Malcolm Norris
Malcolm Norris (1900–1967) was an influential Canadian Métis leader of the twentieth century, and celebrated Aboriginal activist.
A Marxist, Socialist, and Métis nationalist, Norris served for a time with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. During his on-the-job travels he developed his political views in response to the disorganization and poverty he saw in Métis and First Nations communities throughout northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Norris was one of the founding members of the Métis Association of Alberta, alongside his friend James P. Brady. In the Second World War he served in the Royal Canadian Airforce, afterwards returning to settle in northern Saskatchewan. For many years he worked with and for the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government in Saskatchewan. Despite his hopes for the social democratic government in Saskatchewan, Norris sought self-government and fiscal self-sufficiency for his people through organizing the Métis Association of Saskatchewan.
When the Saskatchewan Liberal Party returned to power in 1964, he was dismissed from his job in Prince Albert. Following this he served as President of the Métis Association of Saskatchewan and advised First Nations Chiefs and bands on political organization.
In 1967 he moved back to Alberta, where he died from a stroke.
See also
External links
- Aboriginal Faces of Saskatchewan Biography of Malcolm Norris
- Encyclopaedia of Saskatchewan entry on Malcolm Norris
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