Wednesday Talk: January 15 , 2025, at 2-4pm. It is in-person and on Zoom

Speaker:  Gerry Friesen, History, University of Manitoba

Title: “The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman”

Abstract: Dr. Friesen will talk about his recently published book, The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman (University of Manitoba Press 2024).

Born in the Red River Settlement in 1841, orphaned when he was eight years old, educated in local schools, John Norquay became Manitoba’s first Indigenous Premier. He was a member of the legislature from 1871 to 1889 and served as Premier from 1878 to 1887. Though racism complicated his leadership, his fall from power was due to a conspiracy masterminded by the founding president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Sir George Stephen, and executed by Sir John A. Macdonald. Norquay’s governments set in place many of the province’s founding institutions and he was said to be a plausible candidate to succeed the aging Macdonald as Prime Minister of Canada. But fate intervened.

Bio: Gerry Friesen grew up in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and attended the University of Saskatchewan (BA Hon) and the University of Toronto (MA, PhD). He has been in the History Department of the University of Manitoba since 1970. He has also held visiting appointments at McGill, Yale, Berlin (Free University), Cambridge (Robinson College), and Sydney (Macquarie and U of Sydney). Books he has authored and co-authored include The Canadian Prairies: A History; River Road; The West; Citizens and Nation; Rural Life: Portraits of the Prairie Town 1946; Immigrants in Prairie Cities; Canadians and Their Pasts; and The Honourable John Norquay.

The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/LpLKL8kEpj

The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon.  The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.