Anishinaabe senator and judge Murray Sinclair has died at age 73 after passing away in a hospital in Winnipeg on Monday morning.

Sinclair was a champion for Indigenous rights and led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which published its report summarizing 94 calls to action directed to all levels of government in an effort to begin healing from the harm of the residential school system.

Since this news has broke, tributes have poured in from all across Turtle Island. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation posted on X, writing “We are devastated to learn of the loss of our beloved leader and Elder, Mizana Giizhik [The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky], His Honour, Murray Sinclair. His tireless work to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples and ensure the legacy of residential school Survivors will never be forgotten.” You can read the full post by clicking here.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also posted a tribute to the late Murray Sinclair on X, acknowledging that “It will be a long time before our nation produces another person the calibre of Murray Sinclair. He showed us there is no reconciliation without truth. We should hold dear in our hearts his words that our nation is on the cusp of a great new era and we must all “dare to live greatly together.'” You can read the full tribute by clicking here.

Besides serving as a senator from 2016-2021 and serving as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009-2015, Sinclair was also Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge, and served as Chancellor of Queen’s University from 2021-2024.