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Susan
Aglukark
(Born
January 27, 1967) in Arviat,
Northwest Territories. She is a singer, performer. "Arctic Rose," released in 1992,
was her first independent recording. In 1993, named "Northerner of the Year"
by Up Here Magazine and Mcleans listed her as one of "Canada's
100 Leaders To Watch For." Winner of 1994 National Aboriginal Achievement
Award for Performance, "This Child'. released in 1995. She won a Juno in
1995 as "New Solo Artist" and "Arctic Rose" received a 1995 Juno as "Music
of Aboriginal Canada Recording." |
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Bertha
Allen
(Born in 1934, Old Crow, Yukon, Gwich'in First Nations,
Northwest Territories).
Through her leadership as President of the Advisory Council on the
Status of Women of the Northwest Territories, founding President of
the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories and
President of the Native Women's Association of Canada, Mrs. Allen
has been a tireless promoter of equality for women. The only female
member of the Bourque Commission, she helped create the new
constitution for the western Northwest Territories. She is respected
nationally for her common sense approach and her passion for women and
families. In 1999, Ms Allen received the Governor General
Award for outstanding contributions. |
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Anna May
Pictou Aquash -
Raised
in Canada's Mi'kmaq culture and religion, her
treatment at an off-reserve school where she faced overwhelming racism
led to her involvement in the
American Indian Movement (AIM). She was among the Native
militants who occupied the village of Wounded Knee in a 71-day standoff
with federal authorities in 1973. Aquash, 30,
disappeared in late 1975 from a home where she had been staying in Denver.
Her frozen body, with a gunshot wound to the head, was found in February,
1976 at the Pine Ridge reservation, about 90 miles east of Rapid City.
Her mysterious murder in 1976 was not solved until a new chapter
in 2003 with the arrest of Arlo Looking Cloud. No charges have been proven
against him, and the burden continues to rest with the government to prove
its case against him.
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MOLLY
BRANT
(Końwatsiătsiaiéńni,
1736 - April 16, 1796). By
far the most powerful and influential woman in the Mohawk Nation. She
single-handedly is credited with maintaining British loyalty throughout the
Haudenausaunne Confederacy.
She was born
to a Mohawk father and mother in Conajoharie, New York,
the older sister of the famed Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. It was at the age
of 17 that Molly met William Johnson, a famous British trader who later
became Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the British Indian Department's
Northern District. By the time she was 23, she had moved into his home and
was fulfilling all the duties of wife, political consort, and hostess of his
considerable estate. She had 8 children.
Her
skill as a diplomat was admired by the political leaders of the day. Her
grace and dignity as a hostess made the Johnson estate a major destination
for visitors.
Never shy, Molly used her considerable influence with the
British to see that her people were well cared for. In times of
disagreement, it was she who traveled into the villages and met with the
Sachems (chiefs) to urge their continuing loyalty to the Crown. So effective
was she that provisions were made by the British to support her financially
for her entire life! Her yearly pension even exceeded that of her famous
brother, Joseph.
Prior to his
death in 1774, Johnson had the foresight to make a will which left all of
his wealth and property to Molly. Additionally, he set out political
appointments for the children and for Molly's brother, Joseph. As the armies
of the American Revolution drew closer to her home, Molly knew that word of
her loyalties to the British were too well known for her to be safe there.
She gathered her worldly goods and moved into Canada. Until her
death, she continued to act as an intermediary between the Haudenausaunne
and the British. Immortalized on 1986 Canada Post stamp.
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EVA CARDINAL
(Rock Woman, 'Asini-iskiw'), Cree)
Evangeline Redcrow Cardinal)
Saddle Lake, Alberta is now an Elder to her people. She was born in
the bush and shortly after the Elders named her 'Rock Woman.' It is a
fitting name. She has been in a number of films relating to residential
schools, Native women and related subjects.
