James Gladstone

James Gladstone (May 21, 1887 - September 4, 1971) was a Canadian politician who claimed to be the first Treaty Indian to be appointed to the Senate of Canada.

Gladstone returned to the Blood reserve as an interpreter after finishing school in 1905. He also found work wrangling cattle on ranches. In 1911, he found work as a scout and interpreter for the Royal North-West Mounted Police, as well as a mail carrier on the reserve. He was also a typesetter for the Calgary Herald at one point.

Janie Healy, a Blood member, was his wife. He became a member of the Blood reserve after his marriage. Gladstone eventually established himself as a farmer and successful rancher (with 720 acres under cultivation and a herd of 400 Hereford cattle in 1958), working with his sons to assemble the 400 cattle and introducing modern farming practices to the reserve, including the first use of a tractor in 1920.

Gladstone was elected president of the Indian Association of Alberta in 1949, though another source lists his presidency as 1945-1954, and was dispatched to Ottawa three times to lobby for changes to the Indian Act. His acceptance by both the Blackfoot and the Cree aided him in uniting the various groups into a single political organization.

At the age of 70, he was nominated to the Senate by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in January 1958, two years before status Indians gained the vote in federal elections, and he advocated for Aboriginal enfranchisement. Considered as one of the most important historical figures in Canada, he sat in the House of Commons as an "independent Conservative," "representing 160,000 Indians across the country." He advocated for Indian integration into Canadian society. He presided over the Standing Committee on Indian Affairs. To meet the Senate's property requirements, "he drove with his wife to nearby Cardston and paid cash for a five-room bungalow."