The Biography of Georges Erasmus

The political life of Dene leader Georges Erasmus -- a radical Native rights crusader widely regarded as one of the most important Indigenous leaders of the past fifty years.

For decades, Georges Henry Erasmus led the fight for Indigenous rights. From the Berger Inquiry to the Canadian constitutional talks to the Oka Crisis, Georges was a significant figure in Canada’s political landscape. In the 1990s, he led the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and afterward was chair and president of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, around the time that Canada’s residential school system became an ongoing front-page story.

Georges’s five decade battle for Indigenous rights took him around the world and saw him sitting across the table from prime ministers and premiers. In the 1980s, when Georges was the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, he was referred to as the Thirteenth Premier. This book tells the personal story of his life as a leading Indigenous figure, taking the reader inside some of Canada’s biggest crises and challenges.

Wayne K. Spear Wayne K. Spear was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Fort Erie, Ontario. A Kanien’kehá ka (Mohawk), he has worked for more than two decades in health and education. He is the president of Spear Communications Group, an organizational development firm. His previous books include Residential Schools, with the Words and Images of Survivors and Full Circle: The Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Unfinished Work of Hope, Healing, and Reconciliation. He lives in Toronto.
Georges Erasmus was born in Fort Rae, Northwest Territories. He is a former President of the Indian Brotherhood of Northwest Territories (later the Dene Nation), National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and Chair of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Georges was co-chair of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, established by the Prime Minister of Canada to examine the historical relationship between Indigenous peoples and the government. He has received the Aboriginal Achievement Award for Public Service and he is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He lives in Yellowknife.