Ahenakew Reportedly Near Death

Ahenakew Reportedly Near Death

Tuesday, March 09, 2010 at 15:09

 

 

There are reports a former Aboriginal leader is gravely ill.

 

Today at the FSIN’s special legislative assembly in Saskatoon, it was reported David Ahenakew is not doing well.

 

Fishing Lake First Nation Chief Shirley Wolfe-Keller said he was on his deathbed.

 

Ahenakew is a former chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a member of the Ahtahkakoop First Nation.

 

He is perhaps best known for the anti-Semitic remarks he made to a newspaper reporter that cost him his membership in the Order of Canada.

 

Friends say the former leader is battling cancer in a Shellbrook hospital.

 

Former FSIN Chief Sol Sanderson says Ahenakew has “helped everybody — Indian and non-Indian”.

 

Sanderson also notes that Ahenakew was one of the people who helped set the building blocks for the First Nations University of Canada.

 

Some chiefs at yesterday’s assembly also took time to voice their support for Ahenakew during addresses from the floor.