“The elders and Erik Nielsen were very much in tune along those lines,” he said.īut beyond being a bastion of stable political support, Nielsen developed close bonds with the people of Old Crow.Īs a pilot, he often found time to speed up North and visit the village. “We look after each other, we don’t want to depend on governments for anything, we should choose our own way and be able to make our own living. “Our belief system and philosophy is very similar to that of Conservatives,” said Linklater. The elders of Old Crow shared similar sentiments. “They may not have known that these things were going to happen anyway, but he was in power, and he pushed it and he got highly recommended for things like that,” said Frost.ĭuring caribou shortages, elders credited Nielsen with arranging shipments of buffalo and reindeer meat from the Northwest Territories.ĭuring his career, Nielsen staunchly opposed the massive expansion of government largely implemented by Pierre Trudeau. “He was quite looked up to, I think a lot of the older people didn’t really understand things and they thought he did all these things - like the school,” said Stephen Frost Sr. Many elders credit Nielsen with many of the community’s modern amenities - the school, health centre and the airport. “He was always in their corner,” said Phelps. “When he started he fought very hard for what he thought was right, and that included things like the vote and the right to drink and citizenship rights, adequate housing and infrastructure,” said Phelps. “We pay lip service to the idea of accepting Indians as fellow citizens, but government at all levels has yet to recognize them as citizens, equal in all respects to their white counterparts,” he said in a 1960 speech to the house. Soon after coming to power, Nielsen became a strong proponent for the native vote. “And he went to bat for them in a very big way,” he added.
“He went up there, he made friends and he saw what he considered to be severe injustices - in that the people up there simply weren’t treated equally and weren’t living up to the standards that would be acceptable to most Canadians,” said Willard Phelps, former Yukon premier. In Old Crow, the disparity was clear to the young MP. When Nielsen passed away at his Kelowna home on September 4, to the elders of Old Crow, “it was like losing a longtime friend,” said Joe Linklater, chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin.Įrik Nielsen entered federal politics at a time when First Nation rights differed dramatically from those of other Canadians. To Progressive Conservatives he was a ruthless ally.īut to the people of Old Crow, Erik Nielsen was a close and trusted ally.