Jim Sinclair

Who was Jim Sinclair?

Jim Sinclair, was a Non-Status Indian leader from Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada. Despite his Non-Status, rather than Métis, background, for many years he was one of the pre-eminent Métis leaders in Canada. Jim served as president of the Métis Society of Saskatchewan, and the Association of Métis and Non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan, forerunners of the contemporary Métis Nation - Saskatchewan.

He had a difficult youth as a road allowance person, and struggled with alcohol addiction. After beating his addiction Jim worked extensively at community level organization among his people, to get them to sober up, take responsibility for their lives, and to lead others in the struggle for their rights. He learned to become an expert at using the media, at using confrontation politics to force government to deal with peoples' immediate needs and rights. He focused on issues such as housing, institutional racism, Aboriginal land rights, hunting, fishing, and trapping rights, and education. He was part of the team who helped to establish a major network of alcohol treatment centers, along with the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Métis Studies and Applied Research.