The Unyielding Ghost of James Brady: How a Métis Leader's Radical Vision Shaped Edmonton and the North

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His story is one of the great, unsettled accounts of Western Canada, a tale of fierce intellect, radical politics, and a disappearance that still echoes through the northern wilderness.

James Brady, a man born of Métis aristocracy and Irish heritage, became one of the most pivotal figures in the 20th-century struggle for Métis rights, with roots deeply planted in the soil around Edmonton and stretching across the vast northern expanse of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Long before contemporary land acknowledgements became common practice in Edmonton, Brady and his contemporaries were engaged in a profound, high-stakes battle for the very soul of the Métis people.

It was a fight for land, for dignity, and for a future.

Born in 1908 near St. Paul des Métis, Brady was the grandson of a soldier who fought alongside Louis Riel, inheriting a legacy of resistance.

His mother, Philomena Garneau, was the first registered nurse of Métis ancestry in Alberta, and his grandfather, Laurent Garneau, a friend of Riel himself, instilled in him the deep history of Métis struggles.

This was not just history to Brady; it was a living mandate.

By the late 1920s, while working as a labourer, he had embraced Marxist philosophies, a political leaning that would define his uncompromising approach to activism for the rest of his life.

He was a self-educated intellectual, fluent in Cree, Michif, English, and French, with a log cabin in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, famously lined not with hunting trophies, but with the scholarly works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.

A Formidable Alliance Forged in Alberta

The 1930s were a time of catastrophic despair on the prairies, but from the dust bowl of economic depression, new political movements arose.

It was in this crucible that James Brady, alongside a formidable group of activists, forged a political machine that would change Alberta forever.

Together with Malcolm Norris, Peter Tomkins, Joseph Dion, and Felix Callihoo, they were often called “the big five” or “the fabulous five.”

This collective of brilliant organizers and strategists founded the Association des Métis d'Alberta et des Territoires du Nord-Ouest in 1932, which would later become the Métis Association of Alberta and, today, the Métis Nation of Alberta.

Their mission was direct: to lobby the government to address the crushing poverty, poor health, and lack of education plaguing Métis and non-status Indian communities across the province.

The group’s tireless and intense lobbying, with Brady often acting as the core political strategist, could not be ignored.

Their persistence was relentless, their arguments irrefutable.

In 1934, the Alberta government appointed the royal Ewing Commission to investigate the living conditions of the Métis.

Brady and Norris crafted powerful submissions, framing the Métis struggle as a fight against the encroachment of monopoly capital and failed government policies.

This advocacy led to a landmark victory.

In 1938, the Alberta government passed the Metis Population Betterment Act, a historic piece of legislation that established twelve Métis settlements.

It was the first time in Canadian history that a province had set aside a land base specifically for the Métis, a direct result of the organizing prowess of Brady and his allies.

This remains the only constitutionally protected Métis land base in the country.

The Northern Shift and a Deepening Mystery

After serving in the Second World War, an enlistment initially denied due to his communist affiliations, Brady’s focus shifted eastward.

He moved to northern Saskatchewan, disillusioned with the slow pace of change and political compromises, but his work was far from over.

Alongside his lifelong comrade Malcolm Norris, he was instrumental in founding the Métis Association of Saskatchewan and was a key organizer for the local in La Ronge, now fittingly named the Jim Brady Local #19.

He poured his energy into local co-operatives, believing economic self-determination was the key to true liberation for his people from what he called “that vicious system” of colonial capitalism.

But it is the final chapter of his life that has become the most enduring part of his legend.

In June 1967, James Brady and his friend Absolum “Abbie” Halkett, a Cree band councillor, went on a prospecting trip in northern Saskatchewan near Lower Foster Lake.

They were never seen again.

An extensive RCMP search found their campsite and canoes, but the men had vanished without a trace.

The official story was that they got lost, but few who knew them ever believed it.

The consensus among many in the northern communities was that they were murdered for their radical politics and their outspoken criticism of the dire conditions faced by Indigenous people.

Brady, the Marxist, the socialist, the relentless advocate, was a thorn in the side of many powerful interests.

In recent years, search efforts using sonar technology have identified underwater anomalies in the lake, but no conclusive evidence has been found, and the RCMP has not deemed it sufficient to justify a dive.

The mystery of his disappearance has been explored in books like 'Cold Case North,' ensuring his story continues to be told.

A Legacy Alive in Edmonton and Beyond

Today, the political structures James Brady helped build are more vital than ever.

The Métis Nation of Alberta, now known as the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, recently renewed a formal government-to-government relationship with the City of Edmonton, a testament to the long journey toward self-governance that Brady began.

His fight for a land base is mirrored in the modern MNA's constitutional goals to repatriate and protect land for its people.

He was a man who saw the future, even if he didn't live to see it fully realized.

A stone memorial stands in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, a quiet tribute to one of the most influential Métis political figures of the 20th century.

But his true legacy is not in stone; it is in the continued struggle for Métis rights, in the assertion of sovereignty, and in the unyielding spirit of a people who refuse to be forgotten.

The work of James Brady is unfinished, and his ghost still walks the north.

Frequently Asked Questions About James Brady and Métis Leadership

Who was James Brady?

James Brady was a highly influential Métis political leader and activist in Alberta and Saskatchewan. He was a founding member of what is now the Métis Nation of Alberta and was instrumental in the creation of the Alberta Métis settlements in 1938, the only Métis land base in Canada.

What were James Brady's political beliefs?

Brady was a self-educated Marxist, socialist, and Métis nationalist. He believed in economic and political self-determination for the Métis people and worked to establish resource co-operatives to build class consciousness and fight against what he termed colonial capitalism.

What happened to James Brady?

James Brady and his companion Absolum Halkett mysteriously disappeared while on a prospecting trip in northern Saskatchewan in June 1967. Despite searches, their bodies were never found, leading to widespread speculation that they were murdered due to Brady's radical political activism.