Ron Ignace

Ron is a member of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation. He was the elected Chief of the Skeetchestn Band from 1982 to 2003, and again since early 2007. He served as Chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council for several years and was a founding member and Chair of the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs’ Committee on Aboriginal Languages from1997 to 2003. He was a founding member of the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society (SCES) in 1984 as well as president from 1987 to 2002 and co-chair of the Aboriginal university partnership between SCES and Simon Fraser University in Kamloops, BC, where he continues to teach courses in Secwepemc Language and First Nations Studies. In 2003-2005, he was the Chair of the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures appointed by the Canadian Minister of Heritage. He holds BA and MA Degrees in Sociology from the University of British Columbia, and is completing a PhD in Anthropology at Simon Fraser University.