DECEMBER 17, 1935

CREE-MÉTIS ACTIVIST JAMES W. BOURQUE BORN—NAMED TO QUEEN’S PRIVY COUNSEL

Born in Wandering River, Alberta, Bourque, at age 18, was elected president of the hunters and trappers’ association in Fort Chipewyan before working as a park warden in Wood Buffalo National Park (1955-63).  He served as president of the Métis Association of the Northwest Territories (1980-82), was deputy minister of renewable resources for the government of the Northwest Territories (1982-91), and chairman of the Northwest Territories’ Commission for Constitutional Development.  Bourque was also the founder of the Centre for Traditional Knowledge. In 1984 he founded the Fur Institute of Canada, serving as its chairman for four years.  James was named co-director of policy for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People in 1994.  On July 1, 1992 he was sworn into the Queen’s Privy Council.  Bourque died on October 19, 1996.

Sources: 
 Christopher Guly, “Ukrainian Cree activist in Canada dies at the age of 60,” The Ukranian Weekly, 11/17/1996.  Retrieved 9/12/2020, http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1996/469609.shtml
 Wikipedia
Photo:  Padraic Ryan, 11/11/2007.  Aboriginal War Veterans Monument, Ottawa, Canada.  Permissive Use.