Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Steinhauer, Ralph Garvin
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Ralph Steinhauer, 1905-1987, a treaty Cree, was born on the Morley reserve, Alberta. He was educated at residential schools near Red Deer, Alberta and in Brandon, Manitoba. In 1928 he married Isabel Davidson, a school teacher originally from Buffalo, NY, USA. They raised five children. In 1929 Steinhauer established a farm on the Saddle Lake reserve near Two Hills, where he farmed for over 50 years.
He led a very active public life. He served 37 years on the Saddle Lake Band Council and was chief from 1966 to 1969. He was a founding member of the Indian Association of Alberta, and served on the boards of Alberta Newstart, Saddle Lake Education Authority, Northern Alberta Development Council, the Indian-Eskimo Association and many other organizations. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, 1974-1979, becoming Alberta's first and Canada's first native Lieutenant-Governor. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1979 and was inducted into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1984. Steinhauer was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1984.
For further information see "The Honourable Ralph Garvin Steinhauer, 1974-1979" in On Behalf of the Crown : Lieutenant Governors of the North West Territories and Alberta, 1869-2005 / Sandra E. Perry and Karen L. Powell. - Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 2006, p. 547-565.