Distinguished Nisg̲a’a leader named UNBC’s seventh Chancellor

PRINCE GEORGE— A well-respected and distinguished hereditary chief in the Laxts’imilx Laxsgiik (Beaver/Eagle) tribe of the Nisg̲a’a Nation, has been named UNBC’s seventh Chancellor. Dr. Joseph Arthur Gosnell Sr. will be sworn in at the convocation ceremony in Prince George on May 31, 2019.

“It’s a blessing to have this honour conferred on me,” Gosnell says, “The best thing I can do is encourage young men, women, no matter who they are, to take advantage of education. Go as far as you can and come out of University with degrees behind your name. Once you’ve done that, the world is open to you.”

Gosnell grew up in the communities of Gitwinksihlkw and Gitlaxt’aamiks, also known as New Aiyansh, in the Nass River Valley, about 100 kilometres north of Terrace. Gosnell became a band Councillor and Chief of the Gitlaxt’aamiks Band. He was the first elected President of the Nisg̲a’a Lisims Government and was instrumental in bringing modern medical care, education and resource management to his Nation. The highlight amongst a long list of notable accomplishments was his role as the lead Nisg̲a’a representative in negotiations leading to the Nisga’a Treaty signing in 1998.  The Nisga’a Treaty was the first modern treaty between a B.C. First Nation, B.C. and Canada.  For the Nisga’a, the treaty followed the landmark 1973 Supreme Court of Canada Calder Case that set many precedents in Canadian legal history and led to the establishment of the 1976 Comprehensive Claims Policy to negotiate Treaties.

Gosnell received the Order of British Columbia in 1999, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, now Indspire, in 2000, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 and promoted to Companion in 2006, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.