One year ago today, we lost a giant. Our Chancellor Emeritus, Murray Sinclair Mazina Gheezik-iban, began his journey to the spirit world in the early hours of November 4th, 2024. We are so grateful for his life, for his legacy of great change in the hearts and minds of Canadians, his passion for truth everywhere, including Queen鈥檚.
Our community benefitted from his guidance and his wisdom as he set a course for a new relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples here on campus, in Canada and around the world. His son Niigaan has said that his dad was 鈥a first in every room he walked into鈥: the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba, the first Indigenous person appointed to the Court of King's Bench in that province, the first Indigenous senator from Manitoba and indeed, the first Indigenous chancellor of 黄色视频.
We鈥ve just passed Hallowe鈥檈n. He loved Hallowe鈥檈n and used to go trick-or- treating with his dearly beloved granddaughter Sarah. He would dress up as the ogre Shrek, and he was also a bumblebee. I love to imagine him flying around the streets in his yellow and black striped bee suit, delighting all who saw him. He loved fun. He loved children. And so much of his work was for children whose childhoods were stolen by residential school.
Murray-iban (iban means ancestor) was my cousin and dear friend. And he told me if I ever needed his advice in this chancellorial role, to just put him on speed dial and call anytime. Now if only I had the number...
Fortunately, to hear his voice, we can turn to his memoir Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation. With great humility, surprising humour and abiding humanity, Murray-iban makes us feel like we are at a campfire listening to stories and teachings from his most remarkable life. We can hear his voice. We can feel the fire. We can imagine a better world.
But he asks to do more than imagine it. By sharing what shaped him as a visionary leader, he calls on us to change the world, to make it better for each new generation, and to honour the sacredness of Creation. His memoir, so much about understanding where we as a country have come from, is a gift to where we are going. A gift, like the man himself.
As he would say: 鈥淲e can鈥檛 change the past, but we can create a better future.鈥 He believed passionately in education as the medicine for our broken world. He would be so proud to be standing right where I am now, and seeing what I see: a beautiful group of Queen鈥檚 students about to graduate and make their imprint on the world.
To honour the memory of Mazina Giizhik-iban Murray Sinclair, let us build friendships, create community and belonging, and work together for the generations ahead of us.
Chi miigwetch Mazina Giizhik Iban for lighting the way.