What We Inherited and the Role of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action

Chief Cadmus Delorme, a Cree and Saulteaux, is the Chief of the Cowessess First Nation. Chief Delorme graduated from Cowessess Community Education Centre in 2000. He later moved to Regina to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Certificate in Hospitality, Tourism, and Gaming Entertainment Management from the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv), and a Master of Public Administration from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. Recently, he completed an Institute of Corporate Directors designation. 

In 2012, Chief Delorme received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2022, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. In 2015, he was named one of CBC Saskatchewan’s Future 40, which celebrates the province’s new generation of leaders, builders, and change-makers under the age of 40. 

In 2016, Chief Delorme was elected Chief at the age of 34. In 2019, Chief Delorme was re-elected to a second term in office. Under his leadership, Cowessess First Nation has focused on economic self-sustainability for its nation and people and has moved forward on renewable energy, agriculture, and efficiency in land use initiatives that have created both current and future business opportunities. Also under his leadership, Cowessess First Nation focused on political sovereignty and has moved forward on Child Welfare Reform, empowering full jurisdiction when it comes to child protection, prevention, and the wellbeing of the entire family. 

In 2021, Chief Delorme faced one of the hardest moments as Chief when the Saulteaux and Cree First Nation made international headlines with the validation of potentially 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School. Shortly after, Cowessess made headlines again as the first First Nations to sign an agreement with Ottawa and the province that returns jurisdiction over children in care to the First Nation. Federal legislation overhauling Indigenous child welfare was passed in 2019 and came into force last year.

Chief Delorme lives with his wife Kimberly, brother-in-law, daughter, and two sons on Cowessess First Nation. 

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