The province has lost a well-known Native leader.
Jim Sinclair has died at the age of 79.
A former leader of the Metis Society of Saskatchewan (presently the Metis Nation – Saskatchewan) and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Sinclair fought tirelessly for Aboriginal rights on many fronts.
Sinclair helped found the Congress in 1971, when it was known as the Native Council of Canada.
He was also one of the prominent leaders to successfully lobby to have Metis included in the Constitution Act in 1982.
As well, Sinclair advocated for grassroots Aboriginal citizens during the talks leading up to the Meech Lake Accord of the mid-1980s.
In 2004, Sinclair was awarded the Order of the Metis Nation for his service to the community.