James Gladstone, Akay-na-muka, Blackfoot, 1887-1971
He was the first Status Indian to be appointed to the
Canadian Senate. Gladstone was a Cree by birth but was adopted
by the Blood Reserve on which he was born; the Blood were part
of the Blackfoot nation. He attended an Anglican Mission school
on the reserve until 1903, when he moved to an “Indian Industrial
School” in Calgary and apprenticed as a printer. After leaving
school in 1905, Gladstone returned to the reserve where he worked
as an interpreter. He also found work on ranches in the area wrangling
cattle. In 1911, he found work with the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police as a scout and interpreter and also worked as a mail carrier
on the reserve. Eventually, Gladstone established himself as a
farmer and rancher and worked with his sons to assemble 400 head
of cattle and also introduced modern farming practices to the
reserve. In 1949, Gladstone was elected president of the Indian
Association of Alberta and was sent to Ottawa three times to press
for improvements to the Indian Act. His acceptance by both Blackfoot
and Cree assisted him in bringing the different groups together
in one political organization. He was appointed to the Senate
by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in
1958, two years before Status Indians won the right to vote in
Canada, and pressed for Aboriginals to be enfranchised. He sat
as an Independent Conservative until he retired from the Upper
House in 1970.
