John John : Secwepemc Elder ‘Wolverine’ Ignace, 84, died Tuesday surrounded by family on home territory - APTN National NewsAPTN National News

27.3.16

Secwepemc Elder ‘Wolverine’ Ignace, 84, died Tuesday surrounded by family on home territory - APTN: - [We heard about this via APNS editor John John] - Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
Secwepemc Elder William Jones “Wolverine” Ignace, who gained international recognition after the 1995 Gustafsen Lake standoff, died early Tuesday evening surrounded by family in his Adams Lake Indian Band home on Secwepemc territory.

He was 84, said his widow Flora Sampson.

Sampson said in an interview Wednesday that Jones, who is known as Wolverine, was suffering from cancer and had been seriously ill since December.

“He travelled the world and he comes back and now that he is gone I am thinking he went somewhere and he will be back,” said Sampson,74, in a telephone interview from the home she shared with Wolverine. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

During his last hours, Wolverine’s children and grandchildren gathered around his bed singing traditional songs to him, said Kanahus Manuel, who was there at the time of his death.

After Wolverine died, at about 5:30 p.m., those in the room sang the American Indian Movement song of resistance, said Manuel.