Celebrating Saskatchewan's Aboriginal women

Page 10

So, how much do you think you know about the accomplishments of Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan? Take the following quiz, provided by the Status of Women Office, Saskatchewan Labour, and see how you do.

QUIZ: SASKATCHEWAN ABORIGINAL WOMEN'S ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

QUESTIONS

1. Who was the first woman to be elected as a chief of a First Nation in Canada?

a) Alphonsine Lafond

b) Gwen O'Soup

c) Marie Ann Day Walker- Pelletier

d) Laura Big Eagle

2. Who was the first treaty Indian appointed a provincial court judge in Saskatchewan?

a) Yvonne Boyer

b) Connie Deiter

c) Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond

d) Delia Opekokew

3. Who is the founder of "Chili For Children" and the 1988 recipient for the Saskatchewan Order of Merit?

a) Beverly Whitehawk

b) Theresa Stevenson

c) Sadie Cote

d) Christine Hodgson

4. Who initiated the establishment of the first Indian controlled education institute in North America: the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College?

a) Janice Acoose

b) Pauline Pelly

c) Ida Wasacase

d) Jean Okimasis

5. Who is a full professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of the few people in Canada working as a neuropsychiatrist?

a) Lillian Dyck

b) Barb Frazer

c) Joan Greyeyes

d) Jean Goodwill

6. In 1941 women were allowed to enter the military forces. How many status Indian women volunteered for military service during WW II?

a) 28

b) 94

c) 56

d) 72

7. In what year did Bill C-31 amend the Indian Act and restore treaty and Aboriginal rights to First Nations women who were denied these rights when they married non-status males?

a) 1960

b) 1973

c) 1982

d) 1985

8. Currently, how many women are elected as chiefs of First Nations in Saskatchewan?

a) 4

b) 7

c) 11

d) 13

9. Which Metis woman from Pinehouse Lake was honoured with the 1992 Saskatchewan Order of Merit for her work as a midwife?

a) Nancy Morrisette (Arcand)

b) Adelaide Morin-Thomas

c) Ethel Ewaysecan

d) Annie Johnstone

10. Which of these Saskatchewan four post-secondary institutions, whose focus is to serve Aboriginal students, is headed by a female president?

a) Gabriel Dumont Institute

b) First Nations University of Canada

c) Saskatchewan Indian

Institute of Technologies

d) Northern Teacher

Education Program

(Continued from page 10.)

ANSWERS

1. b) Gwen O'Soup

? In 1955, Gwen O'Soup of the Key First Nation located by Kamsack became the first woman elected chief in Canada.

2. c) Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond

? In 1998, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, was the first Treaty Indian appointed as a Saskatchewan provincial court judge in Saskatoon. In 1994, Time magazine named her as one of the 100 global leaders and in 1999 as one of the top 20 Canadian leaders.

3. b) Theresa Stevenson

? Theresa Stevenson, a member of the Cowessess First Nation, is the founder of "Chili For Children" (Regina Indian Community Awareness) an organization that supports First Nations peoples moving into the urban environment. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations named her Citizen of the Year in 1988.

4. c) Ida Wasacase

? Ida Wasacase was born in 1937 on the Ochapowace First Nation. In the mid-70s she initiated the establishment of the first Indian controlled educational institute in North America, the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) now known as the First Nations University of Canada.. When SIFC opened nine students enrolled; it now has an average enrolment of 1,300 students.

5. a) Lillian Dyck

? Dr. Lillian Dyck is a member of the Gordon First Nation. She is a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Saskatchewan looking for a drug that treats stroke, Alzheimer's, and schizophrenia. In addition to research, she teaches at the graduate level in neuropsychiatry, neurochemistry and the field of alcohol and drug abuse. Dr. Dyck received the National Aoriginal Achievement Award for Science and Technology in 1999.

6. d) 72

? In 1941, 45,000 Canadian women volunteered for military service. The largest component of Aboriginal participants were Metis. Seventy-two volunteers were status Indians.

7. d) 1985

? In 1985, Mary. Two Axe Early, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, Que,, was the first Aboriginal woman to be re-enfranchised after losing her status through marriage to a non-Aboriginal man. She pleaded her case before the International Women's Year Conference in Mexico City in 1975. She was awarded the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case in 1979.

8. b) 7

? There are seven elected First Nation chiefs:

? Chief Marie Ann Day Walker-Pelletier of the Okanese First Nation

? Chief Patricia Sparvier of the Cowessess First Nation

? Chief Shirley Wolfe-Keller of the Muskowekwan First Nation

? Chief Elaine Chicoose of the Pasqua First Nation

? Chief Isabel O'Soup Crane of the Key First Nation

? Chief Phyllis Head of the Peter Chapman First Nation

? Chief Connie BigEagle of the Ocean Man First Nation.

? Note: Until recently, the Ocean Man First Nation was comprised of an all woman council.

9. d) Annie Johnstone

? Annie Johnstone, a Metis woman from Pinehouse Lake, delivered more than 500 babies without death to a mother or a baby. In 1992, she was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

10. c) Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies

? Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies President Joan Greyeyes has been in this position since 1995. She is the first woman to hold this position since the school was established in 1976.