Dr. Niigaan Sinclair is a Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba, an award-winning columnist with the Winnipeg Free Press, and an internationally recognized commentator on Indigenous history, politics, and culture.
In June 2026, Niigaan spoke to the Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU) in Winnipeg about Indigenous struggles in Canada. He discussed the history of treaties, how they are based not just on rights, but responsibilities, how it was Indigenous people who were the original founders of democracy, and influenced Europeans in the New World to work together. Niigaan also compared the labour unions of today, based on cooperation, solidarity and equality, to the values of Indigenous peoples throughout history.
Drawing upon deep historical context, Anishinaabe knowledge systems, and personal narrative, Niigaan unpacks the ongoing legacies of colonialism, including the residential school system, the Indian Act, and systemic dispossession. He pushes past surface-level land acknowledgments and symbolic corporate pledges, calling instead for tangible structural change across education, governance, and community life.
A central premise of the talk revolves around the concept of relationality and original Treaty obligations. Dr. Sinclair emphasizes that Treaties were never meant to be historical real-estate transactions, but rather dynamic, ongoing agreements meant to guide peaceful coexistence and shared stewardship of the land. He illustrates how Indigenous ways of knowing, rooted in reciprocity, long-term environmental balance, and collective accountability, offer vital answers to modern global challenges, from socio-economic division to the climate crisis.
Niigaan also warmly discussed his father, the late Honourable Murray Sinclair (Mazina Giizhik), a renowned Anishinaabe judge, senator, and former Chief Commissioner of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and the influence he had on his own life, work and activism.
