George Manuel
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Manuel, OC (February 21, 1921 – November 15, 1989) was an Indigenous leader in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Born and raised in British Columbia, he became politically active there and in Alberta. In 1970 he was elected and served until 1976 as chief of the National Indian Brotherhood (known today as the Assembly of First Nations). In 1975 he founded and became president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, serving until 1981. Reflecting on his work with indigenous peoples across the Americas, he wrote ''The Fourth World: An Indian Reality'' (1975), exploring the effects of waves of European immigration on these peoples. In his later years, he served as president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 1979 through 1981.


Biography

Manuel was born to Maria and Rainbow in 1921, on the Secwepemc territory of the Shuswap people in British Columbia. Maria later married Louie Manuel, and George took his stepfather's last name. He was first educated at the
Kamloops Indian Residential School The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...
. After contracting
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
(which had no effective antibiotic treatment at the time), he was transferred to an Indian TB hospital on an Indian reservation near
Chilliwack, British Columbia Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...
. There Manuel met Marceline Paul ( Kootenai) from St. Mary's Indian Band. They later married and had six children together.


Political career

Manuel became involved in indigenous politics and his increasing responsibilities strained his marriage. He was elected chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band. In 1959, following the death of his mentor Andy Paull, Manuel was elected head of the North American Indian Brotherhood. Soon after, he and Marceline separated. Not long after this, the federal
Department of Indian Affairs Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
hired Manuel for a position with the
Cowichan Tribes Cowichan Tribes () is the band government of the Cowichan, a group of Coast Salish peoples who live in the Cowichan Valley region on Vancouver Island. With over 3,800 registered members, it is the single largest First Nations band in British C ...
government at Duncan. Manuel worked as a Community Development Officer. In addition to assisting the tribe, he also worked to increase wider awareness in the government and society of the problems and conditions faced by the Cowichan people. Manuel next worked for the Alberta Brotherhood, which represented indigenous peoples in the province. There he developed a strong working relationship with political leader Harold Cardinal (
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
). In this position, Manuel met and worked extensively with chiefs across Canada, becoming familiar with a wide range of issues. Cardinal encouraged Manuel to run for national chief of the newly created National Indian Brotherhood, a body that would represent almost 250,000 'status Indians' in Canada. Manuel served as its first national chief from 1970 to 1976. In 1975 Manuel helped found and was elected as the president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, serving in this position until 1981. He had begun to think deeply about the effects of successive waves of European expansion on Indigenous societies in the Americas, and considered these native peoples together as "the Fourth World." They had numerous experiences in common in terms of having to adapt to colonisation and its aftermath. Manuel wrote a book, ''The Fourth World: An Indian Reality'', expanding on this idea, co-written with
Michael Posluns Michael Posluns (1941 - January 10, 2020) was a notable in Canada, Canadian journalist and researcher. While studying at Carleton University, Posluns became involved with social justice causes and joined the Company of Young Canadians. He went to ...
; it was published in 1975. In the book, Manuel argued that the history of all settler colonial expansion came from two different ideas of land. Land as a commodity and land as a relationship. Indigenous peoples' struggle to defend the latter against the violent globalization of the former is at its core the struggle of what Manuel calls the "Fourth World." George Manuel was President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) from 1979 to 1981, where he continued to inspire indigenous action. He developed the Aboriginal Rights Position Paper and organized what came to be regarded as one of the UBCIC's most ambitious projects: the Indian Constitutional Express. Under his leadership, the UBCIC gained esteem both from the indigenous people for whom it was created, and gained stature from the general public.


Legacy and honours

* He was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
* He was repeatedly recognized for his international work by the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. * In 1983 he received an honorary degree from the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
,
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. * In 1984, Manuel and Dr. Rudolph C. Ryser formed the Center for World Indigenous Studies. His sons
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
and Arthur Manuel (enrolled Secwepemc like their father) also became active in indigenous politics. His eldest daughter Vera Manuel (1948–2010) became an internationally known playwright, and poet as well as a highly respected leader in the community. His younger daughter Doreen Manuel is a film maker. In 2023,
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
announced that Manuel will be one of three people, alongside Nellie Cournoyea and Thelma Chalifoux, honoured as indigenous pioneers on new postage stamps."New Canada Post stamp honours first Indigenous woman to lead a Canadian government"
''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', June 11, 2023.


References


Further reading

* McFarlane, Peter, "Brotherhood to Nationhood: George Manuel and the Making of the Modern Indian Movement," (Toronto : Between the Lines, 1993), * *


External links


The George Manuel Institute

Michael Posluns fonds
Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University Libraries. (includes correspondence, recordings and other material related to Manuel's collaboration with Michael Posluns on ''The Fourth World''.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel, George 1921 births 1989 deaths 20th-century First Nations people Assembly of First Nations chiefs Indigenous leaders in British Columbia Officers of the Order of Canada Secwepemc people