Gary Potts (Dec. 1, 1944 – June 3, 2020) was a chief of the
Temagami First Nation
The Temagami First Nation is located on Bear Island in the heart of Lake Temagami, the second largest in Lake Temagami after Temagami Island. Its community is known as Bear Island 1. Temagami First Nation (TFN) members are status Indians under t ...
and the
Teme-Augama Anishnabai
The Teme-Augama Anishnabai (from the Anishinaabe ''Dimii'aagamaa Anishinaabe'', "the deep water people") is the Indigenous Anishinaabe community of the Temagami First Nation. The ancestors of Teme-Augama Anishnabai have trapped and hunted animal ...
in
Temagami, Ontario
Temagami, formerly spelled Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart.
The Temagami region is known as ''n'Daki Menan'', the homeland of the area's First Nations com ...
, Canada.
He was chief in August 1973 when the
Temagami Land Caution
The Temagami Land Caution was a territorial dispute in the Temagami area of Northeastern Ontario, Canada. In 1877, deputy chief () Ignace Tonené filed a land claim concerning the Temagami region with the Parry Sound federal Indian Agent. The mod ...
began with land claims being filed with title offices to prevent development on
Crown land
Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...
.
Potts was a leader of the Red Squirrel Road blockades in 1988–1989, which were a part of Temagami's struggle to protect their Homeland. Bruce Clark, who was a lawyer for the Temagami First Nation throughout the 1970s and 1980s, left after Steele J.'s trial decision (1984) when the Temagami Band Council retained the services of an experienced Appeal Court Lawyer at the Firm of Borden & Elliot in Toronto (1985). Potts was chief in 1991 when the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
ruled that the Teme-Augama Anishnabai gave up rights to the land via the 1850
Robinson Treaty
The Robinson Treaties are two treaties signed between the Ojibwa chiefs and the Crown in 1850 in the Province of Canada. The first treaty involved Ojibwa chiefs along the north shore of Lake Superior, and is known as the Robinson Superior Treaty. ...
despite the Tema-Augama Anishnabai claiming that they never signed or consented to the treaty. The Supreme Court of Canada found that
The Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
had breached some of their Fiduciary Obligations to the Temagami Indians.
Potts was chief for a few months in 2009. He died on June 3, 2020.