Murray Sinclair left us on November 4. But his wisdom remains.

His was a powerful voice for justice, indigenous rights, and education. He was well-known as Justice Murray Sinclair, the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba and only the second in all of Canada. He became a Canadian senator, then chancellor at Queen’s University.

He became best known for chairing the multi-year Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Canada’s residential school system from 2009 to 2015. The system, yes. But most of all, the people whose lives that system devastated, even destroyed. Children taken from their families, some never seen again.

Under his leadership, the TRC gave voice to Indigenous survivors of those schools. People who experienced it first hand, and their descendants who lived with the consequences.

Through his life experience, and especially his work in law, education, politics and the TRC, Justice Sinclair became known as a discerning thinker and leader. The quote below is a direct comment on reconciliation with Indigenous people, but, like many of the insights he shared, it also offers insight to all Canadians about how we relate to each other – across our different backgrounds, races and levels of privilege.

“We have to learn how to talk to, and about, each other, with greater respect than has been the case in the past,” Chancellor Sinclair told the Queen’s University Gazette. “We may not achieve reconciliation within my lifetime, or within the lifetime of my children, but we will be able to achieve it if we all commit to working towards it properly.”

Justice Sinclair had a special interest in education – he studied it before studying law. In multiple speeches during and after the TRC, he emphasized the important role of teachers. There are 4 key questions teachers must address in order to help their Indigenous students to thrive, he said; “Where students come from, where they are going, why they are here and who they are.”

Murray Sinclair’s new book, Who We Are – Four Questions For a Life and a Nation was released just weeks before he died. Its publisher describes it this way: “Who We Are examines the roles of history, resistance, and resilience in the pursuit of
finding a path forward, one that heals the damaged relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. In doing so, it reveals Senator Sinclair’s life in a new and direct way, exploring how all of these unique experiences have shaped him as an Anishinaabe man, father, and grandfather.”

The book takes its structure from the four questions Murray Sinclair offered to educators: “Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Who am I?”

You can purchase Murray Sinclair’s new book here:
https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/who-we-are-four-questions-for-a-life-and-a-nation/9780771099106.html