Colleagues, James Bill Nahanni and his brother, George, were born to George and Dora Nahanni on December 3rd, 1945. As some folks said, they were an early Christmas present for their parents and siblings, Francis and Mabel.
During the Celebration of Life, a couple of stories had us laughing, like the time he would meet with a friend and his favorite saying was One for the Money, Two to get ready, and Three to go, go, go. Or when asked where was his wallet, he would reach to his back pocket and say, It's here, nice and safe.

James loved to drum dance. He was always the first one up and ready to dance. The chief spoke about his passion to dance and every time he would see him, he would ask when the next dance was going to be.

I can tell you that James was a vibrant, hard-working and humorous person. People loved to chat with him about everything but mostly about the old days, what it was like, and how were things different. In speaking with his children, John, James and Genevieve, they told me the one thing that everyone told them about their dad was how he loved his community and over the course of the last week of his life, they witnessed a lot of visitors coming to visit him, including drummers on Wednesday evening. They talked about how he wanted to get up and dance but realizing he could not, he sat up and listened to the live drum music in his home. That night, he went to sleep with a big smile on his face and the next morning he talked about the honour of the drummers being in his home.

Colleagues, it is very difficult to do justice to him but I think his daughter Genevieve did an amazing job during his eulogy. I have attached it to my statement, and I would like it deemed read and printed in Hansard.

Unfortunately, James passed away on August 25, 2024. On Wednesday, August 28th, he was laid to rest and later the community held a supper and one last drum dance for him. I believe he was looking down on us with a big smile as the family started the dance.

The family would like to thank the community for all the support during this difficult time. The outpouring of support relieved so much stress, and they were so grateful and appreciative for the kindness, thoughts, prayers, words, and deeds.

James will be sadly missed. God bless you, James.

Celebration of Life (Genevieve Piercey).

James Nahanni was a vibrant and humours man. He loved his community and over the course of the last week, we have witnessed the outpouring of love and respect his community had for our father.

Jim was Mabel's baby brother. She loves all her siblings very much, but Jim was the baby. Mabel was happy to help him all the time. She helped all her family with growing and learning. It has been her honor to help. Mabel has shared that she is happy that Jim is with the Lord and saviour. He is missed already but will be in our hearts forever.

A little story. When Jim was young and it was berry picking time, he was running around in the bush. Everyone left and Jim was left behind. George, his twin brother was running around yellowing. “Jim is missing!” they began to look for him, and when they went back to the first place, there was Jim, sitting next to a tree, resting.

Over the past few years, my father and I re-connected and became closer than we have been for many years. We have had many laughs and he has shared many stories with me about when I was a child and growing up. I am grateful for the time we had together and was honored to be able to be there for him to support him with his cancer diagnosis and treatment. During the last year, dad and I talked about his plans for his care, and he shared his greatest desire was to be at his home and in his community. I am honored that he entrusted this to his children. My siblings and I have been able to honor him with making his last requests happen. Jim was a blessed man to have such strong connections to his family, friends, and community. We will miss him dearly, but we are all blessed to have had him in our lives. My father always said, 'Take it easy' and 'See you later' when we ended our conversations. So, I will 'See you Later' Dad, and I will 'Take it easy' until we meet again.

Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Minister of Health and Social Services.