Hundreds gather to celebrate Murray Sinclair's legacy with round dance in Winnipeg
Round dance honouring the man who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held Friday evening
Hundreds of people came together in Winnipeg to celebrate Murray Sinclair's life, just over a year after his passing.
A memorial round dance for the Anishinaabe man who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was held at the RBC Convention Centre Friday evening.
"Our dad loved community events and being out with the people," daughter Dené Sinclair told CBC News.
"If he was still with us, he would have loved this. He would have been the first guy that would be like, 'Take me to the round dance.'"
Sinclair died in Winnipeg on Nov. 4, 2024. He was 73 years old.
The Peguis First Nation member became Manitoba's first Indigenous judge in 1988.
In 2009, he accepted the position of chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, steering efforts to document the history and legacy of Canada's residential school system. He served as a senator from 2016 until his retirement in 2021.
People flew in from across the country to attend the round dance, which was open to members of the public.
'Legacy of inspiration'
Robyn Hall, from Hollow Water First Nation, said she was part of a healing circle with Sinclair.
"I was young at the time, and it was an honour to be there," she said. "When he became part of the TRC, that feeling that was brought to me when I was young, I knew that it was going to be brought to the larger public."
Participants took selfies with a copy of a portrait showing Sinclair laughing, painted by renowned Cree artist Kent Monkman, before a feast and the first song of the round dance.
"Celebrating laughter. That's what dad really cared the most about," son Niigaan Sinclair told the crowd.
"He once said to me that the biggest gift you can ever give to someone is to make them laugh," he said, encouraging everyone to share jokes and stories of his dad at the event.
Hall said Sinclair leaves a "legacy of inspiration" behind him.
Future generations "are the ones that are going to carry on that legacy," she said.
"It's now my responsibility to pass that on to my children so that they carry it."
With files from Gavin Axelrod