She began as a cook at
Poundmaker Treatment Centre and rose through counselor, senior counselor and
eventually Director. She left Poundmaker to work on the Sacred Circle
project in the Edmonton Public School District. With only a 7th grade
residential school education, she eventually went to college and earned her
degree. She graduated in her 60's. She is retired from EPSD now, after
more than 20 years, and living back on the reserve. As a speaker she has
recounted her harrowing journey as she survived residential school. She was
determined to keep preserve her cultural identity and language. She and two
other Survivors were the stars of a film, entitled,
"The
Learning Path." Part
of the description of the film is as follows:
"Generations of native children were
taught in schools that to be native was somehow wrong. Exposed to racism,
ridicule and overt disdain for native culture and traditions, they were made
to feel inferior, even criminal. For today's generation of native students,
these painful experiences need not be repeated. Native Canadians now have
control over their own system of formal education and, to help restore what
for many was lost, the classroom curricula includes studies that will ensure
the continued survival of the native identity. In the film, we meet three
remarkable educators. In their own unique ways, Edmonton elders Ann
Anderson, Eva Cardinal and Olive Dickason are leading younger natives along
the path of enlightenment. Documentary footage, dramatic re-enactments and
archival film inter-weave the three women's stories, and Anderson and
Cardinal recount their own harrowing experiences at residential schools;
memories which have fueled their determination to preserve their native
languages and identities. Along their paths we learn not just of the legacy
that still plagues native education; we also learn of the strength with
which it has been overcome." |
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TANTOO
CARDINAL
(Born July 20, 1950,
Fort McMurray, ON) Cree/Metis)
Twenty-Five
years in film makes Tantoo one of the most recognizable Indigenous actresses
in television and movies. Nonetheless it has been difficult for her to find
roles as Hollywood is less forgiving in creating roles for strong Indigenous
women. Like all high-profile Native people, she is active working with
Native youth and works hard to offset the stereotypical attitudes and
understandings people have about Turtle Island's First People. "You
don't come through generations and generations of genocide and holocaust to
be portrayed as monotoned and one-sided characters. That's just not
possible!"
Maclean's
magazine declared her Actress of the Year in 1991. In 1993 she was given the
American Indian Film Festival best actress award. She also received the
first Rudy Martin Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Native American in
Film for her roles in Legends of the Fall, and The Education of
Little Tree. Toronto Women in Film and Television honoured Tantoo with
an Outstanding Achievement Award. And for her appearance on North of 60
she won a 1996 Gemini award for best performance by an actress in a guest
role, dramatic series. In 2006, Tantoo was honoured by the City of Edmonton
by being added to their Dreamspeakers Walk of Honour. |
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Angel
DeCora Dietz Born in 1871 on the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska. She
was influential in shaping Native art in the early years of the 20th
century. She graduated from the Hampton Institute in 1891 and studied art at
Smith College, the Drexel Institute and at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Busy as an artist and illustrator of books, Angel DeCora Dietz also spent
much time lecturing on the problems confronting Native Americans. She became
the head of the art department at the Carlisle Indian School and with her
husband, the Lakota teacher William Dietz, became active in Indian affairs,
eventually meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt to discuss the concerns
of Native Americans. She died in the great flu epidemic of 1919. |
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Gandoox (Sheila M. Conway),
Coast Tsimshian First
Nations. Thunderbird's Mom. This photo was taken when she was
eighteen years old. She is now ninety-five! She broke new ground
back in the 1930's and 40's as an Opera Singer as there were no First
Nations artists tod be found in the 'grand arts' in that
period. She sang for the troops in Theatre Under the Stars in
Vancouver during the 1940's performing the role of Yum Yum from The
Mikado numerous times. Her soprano voice was magic, Thunderbird is fortunate to have inherited some of it. She was also a concert
pianist and a master puppeteer, creating, designing and making a
three-hundred marionette cast of unforgettable characters. As
children,
Thunderbird and her Sister, Kate, travelled with her all over British
Columbia bringing singing, dancing shows and the
puppet theatre to enthusiastic audiences everywhere. She is a scholar, writer,
intellectual, choir-mistress, skill seamstress and costume-maker and
on and one. She triumphed even though she suffered impossible
racism during her early life. To this day she continues writing and
researching. If the truth be known, she was born way before her time but
even so managed to make a difference in the thousands of lives she's touched
over sixty years of healing circles, seminars and workshops. Nonetheless, her
intellectual and artistic passions are embedded in her two
daughters as they carry on her legacy. She is one tough act to
follow! |
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Jeannette
Vivian Corbiere
Born June 21, 1941 on the Wikwemikong Reserve on
Manitoulin Island in Ontario. It was her case that was fought all the
way to the
Supreme Court that eventually repealed the Canadian Indian Act to
re-enfranchise those Native women who lost their Native status for marrying
non-Native men. She is a founding member of the Ontario Native Women's
Association. |
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Hanging
Cloud (1800s) was the daughter of an Ojibwa
chief, and was the only woman of the Ojibwa Nation ever allowed to become a
full warrior. She wore war paint, carried full battle weapons, and was a
deadly warrior. As a warrior, she took part in battles, raids, hunting
parties, and all sporting events reserved for warriors. She was also a full
member of the war council, performed war dances, and participated in all
warrior ceremonies.
