Steven L. Point, Xwe li qwel tel, Sto:lo, 193?-
He is one of Canada's few First Nations judges and was
appointed British Columbia's lieutenant-governor in September
2007. The Chilliwack-born judge was appointed to the provincial
bench in 1999 and most recently was working in Abbotsford. When
he was just 23 years old, he was elected chief of Skowdale First
Nation, a job he held for 15 years. Point then graduated with
a law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1985 and
set up his own firm where he practiced criminal and Native law
for local Sto:lo bands in Chilliwack. He later worked for the
federal government and then took over as director of the Native
Law program at UBC, a position he held from 1991 until 1994. In
2005, Point was appointed Chief Commissioner of the British Columbia
Treaty Commission, the body that facilitates treaty negotiations
between the provincial and federal governments and First Nations.
He is also a recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.