both spoke of a renewed relationship Tuesday at the Crown-First Nations Gathering in Ottawa.

But when it came to specifics, the two leaders were slightly — maybe even completely — at odds. Harper said his government has no plans to repeal or rewrite the Indian Act, but Atleo said it is a painful obstacle to re-establishing any form of meaningful relationship.

Still, at the end of daylong meetings, which included 150 chiefs and 12 cabinet ministers, most chiefs said they were heartened by the dialogue and called the event an important first step.

Harper, who was expected to leave after the opening ceremonies, ended up staying through the day — a move Lake Huron Regional Grand Chief Isadore Day said showed "he was listening."

Day was part of a delegation of 30 chiefs who met with the prime minister Monday evening in an impromptu closed-door session on Parliament Hill.

"Last night had just as much, if not more, significance than today," said Bill Erasmus, Regional Chief of the Northwest Territories. "The prime minister heard directly from the leaders."

As for Tuesday's meetings, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy said "a lot of beautiful words were spoken, but in terms of addressing the immediate needs of my people, there was nothing."

Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, expected the skepticism felt both by First Nations communities and all Canadians. In his opening speech, he said "the proof of our commitment will begin tomorrow, and in the weeks and months ahead, demonstrating that this time, this generation of leaders, will not fail to make the changes we all know are urgently needed."

He said the meeting was an important step in rebuilding a broken trust, and in renewing the partnership in the image of the first partnerships, which were built upon formal treaties entered into by two equal nations.

Harper said that co-operation on numerous levels is necessary to fully bring Canada's First Nations into the country's economy.

He said his government's approach will be to "replace elements of the Indian Act with more modern legislation and procedures, in partnership with provinces and First Nations."

Pam Palmater, a Mi'kmaq lawyer and commentator, said Atleo and Harper were speaking two different languages, and they had two different plans. She called Harper's plan of educating young aboriginals to bring them into the workforce "assimilationist," saying it would break up communities and take First Nations in the same direction they've been going for years.

Atleo, on the other hand, spoke about self-determination, getting back to treaty relationships and preserving First Nations communities, said Palmater. "There is no common understanding," she said.

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said he was concerned the meeting hadn't yielded any promises from the government. "We're living in crisis right now in Manitoba, and I'm going home to that."

The prime minister called this meeting in early December in the midst of a dire housing crisis on Attawapiskat First Nation, as images flowed out of the remote James Bay reserve of children and the elderly living in shacks, without access to running water or toilets. Most of the community survives on welfare and, since the crisis, other chiefs have come forward saying their people face many of the same challenges.

"We need only to look to Attawapiskat, Marten Falls, Pikangikum, and St. Theresa Point — among dozen of other communities, on reserve and in our cities, to see the impact of broken promises, the pain of broken lives, the tragedy of lost opportunity," said Atleo in his speech. "Our people cannot wait."

For his part, Nepinak said he was hoping the government would announce a meeting with First Ministers and First Nations to talk about resource sharing. He would have been happy, he said, to hear the government promise to lift the two per cent funding cap on education, which was imposed in 1996.

Many chiefs said they had wanted to hear promises about a renewed treaty relationship, whereby First Nations would gain control over the natural resources on their territories and become part of the development process with the federal and provincial governments.

"We came here expecting a dialogue about our treaties. Instead I heard they want to train our young people to have jobs — to work for someone else," said Beardy.

tesmith@postmedia.com

bbouzane@postmedia.com