Chanie Wenjack
Chanie Wenjack was a young Anishinaabe boy from Ogoki Post in Marten Falls In Northern Ontario, Canada. He attended Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario. The school was run by the Women’s Society of the Presbyterian Church
Today we mourn the passing of Murray Sinclair
Today, we mourn the passing into the spirit world of Mizhana Gheezhik, “The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky” Murray Sinclair.: judge, lawyer, lecturer, professor, chancellor and 4th degree Midewiwin in the Three Fires Society. Justice Sinclair was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980 and appointed associate chief judge in 1988. He was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba. He spent his life advocating for the rights of Indigenous peoples. He chaired three public inquiries that shaped law and legal policy in Canada: The Manitoba Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal Peoples, the Report of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He served as a Senator from 2016 to 2021. Since 1981, Justice Sinclair has also taught courses on Aboriginal Peoples and the Law at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Native Studies.
For his contributions, Justice Sinclair was awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, in 1994 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. For his work in Indigenous justice, he received 20 honourary degrees. He was also appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022 and Manitoba in 2024. In 2019, Murray received the Symons Medal, an honour bestowed on individuals who have made exceptional contributions to Canadian life.
We honour his extraordinary contributions to creating places of dignity, respect and justice for Indigenous peoples in Canada. We celebrate his life as we continue to work in the spirit of his words: Education got us into this mess. Education will get us out of it. May he travel well into the spirit world.
Challenge the Way You Think. Think Indigenous. Think Trent.
For more than 50 years, Trent has incorporated traditional teachings and perspectives into its curricular and extra-curricular programming. In fact, Trent’s groundbreaking leadership in Indigenous Studies dates back to our beginnings, when we became the first university in Canada, and only the second in North America, to establish an academic department dedicated to the study of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledges. It’s just one of the ways we think differently, and inspire our students to do the same.
Words of welcome and encouragement from Skahendowaneh Swamp, Chair, Indigenous Knowledge
Our Leadership in Indigenous Studies: An Interactive Timeline
We invite you to explore our history of leadership, and join our extraordinary community of scholars to continue this legacy and make a difference in our world.
