CALGARY - The Assembly of First Nations said farewell to outgoing grand national chief Phil Fontaine yesterday in a heartfelt, if sometimes rambling, tribute at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Calgary.

Aboriginal leaders from across the country have gathered here this week to elect his successor, a process that begins in earnest today as the five candidates deliver speeches and field questions from Canada’s assembled chiefs.

Last night’s ceremony lasted well beyond midnight, mixing musical performances with speeches from Fontaine’s friends, fellow chiefs, and erstwhile adversaries – like Bill Erasmus, whose tears turned to laughter as he recalled voting against his old friend in the last two elections.

“We aren’t really politicians,” Erasmus said, "we are leaders.”

Yet Fontaine’s political skills are undeniable, capped by the formal apology he managed to wring from the federal government for its handling of the residential school system. As he noted in his closing address, Canada is now the only developed country on earth with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Less talked about were the reasons Fontaine chose not to run for a fourth term. All indications were that he could have won it; was he pressured out behind the AFN leadership’s closed doors, or – as the more generous explanation goes – did he simply want to make room for the next generation?

Either way, a page has turned. For a preview of the next chapter in aboriginal politics, one need look no further than the corporate logos on prominent display at this week’s Assembly. Some $800,000 was drummed up for the event, the bulk of it from energy corporations. And it wasn’t just their logos who showed up; VIP tables were reserved in front of the stage for company brass, with the president of Transcanada, the biggest sponsor, joining several chiefs on stage for the night’s opening remarks. Later, the audience was subjected to a ten minute video depicting Transcanada’s benign influence on First Nations and the environment.

One of the organizers (who asked to remain unnamed) conceded that he’d fielded complaints about the presence of so many white men in suits. “People always used to complain that they never showed up to talk,” he said. “Now they’re finally here and we want them to leave.”

The sardonic reply belies the fact that both sides of Canada’s biggest corporations and aboriginal communities are feeling one another out, with the latter being courted like never before. Whether the exploitations of the past can be transformed into equal partnerships will no doubt form much of the debate over the rest of the week.

Freelance journalist Arno Kopecky is blogging the AFN General Assembly for The Tyee.