JANUARY 30, 1946

CREE OVIDE MERCREDI BORN—FORMER ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS NATIONAL CHIEF

Born near the Grand Rapids Reserve, Misipawistik Cree Nation, Manitoba (MB), Ovide earned a law degree from the University of MB (1977) and served on the MB Human Rights Commission. Elected Vice Chief, MB Chapter, Assembly of First Nations (AFN), he helped the northern Quebec (QB) Cree stop a Great Whale River hydroelectric project and aided MB legislator Elijah Harper defeat the Meech Lake Accord in 1990. From 1991-97, Mercredi was AFN National Chief. He served as mediator in government-Indigenous conflicts at Oka in QB (1990) & Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia (1995) and has advocated for distinct status for First Nations peoples and for rights of self-government and to determine Indian “status,” Ovide received the Order of MB (2006), was chancellor of MB’s University College of the North (2007-11), and president of the MB New Democratic Party (2015-17). He cowrote In the Rapids: Navigating the Future of First Nations (1993) & in 2015, published My Silent Drum, his poetry collection.

Source: Diane Lois Way, “Ovide Mercredi,” Encyclopedia Britannica.  Retrieved 8/19/2022, Ovide Mercredi | Biography & Facts | Britannica

Photo:  Themightyquill, 5/26/2008. Permissive Use pursuant to Creative Commons license.