​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Dr. Frank Calder, a Nisga’a Chief, was elected to the Legislative Assembly​ of British Columbia on June 15, 1949, making him the first Indigenous person elected to any provincial legislature in Canada. He ran for office as a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, or CCF, a relatively new party working to form a socialist government using democratic means.
Calder held his seat in Atlin until 1956, then again from 1960 to 1975. He joined the New Democratic Party Cabinet​ in 1973. Calder became a Minister without Portfolio starting September 15, 1972, becoming the first Indigenous Cabinet minister in Canadian history.
He was the founding president of the Nisga’a Tribal Council, received the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia​, and was an inductee in the First Nations Hall of Fame. He died on November 4, 2006, at 91 years old.​
Calder is also well known for his role in the Nisga’a Tribal Council’s Supreme Court of Canada case against the Province of British Columbia (commonly known as the Calder case), which demonstrated that Indigenous title (i.e., ownership) to traditional lands exists in modern Canadian law.
​​
