Ralph Steinhauer

Born June 8, 1905; died Sept. 19, 1987

Occupation: Farmer, lieutenant-governor

Contribution: A founding member of the Alberta Wheat Pool, Steinhauer helped launch a farming venture on the Saddle Lake band, his home reserve. An advocate of First Nations rights, he was a founding member of the Indian Association of Alberta. He served more than 30 years as councillor and for three years as chief of the Saddle Lake band. On July 2, 1974, Steinhauer was sworn in as lieutenant-governor for Alberta, the first indigenous person to hold that position in Canada.

Quote: “I’m not schooled for a thing like this . . . You’re plucking a person right out of the farmyard and an Indian at that,” he told primer minister Pierre Trudeau when asked to become Alberta’s lieutenant-governor.