Indigenous leader.
Born on 23 July 1946, he served eleven terms as a councillor and Chief of the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. He was involved in the Southeast Personal Care Home, Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, and Collaborative Leadership Initiative. He helped to establish the South Beach Casino and was a co-founder of the Southeast Tribal Council.
In recognition of his community service, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022), and Canadian Race Relations Foundation Community Champion Award, and he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Treaty One Nations (2025).
He died at the Health Sciences Centre on 27 August 2025.
Portraits of the North [James Bear], Facebook.
“Chief Jim Bear receives the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Treaty One gala,” Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, 1 May 2025.
“Former chief in Manitoba, Jim Bear, passes away,” APTN News, 28 August 2025.
Obituary, DIgnity Memorial.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 2025.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 September 2025
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