Trailblazer
Senator James Gladstone
James Gladstone was a Cree by birth, but was adopted by the Blood reserve of the Blackfoot nation. He left an Indian Industrial school in Calgary in 1903, returning to the reserve where he worked as an interpreter and rode for several ranches in the area. He was hired as a scout for the RCMP in 1911, and worked as a mail carrier on the reserve. Eventually Gladstone assembled a sizeable herd of Hereford cattle and along with his sons introduced modern ranching practices to the reserve.
Soft spoken, but an effective negotieator, he constantly sought a new deal for the Indiean people. His acceptance by both the Blackfoot and Cree made it possible to bring the groups together in one political association Gladstone was elected president of the Indian Association of Alberta in 1949 and was sent to Ottawa 3 times to lobby for changes to the Indian Act.
He was appointed to the Senate by then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1958, two years before Status Indians won the right to vote in Canada. He sat as an independent conservatieve and spent much of his time working for greater participation between Aboriginal people and the Canadian Government.
Senator James Gladstone retired from the Upper House in 1970 and in the farewell address he gave to senators on March 3, 1971 he said “Someday this country will come of age, and all people, whatever their national diffences will unite as one nation.
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