Longtime Batchewana chief continues to make progress for Indigenous people

Dean Sayers remains an active voice for Indigenous people in Batchewana First Nation, northeastern Ontario and across Canada.

Sayers served as chief of Batchewana First Nation from 2006 to 2023 and was one of the key negotiators for the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 annuities litigation that led to a $10-billion settlement for First Nations communities in northeastern Ontario.

Born in Batchawana Village - 70 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie - Sayers attended elementary and secondary school in the Sault.

“When I went into Grade 7 my parents moved to town and rented an apartment so my brother and I could be focused on education and not spend hours a day riding the bus between here and Batchawana,” Sayers said in an interview with SooToday.

He appreciates the role his parents and grandparents played in his life and credits them for his success in becoming an effective leader for his people.

Sayers attended Sault College in preparation for a career in Indigenous community work. After graduation, he lived in the Niagara Region for several years and worked with Indigenous communities. 

Prior to moving to southern Ontario, he lived in Batchawana Village.

“We lived at the lighthouse area. My uncle Edward, an hereditary chief, let us live on the lighthouse property. My wife and I put our trailer there. We had our children there and when the children came of age to go to school we learned that the bus, ambulances and the fire department weren’t able to service that reserve because the road was not up to standard.

"The resort owner in the neighbourhood had built part of his resort on the road to the reserve and wasn’t prepared to move it. In exchange he decided he was going to build a road around his resort but it wasn’t up to MTO standards, so those vehicles wouldn’t travel that road to pick up my kids to go to school or if there was a medical emergency,” Sayers said.

That led to his passion for fighting for fair and equitable treatment for Indigenous people, a passion that lives within Sayers to this day.

“We did our best to try and convince that owner to move his obstacle to the road. We had protests and a lot of Indigenous people came. That was my first protest, in the late 1980s.

"We brought a lot of awareness to that and the owner was forced to make the road that he made around the resort up to MTO standards. Now that road’s open. It’s got asphalt, it’s up to standard and it’s accessible to emergency vehicles.

"That kind of pressure, that kind public awareness, that kind of process of not accepting the status quo and fighting for our rights had its benefits. We were able to make a change,” Sayers said.

Sayers also lived and worked for several years in Fort Erie, Ontario.

“I secured a job in the native community there as the Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Program coordinator. My job was to develop recovery programs for individuals, for families and the community. The recovery programs were to be based on ancestral, cultural knowledge outside the 12-step approaches to addiction recovery. It was the first of its kind in Ontario.

"I met a lot of Elders, a lot of knowledge keepers that had a really beautiful vision of how we could reclaim our place as a people in regard to the relationship that we have with the newcomers to our lands,” Sayers said.

He believes that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to recovery from addictions and that each community must find what works for it.

“One of the findings was that the addictions, the social issues that we saw were actually symptoms of the deeper issue of colonization so our recovery programs were based on empowerment, cultural pride and self-esteem,” Sayers said.

He became Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce president and made an unsuccessful run for Fort Erie city council in the early 1990s.

“My slogan was ‘Sayers Cares,’” he recalled.

He later moved to Toronto to become the program developer for the Ontario Aboriginal Responsible Gambling Program.

“That was new in Ontario after casinos became more more visible,” Sayers said.

Though Sayers said he had a rewarding career in southern Ontario, he returned to northern Ontario and began working as the Batchewana First Nation Health Department director in 2001.

“I wanted to come home. My parents were getting elderly and I was missing the times when they would tell their stories and my kids were missing out on that. So I was able to be here with them and be a part of their lives again.”

Sayers ran for the office of chief of Batchewana First Nation and won in 2006. He was re-elected several times before Mark McCoy won the election of 2023.

“We built a new health centre near the arena and its satellite centres. I worked with the architect Franco Pastore on that. He won an award for that building because it’s designed in a way that’s based on our culture. It’s a teaching lodge. It’s a healing lodge. There’s cedar all the way around and cedar is a medicine that protects our people and enhances healing,” Sayers said.

Cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of the new Batchewana Elder Complex is another memory of his time as chief that Sayers holds dear.

“Sault Mayor John Rowswell attended. What stands out is when I thought ‘is he ever tall!’” Sayers chuckled.

“He had such a kind heart. He was so supportive. It was nice to work with him.”

Sayers said he appreciated the role his predecessors made as he settled into his role as chief.

“While I was chief I was fortunate to have a lot of seasoned council members and also former chief Harvey Bell and former chief Vernon Syrette. They gave really beautiful incredible insights on our relationship with the Crown.

“My hope and my dream was to help our people. We should be able to be treated and paid the same as everybody in the mainstream, have a career, salaries, vocations but even today Indigenous people in a lot of leadership positions in First Nations are not paid equitably so that was a goal for me and my people. I was able to move the yardstick in pay equity for Indigenous people,” Sayers said.  

Being an elected official is a busy job but Sayers became known for his energy and commitment. 

“You get used to the phone calls, the emails, day and night, weekends, holidays. If there was a fire or an accident over the holidays, you had to be available. There was a fire in one of our apartment buildings and we had to evacuate and book hotel rooms on Christmas Day. You never know what will happen. You’ve got to be ready.”

But that chapter of his life came to a close last year.

“I missed being chief at first but I don’t miss it now. At first, I thought ‘is my phone ever quiet!’ But someone else has that responsibility now and the new chief is making progress. We’re not stagnant. Our leadership at Batchewana has been an example in Canada of how a progressive, leadership-based First Nation community looks. We have higher levels of postsecondary education completion and better infrastructure compared to a lot of First Nations in Canada,” Sayers said.

Sayers made a run for the office of National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in 2023.

“I did well. I had 62 chiefs across Canada out of more than 600 First Nations support me and I came in third. I also ran for Ontario Regional Chief but I lost by one vote in a standup election. But we have Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak as national chief and we have Regional Chief Abram Benedict and they’re doing a really great job.”

He is proud of playing a key role in the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850 annuities litigation that led to a $10-billion settlement for First Nations communities in northeastern Ontario.

“I really believe that communication and awareness in so many areas is important in our ability as Indigenous people to reclaim our rightful place in having input into the economy and bring awareness to the needs and rights and obligations that everybody has in regard to how we’re supposed to be in a sharing relationship.

“I don’t know where I’m going next. I’m enjoying my role now. I still help chiefs and communities. I can pick and choose what I do,” Sayers said with a smile.

Sayers remains energetic and involved.

He continues to work on advising chiefs and communities on Robinson Huron Treaty matters, serves as Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig (SKG) board chair and is a member of the newly-formed International Joint Commission’s circle of Indigenous experts issuing advice on matters concerning Great Lakes water quality.

Sayers said he is optimistic about the future of Indigenous people in Canada.

“I see a natural evolution in regard to the empowerment and cultural pride for our people and reclaiming our place but we have to be healthy as individuals to have healthy families, healthy communities and a healthy nation.”

Sayers is a father of six and grandfather of 13.

Apart from Indigenous affairs in Canada, Sayers has also worked with Indigenous people around the world for the past three years and was in attendance at the swearing-in of Colombia’s president and vice president. 

“Indigenous people around the world are really looking toward the accomplishments we’ve been able to make in Canada with our relationship with the Canadian government, and I’m sharing with them some methodology on how we were able to do that with the Robinson Huron Treaty from a nation to nation perspective with the Crown. They find value with that. It’s really important work,” Sayers said.

“Everywhere I go they consider me an Elder and they still consider me a chief. I’m still going to help out and roll up my sleeves and do what I can to move the yardstick.”