Canon Roderick Robinson, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations that resulted in the 2000 Nisga’a land claim settlement, the first of its kind, has died at the age of 73.
Born in Gitlakdamix (Old Aiyansh), near Terrace, B.C., Mr. Robinson was a founding member of the Nisga’a Land Committee and served as vice president of the Nisga’a Tribal Council fom 1973 to 1981 and executive director from 1981 to 2000. He attended the Alert Bay residential school and later had a career in the fisheries and logging industries.
When he was awarded the Order of Canada in 2004, he was cited for his role as a “spiritual, community and political leader” who “demonstrated immense perseverance and determination during the negotiations that culminated in the historic Nisga’a Treaty.”
He was ordained a deacon in the diocese of Caledonia in 1998 and made a canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Prince Rupert, B.C., in 2000.
He is survived by his wife Marjorie and nine children.
