Pay tribute to Jose Kusugak, Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier and Harry Daniels with this souvenir sheet for the Indigenous Leaders stamp issue.

Designed by Andrew Perro, it features all three stamps and a background photograph pertaining to each leader:

Jose Kusugak (Inuit): a childhood photo of Kusugak with other family members, circa 1955.
Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier (First Nations): ceremonial teepees in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, photographed by Cory Generoux.
Harry Daniels (Métis): a Métis sash, photographed by Danielle Tocker.

This stamp issue honours three outstanding Indigenous leaders. Over the years, Canada Post has honoured other Indigenous leaders, artists and politicians who have brought positive and lasting changes to Canadian society.

Considered by some to be a Father of Confederation for his pivotal role in the creation of Nunavut, Jose Kusugak (1950-2011) dedicated his life to raising awareness of Inuit identity and issues in Canada. Kusugak was born in Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories (now Naujaat, Nunavut) and attended residential school as a child. He began his career as a teacher, working at the University of Saskatchewan’s Eskimo Language School and the Churchill Vocational Centre in Manitoba, where he later served as a cultural and linguistic adviser. As head of the Inuit Language Commission in the 1970s, he was involved in developing a standardized, dual writing system for Inuktitut, using Roman orthography and syllabics. In the years leading up to Nunavut’s creation, Kusugak used his natural ability as a communicator to explain the land claim concept to Inuit communities across the Arctic and lent his talent and leadership to many other roles. An award-winning broadcaster and the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Kusugak was an honest and devoted advocate for his people, whom he described as “First Canadians, Canadians First.”

No other elected First Nations chief in Canada has served more consecutive terms than Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier (b. 1954, Regina, Saskatchewan). During her nearly 40 years as leader of the Okanese First Nation, on Treaty 4 territory near Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, she forged her reputation as a matriarch and champion of her people. Day Walker-Pelletier fought to improve the quality of life of the Okanese and to protect the culture, rights and traditions of all First Nations people through her involvement in numerous tribal, provincial and national initiatives on social reform, health and wellness, and education. A survivor of the residential school system, she was particularly passionate about bettering the lives of women and children. In 2021, a year after she retired, her decade-long dream to reintegrate Indigenous foster children into their families culminated in the opening of the Daywalker Home Fire Family Centre. On her appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018, Tribal Chief Edmund Bellegarde praised the positive impacts of her long-standing leadership: “She casts a big shadow and her voice is thundering; when she speaks, people listen.”

Known for his sharp wit, zest for life and the broad-brimmed black hat that he sported in honour of his bison-hunting forefathers, Harry Daniels (1940-2004) wore his Métis heritage with pride. The charismatic and outspoken politician, activist and actor was born in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan, and served in the Royal Canadian Navy before entering university, where he developed a lifelong interest in Indigenous affairs. He founded or served as a member of a number of Métis organizations and was elected president of the Native Council of Canada and its successor, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. Daniels was a force to be reckoned with and successfully led an effort to have the Métis included as one of the Indigenous peoples recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982. In 1999, he and several other plaintiffs launched a Federal Court case that – a dozen years after his death – resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that Métis and non-status Indians are Indians under the British North America Act, 1867, and, therefore, under federal jurisdiction. For his many contributions, he was awarded the Order of the Métis Nation.

Product # 404190145

Indigenous Leaders: Souvenir sheet