Dubois remembered for leadership

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Fort Qu'Appelle residents, and many within Saskatchewan's Aboriginal community, gathered together on Oct. 29 to commemorate the life of Peter Dubois.

The long-time Aboriginal activist died Oct. 24 in a car crash at the intersection of Highway 10 and the Avonhurst grid road.

The car Dubois was in was rear-ended, and then rolled into the ditch and burst into flames.

The next day, somber staff at the Qu'Appelle Valley Friendship Centre (QVFC) remembered Dubois as a man of vision, and of action.

After working with provincial Aboriginal organizations in the 1960s and 1970s, Dubois turned his attention locally.

He was a member of the friendship centre's board of directors from 1981 to 1983. He served as the centre's executive director from 1984 to 2000, and one of his major accomplishments was constructing, and paying for, the building that houses the QVFC.

"When it came to the Aboriginal community, he really cared about people," said Wendy Whitebear, a staff member at the centre.

"He always made a point to make sure that we knew the issues that were going on . . . whether it was politically or within the community, or within the First Nation and Metis community."

Fellow staff member Rob Donison, who worked with Dubois for over 15 years at the QVFC, said Dubois sought to bridge the gap between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.

"He was a very powerful voice, both within the First Nations' political arena and in the community," he said.

Born in 1927 on the Muscowpetung First Nation, Dubois received his elementary and secondary schooling at the Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School. He later studies theology at the North American Baptist Seminary in Edmonton.

He married Marj Keepness in 1952.

A former chief of the Muscowpetung First Nation, Dubois was the first vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in the 1960s. He helped lead the organization's campaign against then Indian Affairs Minister Jean Chretien's controversial "white paper" that would have seen the federal government abolish the treaties signed between Ottawa and First Nations.

Dubois also served as the executive secretary of the National Association of Friendship Centres when the Aboriginal Friendship Centre program was signed over to the Aboriginal group.

Dubois also worked with others to create many of the educational and social institutions now used by Saskatchewan's Aboriginal people. He was a founding board member of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre and the Saskatchewan Indian Community College (now the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology).

Dubois was an inspiration, and a fountain of knowledge, for the new generation of Aboriginal leaders, said File hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council chairman Ron Crowe.

"He was always ready with advice and criticism-constructive criticism-to make sure we never lost sight of the issues," Crowe said.

"He was a tireless promoter of treaty rights and constantly reminded us on the need to preserve the principles of the treaties."

Not long after his retirement from the friendship centre in 2000, Dubois was stricken with cancer. He fully recovered after treatments, and his faith in the Creator helped him through a difficult time, Donison said.

The occupants of the second car in the collision were taken to hospital in Regina. The accident is still under investigation.