SYDNEY, N.S. – The Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton is honouring a man they regard as a native hero by unveiling a marble statue of Donald Marshall Jr.
Marshall, who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1971, fought a lengthy battle to prove his innocence.
A Royal Commission set up to investigate the circumstances of his incarceration eventually exonerated him and led to changes in the Canadian justice system.
Marshall also fought a battle all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada after he was charged with illegal fishing in 1993.
That case upheld his treaty rights to a livelihood in the fishery and, by extension, to all native groups.
Minnesota artist Doug Bieniek was commissioned to produce the hand-carved marble sculpture of Marshall who died in 2009 at age 55 of complications from a double-lung transplant.
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