Constant Awashish
{{Short description|Atikamekw chief}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Constant Awashish
| image = Constant Awashish.jpg
| caption = Awashish in 2016
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1981}}
| birth_place = La Tuque, Quebec
| other_names =
| occupation = Grand Chief of the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw
| years_active = 2014-present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Constant Awashish (born in 1981 in La Tuque, Quebec) is an Atikamekw chief. Since 2014, he is the Grand Chief of the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw, the tribal council uniting the three Atikamekw Nations. He is known to have declared the sovereignty on their ancestral territory, the Nitaskinan, with the other Atikamekw chiefs.
Biography
Awashish was born in La Tuque, Quebec, in 1981. He was mainly raised by his maternal grandparents on the Indian Reserve of Opitciwan in the northern Mauricie region of Quebec. He completed his elementary and high school studies in La Tuque. He received a law degree from the University of Ottawa, specializing in the rights of the Indigenous people and their territorial rights, the legislation of indigenous entities, and corporate law.{{Cite web |language=fr |author=Paloma Martinez |title=Constant Awashish, portrait d'un Grand chef |website=Radio Canada International |date=2016-10-06 |url=http://www.rcinet.ca/fr/2014/10/06/constant-awashish-portrait-dun-grand-chef/ |access-date=2017-03-17}}
File:Constant Awashish - Assermentation.jpg on 28 September 2014]]
During the elections on 2 September 2014, he was elected Grand Chief of the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw, the tribal council uniting the three Atikamekw Nations, succeeding Eva Ottawa.{{Cite web |language=fr |title=La grand chef Eva Ottawa démissionne |website=Le Nouveliste |date=2013-06-18 |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/actualites/201306/17/01-4662113-la-grand-chef-eva-ottawa-demissionne.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020233040/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/actualites/201306/17/01-4662113-la-grand-chef-eva-ottawa-demissionne.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-10-20 |access-date=2017-03-17 }} As such, he is also the chairman of the corporation of the Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw.{{Cite web |language=fr |author=Audrey Tremblay |title=Constant Awashish devient le nouveau grand chef |website=Le Nouvelliste |date=2014-09-04 |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/vie-regionale/haute-mauricie/201409/04/01-4797024-constant-awashish-devient-le-nouveau-grand-chef.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908015400/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-nouvelliste/vie-regionale/haute-mauricie/201409/04/01-4797024-constant-awashish-devient-le-nouveau-grand-chef.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-09-08 |access-date=2017-03-17 }}
A few days later, the Atikamekw chiefs declared unilaterally their sovereignty on their ancestral territory, the Nitaskinan, by a {{ill|comprehensive claim|fr|Revendication globale}}.{{Cite journal |language=fr |author=Pierre Trudel |title=Entrevue avec Constant Awashish, Grand Chef du Conseil de la Nation atikamekw |periodical=Recherches amérindiennes au Québec |volume=44 |year=2014 |pages=119–121 |issn=1923-5151 |doi=10.7202/1027887ar |url=http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1027887ar |access-date=2017-03-17|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |language=fr |title=Les Atikamekw declarant leur souveraineté |website=Radio-Canada |date=2014-09-08 |url=http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/683598/nation-atikamekw-declaration-souverainete-territoire |access-date=2017-03-17}} This territory covers 80,000 km2 (30,000 sq. mi.) to the north of Trois-Rivières.{{Cite news |language=fr |author=Alexandre Robillard |title=Les Atikamekws affirment leur souveraineté sur leur territoire |newspaper=La Presse |date=2014-09-08 |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/national/201409/08/01-4798261-les-atikamekws-declarent-leur-independance.php |access-date=2017-03-17}} The Atikamekw never ceased or sold their territory during the numbered treaties.{{Cite web |language=fr |author=Jean-Philippe Robillard |title=Déclaration de souveraineté : les Atikamekw sont-ils dans leurs droits ? |website=Radio-Canada |date=2014-09-09 |url=http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Politique/2014/09/09/005-atikamekw-declaration-souverainete-verification-des-faits.shtml |access-date=2017-03-17}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Awashish, Constant}}
Category:First Nations in Quebec