David Ahenakew facts for kids

David Ahenakew CD (July 28, 1933 – March 12, 2010) was a Canadian First Nations (Cree) politician, and former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Ahenakew was born at the Sandy Lake Indian Reserve in Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Grace Ahenakew, had five children.

Military and political career

Ahenakew served in the Canadian Forces from 1951 to 1967, during which time he was stationed in Germany, Korea (during the Korean War), and Egypt. An alternate source indicates he served with the Canadian Armed Forces Engineers Corps in Canada, Egypt and Germany from 1962 to 1968 and attained the rank of Sergeant.

In 1967, upon leaving the army, Ahenakew accepted a position with the Saskatchewan government, and became active in the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). He was elected to the position of FSIN president in 1968 (until 1979). He stated that his military experience heavily influenced his choice to pursue politics: "I could see that what was happening to our people was the same kind of exploitation and degradation I had seen in Korea and Egypt."

During his time as FSIN president he released a report entitled "Indian Education in Saskatchewan," and played a role in the founding of the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College and the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in 1972.

He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Regina in 1977 and in 1978 he received the John Stratychuk award from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Association.

Ahenakew received the Order of Canada in the degree of Member in 1978. His citation read: "Member of a United Nations committee and of the World Indigenous Peoples Council. His many years of service to Indians and Métis in Saskatchewan culminated in his election as Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, which has revolutionized Indian education in his province." He was stripped of the Order of Canada in 2005 after making controversial remarks about the Holocaust.

On March 9, 1981, he was appointed Director of the Saskatchewan Public Service Commission's Special Programs Unit.

In 1982, he was elected Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, a national representative body for Canadian aboriginals.

Death

Following a long battle with cancer, Ahenakew died on March 12, 2010 at a hospital in Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, aged 76.