Sol Sanderson was Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations from 1979 to 1986. Beginning with Sanderson’s term, the First Nations became much more active in asserting their political rights, and succeeded in having them included in the Canadian Constitution in 1982. Sanderson was instrumental in ensuring that the treaties were entrenched in the Constitution as well as recognized at the international level: he led a delegation to London that lobbied the British Parliament on behalf of Treaty Indians. Sanderson was a founding leader of the Assembly of First Nations, and a senior spokesperson at the First Ministers’ Conferences pertaining to Indigenous people. He also played an important role in the move towards Indian government, which involves control over First Nations schools as well as over three post-secondary institutions: the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre; the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies; and the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada). Sanderson also was prominent in the Treaty Land Entitlement process in Saskatchewan.
Rob Nestor