Edward Blondin was a member of the Sahtu DeneFirst Nation, who played a prominent role in the industrial development of Canada's north.[3][4][5][6]CBC News quotes one of his descendants describing how it was Blondin who first drew the attention of developers to the oil reserves at Tulita, on the Mackenzie River.[7] This deposit was to play an important role in the building of the Alaska Highway. Blondin was one of the guides who found a route for the Canol pipeline that supplied the teams constructing the Alaska Highway with gas from Tulita.[8][9]
In his 2006 book Trail of the Spirit: The Mysteries of Medicine Power Revealed, George Blondin, one of his descendants, wrote that Blondin acquired shaman skills from his own father.[11]
In her 1996 book The Cultural Politics of Fur Julia Emberley quotes Blondin's son George's description of how his father found laws restricting trapping, passed in 1930s, affected the Dene following their traditional lifestyle.[12]
Edward Blondin and Jean Baptiste supply Port Radium with fresh meat.
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Laura Tutcho. "Ets'ulah: Eliza Blondin's Story"(PDF). University of Victoria. Retrieved 2020-03-15. The late Eliza Blondin was from Délı̨ne (for a time known as 'Fort Franklin'). She was 88 years old when she passed on in 1993. She was married to the late Edward Blondin.
^"Imperial Oil forced us out, family says". CBC News. 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2020-03-15. His grandfather, Edward Blondin, knew oil was valuable and took a pail of it to Bishop Gabriel Breynat at Tulita, then known as Fort Norman. "That was presented to Bishop Gabriel Breynat, on the assumption that anything ever happens concerning the oil, he will be well looked after," Joe Blondin said.