Photo: Cadmus Delorme (Left) at the Spring University of Regina Convocation 2025 / University of Regina Photography
By Lori Deets
MBC News Freelance Correspondent
First Nations University of Canada
Cadmus Delorme was recently honoured with an honorary doctorate of law from Athabasca University. He also was appointed the 10th Chancellor of the University of Regina.
Delorme says he knew he was a leader right from his childhood.
“I never picked sides. “I would try to remain neutral in order to resolve the situation.”
Delorme was involved in student government from high school right through to university.
Completing his bachelor’s in public administration at First Nation’s University of Canada and then going on to complete his master’s in public administration at the Johnson Shoyama School of Public Policy.
Delorme went on to be Chief of Cowessess First Nation from 2016 to 2023. While also receiving a designation with the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Delorme’s experience and knowledge of governance, board roles, and duty of care brought him to his current role as co-founder and chair of One Hoop, an Indigenous consulting and advisory company.
One Hoop’s mission is to educate non-Indigenous people and organizations who want to start partnerships with Indigenous organizations on how to engage, acknowledge truth, and find a path forward.
“Most of the time, the non-Indigenous focus on reconciliation, and they don’t know
how to address the truth. And so what we do in one hoop is we go in and we train about professional development and business and reconciliation.”
Delorme, like many great leaders who have come before him, believes that “education is our driver of hope.”
Delorme credits his parents and his upbringing on the rez but says, “Education allowed me to see it from many different perspectives. Which allowed me to walk into any room in this country. And now I belong in that room.”
Whether we study the past injustices or pave the way for a brighter future for Indigenous peoples.
“We have to be able to walk in both worlds, the Indigenous world and that Canadian world,
And you have to be able to enjoy both worlds. Education allows you to understand that.”
“We share this land together, new Canadians, generational Canadians, and Indigenous people. We have every right to have talking circles about how we wronged each other. But it’s working together that’s going to get us out of this moment.”