Posted by claire hogenkamp (friend and colleague) On Tuesday, March 8, 2011
I am so profoundly sad about our loss off this treasured man. Chief Ralph was a sensitive and respectful man. Always the educator, he taught me to be still and listen. I did as he suggested and learned a lot about the people, history and guiding principles of Nawash First Nation. It was a valuable lesson.
I remember, with particular fondness, his unannounced visits to my Toronto office. He dropped in when he came from visiting his mother in a Toronto hospital. Chief Ralph would just arrive with his briefcase (a plastic shopping bag) to sit and rest, or show me some document, and we talked about life, my daughter and his concerns about his his mother. Ever so gently, he would probe for new developments in government thinking that could affect the negotiations. He was always respectful and sensitive to my concerns about confidentiality. He was a true gentleman.
I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve with three MNR negotiation teams (Nawash Commercial Fishing Rights) over ten years. That time, being patiently guided by Chief Ralph has been among the high points in my life's journey.
Claire Hogenkamp
CHIEF Ralph Ernest Akiwenzie
BILL HENRY
Sun Times staff
The Chippewas of Nawash bid farewell Tuesday to Chief Ralph Akiwenzie, Cape Croker's longest serving elected chief.
St. Mary's Catholic Church and hall were filled with mourners and hundreds more crammed the Cape Croker community hall to watch a live broadcast of the funeral mass which began with a brief sweetgrass ceremony.
Chief Ralph Ernest Akiwenzie died Friday morning of cancer a few days short of his 65th birthday. He was remembered Tuesday for his quiet, determined, exemplary leadership and his 22 years of tireless and selfless work on behalf of the First Nation community.
"We've lost a teacher, a leader, a protector and a friend," Scott Lee, the interim chief and head band councillor said at the church. "It was his commitment to the community that drove him, not praise or power."
Lee highlighted some of Chief Akiwenzie's legacy, especially his role in helping reassert aboriginal fishing and hunting rights. He contributed $5,000 of his own money to the legal defence fund in the Jones-Nadjiwon court decision of 1993 in which Judge David Fairgrieves recognized the Saugeen Ojibway right to fish commercially in their traditional waters surrounding the Bruce Peninsula.
Chief Akiwenzie was also a key negotiator for three subsequent, court-ordered fishing agreements with the province of Ontario which implement those rights.
"He was tireless and instrumental in negotiating three fishing agreements which have begun to bring protection and peace to our waters and the fish," Lee said.
After the funeral mass, hundreds of people lined both sides of the road outside the community hall. They watched as the funeral procession of close to 40 vehicles slowly drove through the community and eventually made its way to the cemetery.
A feast was planned after at the hall, where several Ontario chiefs and others were to speak about Chief Akiwenzie.
