Nisga'a Chief of Chiefs Frank Calder, one of the pioneers in the fight for land claims and B.C.'s first aboriginal cabinet minister, has died in Victoria at the age of 91.

"The man will be sorely missed by our people, recognizing the enormous amount of work and dedication he put in during the course of his life for the betterment of our people," said Joe Gosnell, chief of the Nisga'a Nation.

Calder founded the Nisga'a Tribal Council in the mid-1950s and served as its president for 20 years, leading the fight for the settlement of land claims in B.C.

In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada split 3-3 on whether the Nisga'a claim to a huge area of its traditional lands in northwestern B.C. had been extinguished, with the seventh judge ruling against the Nisga'a on a technicality.

However, that landmark decision in Calder v. the Attorney General of B.C. was widely interpreted as an endorsement of aboriginal title.

That judgment led eventually to the Nisga'a Treaty signing in 1999, and to the start of the B.C. treaty process.

After signing the historic treaty, the Nisga'a honoured Calder with the title "chief of chiefs."

26 years in legislature

Calder was first elected to the B.C. legislature for the riding of Atlin in northwestern B.C. in 1949 for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which became the New Democratic Party.

He was the first aboriginal person elected to a legislature in Canada.

In 1972, when the NDP swept to power in B.C., then-premier Dave Barrett named Calder to cabinet, making him Canada's first aboriginal cabinet minister. Calder was fired from cabinet a year later over a personal controversy.

He crossed the floor to Social Credit in 1975, winning his seat again as the Socreds swept to power. But he lost his seat in the 1979 election.

Calder, who served a total of 26 years in the legislature, was named to the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.

The man who dubbed himself "the little chief" had been in an assisted-living home in Victoria in recent years and died over the weekend.

He is survived by his wife, Tamaki, and son, Erick, 24.