Andrew Delisle

Andrew Delisle

Lifetime (2004)

Andrew T. Delisle, Sr. has dedicated the past 40 years of his life to Native rights at home and abroad. From humble beginnings chopping wood, selling barrels of water and crushing rocks with a sledgehammer, he emerged as one of Canada’s great Aboriginal leaders. He served as Chief of the Mohawks of Kahnawake, where he was instrumental in organizing his community to take control of policing, social programs, education, administration and operations. He was a founding member of the National Indian Council and participated in its transformation to the National Indian Brotherhood and later to the Assembly of First Nations. He was the first Aboriginal person appointed to the Order of Canada in 1969. Mr. Delisle ensured an Aboriginal presence at Montreal’s Expo 67 and at the Summer Olympics in 1976. He was a negotiator during the Oka Crisis of 1990 and was active in the development of the James Bay Agreement. Mr. Delisle currently works as a consultant and advisor and still finds time for hockey and baseball.