Canadian Native American leader Georges Erasmus (born 1948) was an outspoken proponent of self-determination for the native peoples of Canada. He served as president of the Dene Nation and of the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories and later as vice-chief of the Assembly of First Nations, a national organization representing Canada's status Indians.

Georges Henry Erasmus was born August 8, 1948, at Fort Rae, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. His family moved to Yellowknife, NWT, when he was one year old; he was educated at the Catholic high school there. He was a member of the Dene, the Athapaskan-speaking peoples who have lived for centuries in the Mackenzie Valley and Barren Grounds of the NWT.

Erasmus has been described as "the personification of his people's demands for self-determination." As a charismatic leader with a talent for clear, impassioned oratory, Erasmus rose quickly to prominence. His political involvement began in the late...