'Harry would be proud': First of three stamps honouring Indigenous leaders unveiled

Friends and family gathered on Monday to celebrate Métis leader Harry Daniels.

Daniels was the first to have his commemorative stamp unveiled by Canada Post in their inaugural Indigenous Peoples series.

“Harry would be proud, he liked the limelight of course,” Harry’s brother, Hugh Daniels, said with a chuckle.

“That’s right up his alley.”

Cheryl Storkson, Harry Daniels’ widow, speaks after unveiling his commemorative stamp. (Kaylyn Whibbs/CTV News)

Harry Daniels, born in Regina Beach, was a politician and activist who dedicated his life to the rights and well-being of Métis and non-status Indians in Canada.

First elected as vice-president of the Métis Nation of Alberta in 1972, he went on to represent Indigenous and Métis peoples provincially, nationally and internationally.

Daniels successfully led an effort convincing the federal government to enshrine the inherent rights of Métis and non-status Indians in the new Constitution.

In result, Métis are included, along with First Nations and Inuit, as Indigenous Peoples in the Constitution Act, 1982.

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Cheryl Storkson, his widow, said she hopes those who see the stamp are driven to look up Daniels; to learn more about what he accomplished in his over 40 years as an advocate for his people.

“And just what an honourable man he was and how he fought so hard and was so dedicated to his work, bringing all of this for the Métis, Indian and Inuit, for everybody,” said Storkson, “he would be so, so honoured.”

She said while he has been awarded many honours, this is the biggest and the proudest.

“There couldn’t be a bigger honour,” she said, “This is wonderful.”

Cheryl Storkson, Harry Daniels’ widow (left), and Ben McCutcheon, general manager of operations for the prairie region of Canada Post, unveil Harry Daniels’ commemorative stamp. (Kaylyn Whibbs/CTV News)

Daniels’ work didn’t end when he passed in 2004, with the Supreme Court ruling in Daniels v. Canada coming 12 years later in 2016.

The Federal Court case was launched in 1999 to determine the federal government’s relationship with Métis and non-status Indians. The ruling determined the two groups come under the federal government’s jurisdiction.

Daniels’ stamp is one of three honouring Indigenous leaders.

“It’s important that we recognize those folks who along the way have developed and created the Canada that we know today,” said Ben McCutcheon, general manager of operations for the prairie region for Canada Post.

The stamp commemorating Jose Kusugak will be unveiled at a similar event in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut on June 14, with the third unveiling event honouring Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier in Fort Qu’Appelle on June 15.

The series will be released on National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21.