The Nishnawbe Aski Nation has marked the passing of one of the leading elders in the region.
Garnet Angeconeb was a residential school survivor and spent much of his life in the Town of Sioux Lookout.
Angeconeb was born in the Lac Seul First Nation and attended residential school in Pelican Falls.
He helped found the Wawatay radio network and newspaper.
He was also the first Indigenous person to be elected to Sioux Lookout town council in 1985.
One of Angeconeb’s jobs was as the executive director of the Independent First Nations Alliance.
In a statement NAN says, “Garnet refused to be silent at a time when the horrors of the Residential School system were not widely acknowledged. He was pivotal in the movement to secure compensation for IRS Survivors and the historic apology from the Government of Canada in 2008. Garnet showed us how to turn anger into a voice for justice. His legacy is a roadmap to guide us towards reconciliation.”
His wake was held yesterday.
(File photo)
