George Manuel, OC (February 21, 1921 – November 15, 1989, Secwépemc) was an Aboriginal leader in Canada. Born and raised in British Columbia, he became politically active there and in Alberta. In 1970 he was elected and served until 1976 as chief of the National Indian Brotherhood (known today as the Assembly of First Nations). In 1975 he founded and became president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, serving until 1981. Reflecting on his work with indigenous peoples across the Americas, he wrote The Fourth World: An Indian Reality (1975), exploring the effects of waves of European immigration on these peoples. In his later years, he served as president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, 1979 through 1981. Biography Manuel was born to Maria and Rainbow in 1921, on the Secwepemc territory of the Shuswap people in British Columbia. Maria later married Louie Manuel, and George took his stepfather's last name. He was first educated at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. After contracting tuberculosis (which had no effective antibiotic treatment at the time), he was transferred to an Indian TB hospital on an Indian reservation near Chilliwack, British Columbia. There Manuel met Marceline Paul (Kootenai) from St. Mary's Indian Band. They later married and had six children together. Political career Manuel became involved in indigenous politics and his increasing responsibilities strained his marriage. He was elected chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band. In 1959, following the death of his mentor Andy Paull, Manuel was elected head of the North American Indian Brotherhood. Soon after, he and Marceline separated. Not long after this, the federal Department of Indian Affairs hired Manuel for a position with the Cowichan Tribes government at Duncan. Manuel worked as a Community Development Officer. In addition to assisting the tribe, he also worked to increase wider awareness in the government and society of the problems and conditions faced by the Cowichan people. Manuel next worked for the Alberta Brotherhood, which represented indigenous peoples in the province. There he developed a strong working relationship with political leader Harold Cardinal (Cree). In this position, Manuel met and worked extensively with chiefs across Canada, becoming familiar with a wide range of issues. Cardinal encouraged Manuel to run for national chief of the newly created National Indian Brotherhood, a body that would represent almost 250,000 'status Indians' in Canada. Manuel served as its first national chief from 1970 to