Murray Sinclair, the groundbreaking Indigenous lawyer, judge and senator who led inquiries that exposed racial injustice and redefined how Canadians see Indian residential schools, has died. He was 73.
Murray Sinclair with award. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)
Sinclair, whose spirit name is Mizhana Gheezhik (The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky), died early Monday morning at a Winnipeg hospital surrounded by family.
“The impact of our dad’s work reached far across the country and the world,” stated Sinclair’s family.
“From residential school survivors to law students, to those who sat across from him in a courtroom, he was always known as an exceptional listener who treated everyone with dignity and respect.”
In 2009, Sinclair chaired Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. That cross-country odyssey exploring the devastating impact of the residential school system travelled throughout the North including stops in Yellowknife.
In 2018, in an interview with CBC, Sinclair said people today – especially those who are non-Indigenous – should not in any way diminish what the residential school system was set up to do.
He also reflected of the controversy he sparked by using the term “cultural genocide.”
“It is about understanding them at a visceral level and imagining what it would be like if you went through that process.
“Or if you can’t do that, imagine what it would be like for your children to go through that process and understand the process of taking children away for the purpose of indoctrinating them into a different culture is inherently a negative process.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Northern National Event, at Inuvik in June 2011. (Photo courtesy of TRC)
“Cultural genocide is genocide. You know, people need to understand that, and I would continue to use it. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with using it.
“I think it has meaning it was and it’s more descriptive of what the process was really all about.
“The schools were put in place for the purpose of killing the culture in them.”
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation today stated that Sinclair’s passing “leaves a gaping hole in our hearts and in the fabric of our nation — we are heartbroken.”
The City of Yellowknife mourned Sinclair’s passing, acknowledge the many individuals who worked alongside him, including community leaders here in Yellowknife.
On Wednesday, NWT Premier R.J. Simpson stated he was deeply saddened to learn of Sinclair’s passing.
“Mr. Sinclair was a prominent leader in Canada – the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba, a respected lawyer, Senator and Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family, and I join Canadians in mourning the passing of a visionary leader whose legacy will not be forgotten.”
A sacred fire will be lit in his honour on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature, ironically on the spot where a statue of Queen Victoria once stood.
UPDATE: Premier Simpson’s comments were added when issued.
