He taught us to walk side by side

What does it take for a person to build the level of trust required and then to listen, with the deepest compassion, to thousands of people share their most traumatic and deeply personal accounts of child abuse during their time spent in Canada’s residential schools?

And, not only that, but to advocate for and initiate the call for one of the most significant systemic shifts in Canadian history?

The late Hon. Justice Murray Sinclair, who passed away on Nov. 4, will long be remembered for what he did as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) to share the stories of survivors of residential schools and make 94 calls to action for reconciliation for the intergenerational trauma and cultural genocide inflicted upon Indigenous peoples over 150 years.

But the University of Calgary’s vice-provost of Indigenous Engagement says it is how Sinclair did it — how he conducted himself — that is his most important legacy and the model for moving forward.

“He was an extremely intelligent human being. He was highly respectful and always spoke in a calm voice, with a truly impactful message,” says Dr. Michael Hart, PhD, who grew up near Sinclair’s home community of St. Peter’s, Man., and encountered him in the Indigenous community, in sharing circles and as a guest lecturer while Hart was an undergraduate student at the University of Manitoba. “This is a strong reflection of maintaining connection to the traditional practices and values of the Anishinaabe and Cree to which he belonged.”

Like so many Indigenous people in Canada, Sinclair, Hon. LLD’17, embarked on a journey to research and understand his heritage and Indigenous identity as an adult, including seeking out Elders as teachers. In doing so, he developed a deep connection to where he came from and to what would become his life’s work.

“Murray maintained a sense of who he was and his connection to Indigenous people — whether his own family, his own community or other Indigenous communities — and brought forward their voices right beside non-Indigenous voices and perspectives to have both respected,” says Hart. “Through the manner in which Murray brought peoples voices forward, people are able to look at what was done wrong and know that something is to be done differently.”

“He spent the time making sure what he brought forward was based upon things he could explain and demonstrate through the experiences of Indigenous people and historical facts and events. Because he was able to stand on those things, it was hard to argue outside of what he said.”

Sinclair didn’t seek out leadership positions and, in fact, initially declined the TRC chair position. However, his approach in steadfastly taking opportunities to listen, advocate and share the truth meant he was called on throughout his career to help bring Indigenous voices forward, such as through his work with the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, supporting Indigenous lawyers, and later with the Canadian Senate and then as chancellor of Queen’s University, to name a few.

The TRC reverberates through Canada now right down to an institution like UCalgary and its Indigenous Strategy, ii’ taa’poh’to’p.

The Strategy, Hart says, “reflects the intention to stand side by side to recognize that Indigenous oral system ways of doing can run parallel to the written systems developed by non-Indigenous people and that they can both be present and can make our institution better and stronger.”

Hart says Sinclair, who visited UCalgary in 2017 to receive an honorary doctorate — one of 14 he received from Canadian Universities over his life — was instrumental in helping the UCalgary Indigenous Engagement team bring forward the oral and the written systems approach of walking side by side that runs throughout ii’ taa’poh’to’p.

“He helped us recognize this is a journey, that it will be ongoing and that it would transform the university,” says Hart.

The Indigenous Strategy is an ongoing commitment by the university for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to walk side by side, on parallel paths. “We, the University of Calgary and the Elders walking beside us are a reflection of how Murray conducted the TRC work,” says Hart.

In his 2024 memoir, Who We Are, Sinclair writes that he knew, as the work of the TRC concluded, that reconciliation would not be complete in his lifetime, but would be a journey spanning generations.

“In our Cree language, we refer to our great-grandchildren and our great-grandparents as ‘capan’ (pronounced tsa-pan) — it’s the same term — and the persons in the middle is the link between the two. That spans seven generations,” says Hart. “Murray took the knowledge from his teachers — his grandparents and older people — and used that understanding for the well-being of the children to come, so they can stand just as proud as the older people.

“His commitment was to fulfilling the role of listening and passing on our values and traditions so our great-grandchildren are in a position of experiencing and enjoying a wonderful life.”