Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 14, 2008

FORT RESOLUTION - The victim of a traffic accident outside of Fort Smith on Dec. 29 has been identified.

Fort Resolution's Irvin Norn, 52, died in the mishap.

Norn was well-known in his home community and elsewhere for his work in band administration.

It was a proud moment for the late Irvin Norn, left, of Fort Resolution when he presented one of his crafts to Justin Trudeau last summer at a conference in Fort Smith. Norn died in a traffic accident on Dec. 29. - NNSL file photo

His sister Dollie Simon said Norn was born and raised in Fort Resolution, but spent years living in other communities such as Fort Smith, Yellowknife, Lutsel K'e and Fort Chipewyan, Alta., working for various First Nations, mostly as band manager.

Most recently, he had been band manager with Deninu Ku'e First Nation (DKFN) in Fort Resolution.

His sister also remembers Norn as a very caring man.

"It was always other people before himself," said Simon, the community wellness co-ordinator with DKFN.

Prior to his death, Norn was concentrating on crafts.

"Basically, he was staying at home and doing crafts," Simon said.

In particular, he made teepee lamps, one of which he presented as a gift to Justin Trudeau - the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau - at a water conference in Fort Smith this past summer.

Simon said her brother was proud to have presented the gift to Trudeau.

For Christmas, he gave Simon and his other sister Annie Boucher, the executive director of the Akaitcho Territory government, traditional drums containing photos of their families.

"It was something new he was trying," Simon said. "He was always trying something different and trying to be unique."

Norn was also known as a traditional drummer.

Simon said her brother was heading to Fort Chipewyan at the time of the accident to pick up his long-time partner Marlyn Simpson.

Simon said the couple was inseparable, but they had decided to spend Christmas with their own families. He was in Yellowknife, where his two grown sons live, and she was with her family in Fort Chipewyan.

While the accident occurred on Dec. 29, it was not until Jan. 9 that the victim's remains were positively identified in Edmonton.

That's because the car which Norn was driving was engulfed in flames following the collision with another vehicle on Highway 5, about 60-kilometres west of Fort Smith.

Simon said the waiting was difficult, but the family and the community knew Norn was the victim.

DKFN Acting Chief Louis Balsillie praised Norn's contributions to Fort Resolution, adding he served as DKFN band manager in the mid-1990s and for three years up to 2007.

Norn would give you the shirt of his back, the acting chief said.

"He was a good man. He was a good-hearted person."

Balsillie said people are expected to attend Norn's funeral from other communities where he worked, such as Lutsel K'e and Yellowknife.

"Irvin was well known throughout the whole Akaitcho region. He worked for everybody," Balsillie said.

According to Fort Smith RCMP, Norn's car and an empty fuel delivery truck heading west collided at about 8:30 a.m.

The fuel truck driver, a resident of Fort Smith, was not injured.

"It doesn't appear there will be any charges at this point," Sgt. Grant Payne said last week.

Payne said the unpaved section of Highway 5 where the accident occurred was covered with ice and the road was very slippery.

It is uncertain what caused Norn's car to burn, but Payne said it was not related to the fact that the accident involved a fuel truck.