Memorial fund set up for Metis leader

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A memorial fund is being established by the Aboriginal Student Council at the University of Alberta for Lorraine Courtrille, a young Metis leader who died in a recent car accident.

Founders hope to collect $10,000 which would generate enough interest to award one scholarship per year, said Cora Voyageur, a graduate student and chairperson of the committee established to set up the fund.

"It would be self-perpetuating, so that is our ideal. We're aiming for a $500 scholarship each year," Voyageur said.

Courtrille, 35, was killed March 27 when the car she was travelling in skidded off

a gravel road and crashed near Calling Lake, 200 km north of Edmonton. She was on a student goodwill mission to Native communities in northern Alberta when she died.

The scholarship would be awarded to a U of A student of aboriginal descent who is a parent and is in financial need. It will not be limited to students only in certain disciplines, Voyageur added.

Most university students are in arts, social sciences or education, but most scholarships go to students in engineering or science disciplines.

"We find that as students, there are scholarships for students, but they're not putting the money where the students are."

Courtrille was a former vice-president of the Woman of the Metis Nation. She graduated last April with a bachelor's degree in anthropology and was working for the university's Native Student Services. A single mother of two boys, aged two and 11, she helped set up Edmonton's first Native day care called N'GaWee, Cree for guardian or parent. She was also organizing a shelter for battered women in the city and had helped organize the university's Native Awareness Days and other projects aimed at promoting Native culture.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the fund sould send their donations to the University of Alberta Lorraine Courtrille Memorial Fund development office, 450 Athabasca Hall, University of Alberta, T6G 3E8.