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LaDonna
Harris,
Born February 15, 1931, Comanche. President of Americans for Indian
Opportunity, is a remarkable statesman and national leader who has enriched
the lives of thousands. She has devoted her life to building coalitions that
create change. She has been a consistent and ardent advocate on behalf of
Tribal America. In addition, she continues her activism in the areas of
civil rights, environmental protection, the women's movement and world
peace. In 1970 she founded AIO - Americans for Indian Opportunity. She is
the wife of former Oklahoma Senator, Fred R. Harris. |
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Roberta Jamieson
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Former Chief
of the Six Nations Reserve of the Grand River; now CEO of the National
Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, First Canadian Native woman to earn a
law degree. First Native woman to be appointed Ontario's Ombudsman (held
the job for ten years); lauded for developing and promoting
non-adversarial methods of conflict resolution. She now heads up the
Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. |
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Rita
Joe
(March 25,
1932 - March 20, 2007)
Mi'kmaq poet and song writer,
called the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq people. In
1978, her first book, The
Poems of Rita Joe was published. Over her lifetime she had
six more books published. In
1992, she was called to the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada,
one of the few non-politicians ever appointed. She also received
the Order of Canada and a number of honorary doctorates.
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Emily
Pauline Johnson,
Mohawk, Poetess - Born in 1861 at the Six Nations Reservation near
Brantford, ON, Pauline Johnson
(“Tekahionwake” or “Double
Wampum)
was
the daughter of George Henry Johnson, Mohawk Chief of this great
Iroquois tract. Her British-born mother, Emily Howells, was a
second cousin of the famous American novelist, William Dean
Howells. Her most famous work, Flint and Feather, was published in
1912. Others followed, including Legends of Vancouver (1911) and a
collection of short stories, The Shagganappi (1913). Pauline
Johnson was a cultural ambassador, a link between an ancient, Native
Canada and a modern, largely European community. She knew and
could represent both. Bringing two very different but
strong-rooted cultures into closer contact and understanding, she
was a powerful literary influence.
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Princess Victoria
Ka'iulani
(October 16, 1875-March 6,
1899-23 years of age). Princess Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo
Kalaninuiahilapalapa Ka'iulani
Cleghorn, Crown Princess of Hawaii was heir to the throne of the Kingdom
of Hawaii and held the title of crown princess. She
became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and
determination. During the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893,
she spearheaded a campaign to restore the monarchy by speaking before
the United States Congress and pleading with US Presidents Benjamin
Harrison and later Grover Cleveland. Her life story grew to legendary
proportions after her untimely death. |
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Kenojuak
(Ashevak) is generally
regarded as Canada's foremost Inuit artist. Since her first print appeared
in a 1959 collection, she has established an international reputation; her
work has been featured in exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States,
and Europe. Although most widely renowned for her prints, two of which have
appeared on Canadian postage stamps, Kenojuak has worked in a variety of
two- and three-dimensional media, including sewing, sculptures, copperplate
engravings, paintings and drawings. She was among the first group of
Canadians to receive the prestigious Order Canada Medal of Service, an award
honoring achievements in all fields of Canadian life. Elected into the Royal
Canadian Academy in 1974, Kenojuak has also been awarded numerous
commissions, including the mural for the 1970 World's Fair. |
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Lili'uokalani (Lydia
Kamaka'eha Paki,
September 2, 1838 - November 11, 1917)
Hawaii's last Queen. She had no children
and so her heiress for awhile was her niece Victoria Ka'iulani
(1875–1899), although Ka'iulani predeceased her. Lili'uokalani had
quite a memorable life but was no match for the powerful political
interests of the United States in the region. She saw it as her
mission to preserve the islands for her Native subjects. In 1898,
however, the islands were annexed to the United States and she was forced to
give up her throne. She gave it the
old College try, however. |
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Sandra Lovelace,
(Maliseet, Activist., born 1947). Sandra Lovelace was born on the Tobique
Reserve in New Brunswick in 1947. In 1970 she married American Airman Bernie
Lovelace and moved with him to California. When her marriage ended a few
years later, Lovelace and her children returned to the Tobique Reserve and
found they were denied housing, education and health care provided to those
with status under Canada's Indian Act. It took her nearly ten years to have
her status restored. Lovelace took her case to the Human Rights
Committee of the United Nations. The Committee acted slowly, the
Canadian government acted slowly. In August 14, 1979 the Committee asked for
more information and allowed the Canadian government to defend it actions.
