Cuthand: Indigenous leader Bill Wilson remembered for confidence

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Bill Wilson, a longtime activist and the hereditary chief of the Kwakiutl First Nation, died Friday, Jan. 24.

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Bill was a leader for his people at a crucial time in our history and his legacy lives on in the long fight for our treaty and Aboriginal rights.

I met Bill at one of the board meetings of the National Indian Brotherhood in Ottawa. I was a young reporter at the time and Bill was a newly-minted lawyer from British Columbia representing the provincial organization.

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He spoke out with confidence, and he had a sense of urgency that eclipsed the older provincial leaders. He represented the cusp of the new leadership that included Harold Cardinal from Alberta, David Ahenakew from Saskatchewan and Fred Kelly from Northwestern Ontario, among others.

These new leaders were educated and had experienced life off the reserve. They carried insight and knowledge that many of the older leaders lacked. They were a group of angry young men.

Many of the older leaders were Second World War veterans who experienced the same reduced expectations, but they had settled into the system.

Bill was not starstruck by the premiers and cabinet members. He was a hereditary chief from a prominent family, so he regarded himself as an equal. This was evident when he spoke at the 1983 First Ministers Conference on treaty and Aboriginal rights.

He wore his red sweater in a room full of white men in suits and made his prescient comment that his two daughters wanted to go into law and, speaking directly to the prime minister, stated that they wanted to someday become the prime minister of the country.

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His comment was met with laughter from the assembled prime minister, cabinet members and premiers.

I suppose it was a product of the times, but I found the laughter insulting. How could a couple of Indian girls from a reserve ever expect to rise to their stratospheric heights? It was a time when white men ruled.

As luck would have it, Bill’s daughter Jody Wilson-Raybould went on to become a Liberal member of Parliament and then the minister of justice.

During her time in office, she wrote the guidelines for negotiation and the settlement of claims, rather than the cumbersome and lengthy process of litigation. The guidelines are still in use and have moved the claims process forward.

Unfortunately, the old guard feared what else she might do, and they regarded her as an adversary in their midst. They were correct because she wanted to change the old way of doing things. In the end, she proved to be her father’s daughter, and she stuck to her principles and resigned from Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.

Bill refused to retire and go gently into that good night. He continued to rage against the storm and spoke for his people when given the opportunity.

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I was with him on election eve on Oct. 19, 2015. We were both in Winnipeg, where we were to provide election commentary for the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN). The years had not dimmed his insight or spirit.

He accurately predicted a win for the Liberals, even though he stated that he had no political affiliation. We congratulated him on the election of his daughter Jody, but he seemed unfazed. I’m sure that inside he was proud as hell, but I felt that he also knew the job that lay ahead of her.

The years have rolled by and now we’re the old generation. When Bill began his political career, he was often the only Indigenous lawyer in the room. Now the room is full of them, and you can’t swing a cat without hitting one.

While the prime minister and his colleagues saw humour in Bill stating that his daughters had ambitions, Jody and Kory have both gone on to distinguished careers in the service of their people.

Bill was one of a kind. His spirit lives on among his people, and he will be missed.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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