Niigaan Sinclair embraces his daughter, Sarah Fontaine-Sinclair, at a memorial for his father, the Honourable Murray Sinclair, in Winnipeg, on Nov. 10.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
A week full of ceremonies honouring Murray Sinclair, the late trailblazer known for advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples, culminated in the same way that much of his conversations began: with the necessary balm of laughter, like medicine despite the gravity of generations of pain.
As more than 1,500 mourners congregated Sunday at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Mr. Sinclair’s son Niigaan reminded the crowd that the ceremony was a joyous occasion. His father, he said, has already embarked on his journey to the spirit world, and now it’s time to celebrate the legacy of his lifetime of work.
Mr. Sinclair, who died in hospital last Monday after struggling with health issues, is the first Indigenous person to be honoured with a national commemorative ceremony. But he was used to making history.
A member of Peguis First Nation, Mr. Sinclair was born in the former St. Peter’s Indian Reserve and raised in the Selkirk community north of Winnipeg. After becoming one of the only Indigenous lawyers in Canada, he was named Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge in 1988.
Eventually, he went on to be chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, transforming the way this country refers to the rights of Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples and calling on government to confront the horrors of residential schools. Later, he was called to the Senate of Canada, sitting in the Red Chamber until 2021.
Known by family members through his spirit name, Mazina Giizhik-iban, meaning The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky – the recent addition of iban attached as a recognition of him now being an ancestor – Mr. Sinclair, 73, is credited with the modern-day usage of the term reconciliation in Canada’s lexicon.
“Even with all of those achievements, what we remember most about my dad is really his humour,” Niigaan said Sunday, harking back to stories of his father.
It was the same sentiment shared by several dignitaries who gave speeches in his honour – among them First Nations chiefs with their headdresses, the Prime Minister and Governor-General of Canada, along with the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, and the province’s Premier.
Preparations are made at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg for Murray Sinclair’s memorial on Sunday.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
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“Murray changed this country for the better,” said Justin Trudeau, recalling how Mr. Sinclair challenged him constantly as a long-time friend and confidante, “but always with a smile.”
Mr. Trudeau repeated a famous quote of the former senator, which, coupled with a few others, flashed throughout the three-hour long memorial on an electronic banner wrapped around the indoor arena: “Education is the key to reconciliation. Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out of it.”
Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said he earned his well-deserved rest: “He fought especially for the most vulnerable of us.”
The service also included musical performances by Red River Métis fiddler Morgan Grace, singer William Prince from Peguis, Cree and Salish musician Fawn Wood, and Oji-Cree songwriter Aysanabee.
An acrylic painting of Mr. Sinclair by renowned artist Kent Monkman was displayed on stage, next to wreaths and bouquets of flowers, the whole room smudged before and during the memorial. Four flags of Canada, Manitoba, Treaty One and that of residential school survivors were hung behind the podium. Attendees wore ribbon skirts, Métis sashes and orange shirts stating: “Every Child Matters.”
All week, leading up to his memorial, scores of people were drawn to a sacred fire inside a canvas-woven tipi erected on the Manitoba legislative grounds.
Flags across the country, from public squares and schools in Winnipeg to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, had been lowered to half-mast since Mr. Sinclair’s death.
After a coffin viewing on Wednesday at a cultural centre in the city, where a book of condolences made its way from the legislature, a private funeral was held the following day.
There, on Thursday, the casket carrying Mr. Sinclair arrived in a hearse, flashing purple lights and pulled by a Harley-Davidson rider, as Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall was heard. It was a song that Mr. Sinclair, who got his motorcycle licence at the age of 70, also played loudly on painkillers after surgeries. ”My father, the rock star,” Niigaan said.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, taken care of by Mr. Sinclair after his father Tobasonakwut Kinew’s death in 2012, said his wise teacher is now gone but the teachings will last forever.
Mr. Kinew, too, recalled his humour from a recent incident. He remembered wiping Mr. Sinclair with a napkin in hospital, shortly after a nurse had given him ice chips that trickled as loose droplets on his face. The onetime senator responded by gazing outside his window in deep thought.
Mr. Kinew braced himself, thinking this was about to be a big moment, that he would be bestowed upon by a lifetime of wisdom.
But Mr. Sinclair turned toward Mr. Kinew and said: “You know what I’m having a really tough time accepting? The Premier is wiping my chin.” The stadium erupted in applause and roaring laughter.
With a report from Kristy Kirkup in Ottawa