"Six Nations Indian Slated for Senate?"

By John E. Bird, Canadian Press Staff Writer

OTTAWA (CP) - A Canadian Indian who has gained world recognition as a mining engineer may be appointed to the Senate.

He is Dr. Gilbert Monture, OBE, 60, a great-grandson of Capt. Joseph Brant, the famous leader of the Six Nations Indians.

Dr. Monture, born on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, retired in June, 1956, as chief of the mineral resources division of the federal mines department. He now is vice-president of Stratmat Ltd., a mining and metallurgical development company.

Prime Minister Diefenbaker is reported to be giving serious consideration to the selection of Mr. Monture to fulfill his election promise to put a representative of Canada's 150,000 native Indians in the Senate.

A Senate official said it would be the first time an Indian has ever been appointed the the upper chamber.

Jim Gladstone, 70-year-old chief of the Blood band in Alberta, also is reported as a possible choice. However, sources close to Mr. Diefenbaker say Dr. Monture likely will be chosen over Mr. Gladstone, a farmer and rancher and president of the Alberta Association of Indians.

Another possible choice is Andy Paull, president of the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia.

Mr. Diefenbaker may announce the appointment after his return to Ottawa next week from a holiday in Saskatchewan. There are 16 Senate vacancies.

A world expert on tin production, Dr. Monture was educated at the Indian school at the Six Nations Reserve, Brantford Collegiate Institute and Queen's University. He entered Queen's in 1914 but the First World War interrupted his education. He re-entered the university in 1919, graduating in 1921.

In 1923 he joined the mines department as chief of the editorial branch. By 1946 he had become head of the mineral resources division and had become known as an expert. Dr. Monture represented Canada at many international conferences on minerals.

During the Second World War he was Canadian executive officer of the combined production and resources board in Washington.

In 1946 he was Canadian delegate to the British Commonwealth scientific conference in London. In 1950 he spent 4 1/2 months as a mining economist with the UN economic mission to Bolivia.

Dr. Monture was a member in 1953 and 1954 of the UN committee set up to study world resources of iron ore. In 1956 he was a member of a Colombo Plan mission which studied the mineral economy of Indonesia.

POSSIBLE SENATOR - Gilbert C. Monture, 60, mining engineer and great-grandson of Captain Joseph Brant, may be appointed to the Senate. Prime Minister Diefenbaker has promised to put a representative of Canada's 150,000 native Indians in the Senate. Mr. Monture, born on the Six Nations reserve, is a former chief of the mineral resources divisions of the federal mines department.