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Upon completion of his degree, Perry's family and community encouraged him to bring his expertise to the First Nations community at which time he began working with the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology. Shortly thereafter, with his community's encouragement and support he sought office within Indian Government and achieved the position of Vice-President/Assistant Tribal Representative and subsequently the President/Tribal Council Representative of the Touchwood/File Hills/Qu'Appelle Tribal Council.
Perry has consistently taken the advice of the Elders and moved aggressively to resolve unfinished treaty business in the area of natural resources and revenue sharing. He has carried this focus to the regional, national and international level and represented the Treaty Four First Nations in the United Nations developments on the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Links: (click on X in top right corner of outside link to return to photo gallery) Perry Bellegarde New FSIN ChiefDeaths intensify push for parallel justice system Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal PeoplesChallenges to Business Growth in Saskatchewan: Speakers Native veterans launch lawsuit against OttawaSaskatoon Police Constables Under InvestigationStructure of the FSIN - Chief: Perry Bellegarde History of the FSIN - FSIN Leadership First Nation Issues Highlighted in InterAction '98 Keynote Address |
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Chief Perry Bellegarde, of the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, is a member of
the Little Black Bear First Nation, Treaty Four where he
was raised. Perry is married to Jan, from the Carry the
Kettle First Nation, and has two sons, Zachary and Riley,
whom he treasures spending time with enjoying numerous
activities. He received his elementary education in the
nearby communities of Goodeve and Balcarres and after
graduating from highschool, he was the first Treaty
Indian to convocate from University of Regina with his
Bachelor of Administration degree. In obtaining this
degree, he was awarded Scholarships from the Saskatchewan
Indian Federated College and the Crown Investments
Corporation of Saskatchewan for his academic achievements.
As
Tribal Representative he led the TFHQ Tribal Council in
successfully negotiating a $6.6 million Treaty Four
Specific Claim and restored the original grounds, on
which treaty four was signed, to reserve status in an
unprecedented six months. Beyond this, he led in the
establishment and transfer of the Fort Qu'Appelle
hospital to Indian control which served the needs of the
entire community of Fort Qu'Appelle, both First Nations
and non-First Nations. Chief Bellegarde initiated and
directed the TFHQ Tribal Council in establishing an urban
services office in the city of Regina to serve the needs
of off-reserve Indian people living in that city.
In
furthering his goals and continuing on a path of
leadership, he competed for and was successful in
securing the position of Chief of the Federation of
Saskatchewan Indian Nations. Since his election he has
maintained his focus and brought together First Nations
Representatives from across Western Canada to enter into
a protocol agreement with quarterly meetings to address
the outstanding issues around the 1930's Natural Resource
Transfer Agreement. Chief Bellegarde supervises the
Treaty Governance Process which is now leading into its
second phase, where they will be negotiating models of
governance and new fiscal relations with the Crown and
First Nations and will eventually lead into the
development of a Treaty implementation act. Regarding the
Justice issues, Chief Bellegarde is demanding a public
inquiry into the Saskatchewan Justice system. He has also
taken a lead role in challenging the government to
resolve the aboriginal veterans issues both regionally
and nationally due to his position as the Regional Vice-Chief
to the Assembly of First Nations. He coordinated his
national portfolio responsibilties with his leadership of
the Federation.