Roddy Blackjack, a Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation elder, former chief and vocal advocate for his community, died this week.

Blackjack is being remembered by those who knew him as a wise man who played a critical role in shaping much of the First Nation's history.

Blackjack played a key role in the land claim negotiation process as a chief for many years.

He then served as an executive elder for the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) until he formally retired in 2011.

He was one of the Yukon leaders who presented the document Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 1973.

"I had the honour to work with Roddy, as he was one of the advisors for CYFN leadership,” said CYFN Grand Chief Ruth Massie.

"Chief Blackjack was involved with First Nation politics from the beginning.”

Blackjack was chief from 1968 to 1970, and then again from 1986 to 1990.

Even during his involvement with First Nations politics and negotiations, he was respected by those on the other side of the table.

"We had some really heated exchanges, but I don't think we ever left the room at the end of the day without a pat on the back and a comment that we were just doing our jobs,” Tim Koepke, a former federal land claims negotiator, said today.

"I'm sure there were some times during the day that he would have rather give me a kick in the butt, but we got through all that.”

Koepke first came on as a federal negotiator in 1987. He was involved in the negotiation of the Umbrella Final Agreement as well as the Little-Salmon Carmacks agreement.

He describes Blackjack as a "passionate spokesperson.

"Getting the Yukon land claims settled wasn't really a cake walk. When we were negotiating the agreement in principle on the Umbrella Final Agreement, Roddy was there for his people as part of the CYI caucus and he really taught me many lessons,” Koepke said.

"One of them was, when an elder wanted to speak, regardless of agendas or time constraints, you simple put down your pen and listen and listen. But there was always a point.”

Blackjack had a love and respect for the land.

"If he had had his way, we would have held all the negations out on the land. Much of the angst in their negotiations that my land negotiators faced was Roddy insisting that certain traditional sites — he didn't care what government's land policy said — these were important sites for people,” Koepke said.

That love of the land continued even into his later years.

Blackjack became an elder in residence at Yukon College in the late 1990s.

An outdoor classroom, known as Roddy's camp, was named in his honour. It has a campfire pit which allows for storytelling — one of Blackjack's favourite pass times.

"He cared for the people of the First Nation and the people of the Yukon,” remembers former CYI chair Judy Gingell.

"And for the elders, he advocated for them. For the importance of their purpose and their role.”

Flipping back through the negotiations timeframe, Koepke came across notes he took on July 21, 1997 — the day the Little Salmon-Carmacks self-governing agreement was signed.

On that day, Koepke travelled to Carmacks with Jane Stewart, the then-minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

"I took her to meet Roddy and asked Roddy to tell her a little bit about his people that wasn't in her briefing notes. He dazzled her for 15 minutes before I had to come and drag her away to meet some other people.”

But the end of the day, Stewart was still talking about her encounter with Blackjack.

"She said, ‘I could have listened to him all day; he's absolutely fascinating,'” Koepke remembers.

"Elder Blackjack was committed to improving the lives of First Nations, and just recently participated at the all-chiefs summit held in February of this year, where he reiterated his statement to always be strong and smart and never forget our traditional and cultural teachings,” Massie said.

"Roddy loved to tell his stories, and he had a great sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him,” Massie said.

A memorial service for Blackjack will be held Wednesday at the Carmacks Recreation Centre.

The burial will be at the Carmacks cemetery, with a potlatch to follow at 5 p.m.