Konrad Sioui, Haskan, Huron-Wendat, 1953-
He is a hereditary chief of the Bear Clan of the Huron-Wendat
Nation, and is Grand Chief of the Council of his Nation. He was
elected three consecutive times Regional Chief of the Assembly
of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador. During that time, he
represented the region on the Executive Council and acted on numerous
occasions as Grand Chief under the leadership of George Erasmus.
He was the official and national spokesperson on constitutional
reform issues between 1984 and 1994. He won a landmark, unanimous
decision at the Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1991
against Quebec and Canada known as the Sioui Decision. This ruling
acknowledged that treaties entered into between the Crown and
First Nations are international agreements entered into between
sovereign nations. Mr. Sioui is also recognized by Elijah Harper
as one of the main figures, along with Phil Fontaine, who actively
fought against the Meech Lake Accord. At the international level,
Sioui represented the Assembly of First Nations in Geneva from
1985 to 1992. He has addressed the United Nations Working Group
on Indigenous Peoples on numerous occasions on issues such as
treaty rights, human rights, the rights of children and the elderly,
land rights and development. He has also addressed the U.N. Commission
on Human Rights about the urgent necessity to modify the U.N.
Charter to allow access for indigenous peoples of the world. Sioui
is a dedicated humanitarian and diplomat and is a respected and
skilled negotiator. He pursues a simple and traditional lifestyle
with his wife, Linda Rock of the Innu Nation, and his four children
on the Huron Reserve at Wendake, Quebec.