The Canadian government claimed that it would like to change the law, but
did not feel it could without the agreement of First Nations people, who
were divided on the issue. Ultimately she was successful which shows how one
person can correct an injustice and change the law of a nation. Awarded the
Order of Canada in 1992 she now sits in the Senate as a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada. |
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Wilma Mankiller
The first woman in modern history to lead a major
Native American tribe: the Cherokee, second largest tribe in the US.
She was responsible for 137,900 people and a $70 million dollar budget. Mankiller has brought about
important strides for the Cherokee, including improved health care,
education, utilities management and tribal government. Future plans call for
attracting higher-paying industry to the area, improving adult literacy,
supporting women returning to school and more. Mankiller also lives in the
larger world, active in civil rights matters, lobbying the federal
government and supporting women's activities and issues.
In 1998, she was honored with a Distinguished Service Award. |
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Edith
Anderson Monture,
Six Nations of the Grand.
World War 1 Army Nurse.
In 1917,
27-year-old Anderson and 19 other nurses, 14 of whom were also Canadian,
joined the U.S. Medical Corps. Within months, they were in Vittel, France,
at Buffalo Base Hospital. She spent most of her time at the hospital,
treating soldiers who had been shot or gassed. Upon return to Canada she
lived out her long life on the Six Nations reserve and died when she was in
her 90's. |
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Nahnebahwequay
('Upright Woman' - Catherine Sutton)
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Mississauga. She lost her status as a Native when she married
William Sutton. Although she travelled to England in 1860, and spoke
directly to Queen Victoria, it was more than one hundred years later
that Native women in Canada would achieve the rights Nahnebahwequay
sought. |
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First
Lieutenant Jujlia (Nashanany) Reeves,
(left). Member of the Potawatomi Tribe of Crandon, Wisconsin. She joined the
Army Nurse Corps in 1942 and was assigned to one of the first medical units
shipped to the Pacific. The 52nd Evacuation hospital unit was sent to New
Caledonia before its members had even received their army uniforms. Julia
was assigned temporary duty aboard the ship. The following year, she was
transferred to the 23rd Station hospital in Norwich, England, where she was
stationed during the invasion of Normandy. She remained in Norwich through
V-J Day, returning shortly afterward to the United States. During the Korean
War, Julia mobilized with the 804th Station Hospital.
Private Minnie Spotted Wolf
of
Heart Butte, Montana, enlisted in the Marine Corps Woman's Reserve in July
1943. She was the first female American Native to enroll in the Corps.
Minnie had worked on her father's ranch doing such chores as cutting fence
posts, driving a two-ton truck and breaking horses. Her comment on Marine
boot camp, Hard but not too hard. |
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Helen
Betty Osborne
In 1971,
the nineteen-year old Cree student was abducted, raped and murdered in
La Pas, Manitoba. Despite knowing the truth, townspeople refused to to help.
Four young local white men were eventually implicated in her death:
Dwayne Archie Johnston, James Robert Paul Houghton, Lee Scott Colgan and
Norman Bernard Manger. It was not until December 1987, sixteen years after
her death, that any of them were convicted of the crime, and then only
Johnston was convicted, as Houghton had been acquitted, Colgan had received
immunity for testifying against Houghton and Johnston, and Manger had never
been charged. The Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission conducted an
investigation into concerns surrounding the length of time involved in
resolving the case. The Commission concluded that the most significant
factor prolonging the case was racism.
A formal apology from the Manitoba
government was issued by Gordon Mackintosh,
Manitoba's Minister of Justice on July 14,
2000. The apology addressed the failure of
the province's justice system in Osborne's
case. A scholarship was created in Osborne's
name, by the province, for aboriginal women.
However, to this day, there is a racial
divide between Aboriginal and white people
in La Pas and racism deeply divides the
town. Recently, there has been a movement by
the Aboriginal community to make strides in
building healthier communities and this is
having a positive impact on the town and
surrounding community.
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Wanamaker
Peratrovich
was born
July 4, 1911, in Petersburg, Alaska. Her Tlingit name was Kaaxgal.aat. She
was of the Lukaax.adi clan. Elizabeth married Roy Peratrovich of Klawock on
December 15, 1931, in Bellingham, Washington. On moving back to
Juneau, they were astonished to discover signs in business establishments
revealing blatant discrimination against Alaska's Native people. With the
help of then Governor Ernest Gruening and Congressional Representative
Anthony J. Dimond, legislation was sponsored and introduced in the
Legislature in 1943. However, the "Equal Rights" Bill did not pass until the
next legislative session in 1945. As Grand Camp President of the Alaska
Native Sisterhood, Elizabeth provided the crucial testimony that cultivated
passage of the Anti Discrimination Bill. It was her response when questioned
by the Senate -- Will the equal rights bill eliminate discrimin |