Academic wins Crowchild award

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A longtime friend of Canadian Aboriginal people was honored this year as the recipient of the City of Calgary's annual Chief David Crowchild Memorial Award.

Dr. Joan Ryan, a retired University of Calgary anthropology professor, was presented with a plaque at a ceremony on May 21 at Calgary's Municipal Building.

"This individual is recognized nationally and internationally," Mayor Al Duerr told about 150 people who attended the ceremony. "She dedicated her career to understanding the economic, social and political problems of Canadian Aboriginal people."

For almost 20 years, Ryan has been an advocate for the Lubicon Lake Nation of northern Alberta. Specifically, she has researched the impact of major resource development in the Lubicon Lake area, provided expert testimony at court hearings regarding the Lubicon people, developed a computerized information database on the Lubicon Nation, and organized an awareness program directed at the non-Aboriginal community.

Ryan is putting her experiences into a book called In a Fragile Balance: The Destruction of the Lubicon Cree Nation.

BesideS working with the Lubicon people, Ryan participated in several projects with the Stoney Nation, located west of Calgary. One for the University of Calgary saw her involved with helping eight Aboriginal students graduate from university.

She also co-ordinated and served as principal investigator for various Aboriginal research projects. The two most recent projects included the Dene Traditional Justice Project, and the Lac La Martre, Northwest Territories and the Gwich'in Language and Cultural Program.

She was proud to be presented the award, especially because of the plaque's namesake.

"David Crowchild was a strong advocate of social justice. He was a kind and generous person who respected people and received respect in return, she said."

In 1967, Crowchild Trail, one of Calgary's main roads, was named in honor of the Tsuu T'ina chief. Among his other honors, Crowchild received the Centennial Medal of Canada in 1967 from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews for fostering understanding among people of diverse cultures.

The Chief David Crowchild Memorial Award honors individuals and groups that uphold the chief's values. These values include: building bridges of understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures; promoting Aboriginal culture; supporting Aboriginal people in education, employment and training.

The Calgary Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee first presented the annual award in 1986.

Last year's recipient of the award was Tom Jackson "whom I consider to be one of our modern heroes," Ryan said.

A member of the Committee Against Racism, Ryan has also developed position papers for the first ministers conference on Native self government and membership.

"She has never given up," noted Victoria Crowchild-Aberdeen, the daughter of late Tsuu T'ina chief.

Ryan, who was born in Quebec, has two adopted Aboriginal children, Sandra and Taania. Ryan herself considers Charlotte Birchard of Ottawa as her adopted mother.

Both Birchard and Ryan's daughter, Sandra, who lives in Vancouver attended the award ceremony.

"It's nice to see her recognized," said Sandra. "I think one of the neatest things about [Joan] is her being my mom."

Accepting the award, Ryan modestly passed most of the credit to the people she has worked with.

"I know I have learned far more than I contributed," she said.