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By his own admission, Niigaan Sinclair’s path to winning the National Newspaper Award for column writing was far from conventional.
Instead of a journalism degree, his resume reflected work organizing Idle No More movement and planning marches for Tina Fontaine and Colten Boushie. Moreover, he had plenty of evidence that Indigenous voices were not welcome on the pages of Canada’s newspapers.
And yet, there he was Friday night in a posh Toronto hotel ballroom, addressing reporters and editors from across the country and issuing calls to action that garnered a standing ovation.
“I had never planned or had intention to ever be a columnist,” Niigaan said while holding the plaque marking the award. “In fact, this was not an industry that frankly I trusted as a young Indigenous person growing up.”
But when the Free Press made Niigaan a columnist in 2018, he brought ideas, perspectives and reflections that helped change a national narrative. And, I should add, he helped change our newsroom.
“I am proud to work for a newsroom that every single day publishes stories not just of tragedy and conflict, but national profile stories that talk about arguably one of the most important and underrepresented issues in this country, which is our relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities.”
Free Press columnist Niigaan Sinclair was awarded the Mary Ann Shadd Award for columns at the National Newspaper Awards Friday night in Toronto. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
Niigaan is blessed with a remarkable mix of grace and grit. You could see it in the way he invoked the calls to action issued by his late father, Justice Murray Sinclair, as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“He deeply believed in your industry, and he loved very much the work you are doing,” Niigaan said of his father, who died in 2024.
But he was equally direct in challenging the newspaper industry to “step up your game, to engage, to foster that trust.
“Misinformation, as I have written and as my newspaper writes, leads directly to women in landfills.”
His full speech is worth watching.
To Niigaan, congratulations on your National Newspaper Award — and miigwech for the impact of your words in your column, in our newsroom and in that ballroom.
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