Opening Doors for Future Generations

This pamphlet profiles some of the countless dynamic Aboriginal women in Canada today who are exceptional achievers in their particular fields. Through their various chosen careers, these women are breaking new ground and opening doors for future generations of Aboriginal women.

* Traditionally, Aboriginal women have commanded the highest respect within their communities as the givers of life. Women contributed to decisions about family, property rights, and education and were the keepers of their peoples' cultural traditions. While clear divisions of labour existed, men's and women's work was equally valued.

* Today, Aboriginal women are pursuing careers that enable them to play pivotal roles both in their own communities and in mainstream Canadian society. The following profiles are intended to pay tribute to the thousands of Aboriginal women achieving success in diverse fields across the country. These women serve as inspirational role models for the young Aboriginal people of today. The example they set through their dedication, vision, and hard work will encourage future generations of young Aboriginal women to follow their dreams.

"Receiving recognition for my work is always an honour, but gaining the respect of those around me has been one of my strongest motivations. I work very hard at what I do and the barriers I encounter strengthen my will to challenge myself. I have felt overwhelmed by the odds of being a young Native woman working in the field of high technology, but I have never felt defeated."

Just 25 years old, Melanie Goodchild already has numerous achievements behind her. She is the owner of Raindancer Interactive, a successful multi-media communications consulting and design firm, and has also established herself in the film industry. Her productions have been broadcast on national television and screened at the prestigious Smithsonian Institute Museum of the American Indian. In 1993 she received the Broadcaster of the Future Aboriginal Peoples Internship Award from Global Television Network. Melanie is an advocate for Aboriginal youth and entrepreneurship, and she is currently national director of the Aboriginal Youth Business Council.

Melanie became active in First Nations and youth issues as a young teenager, and she has been honoured with the Ontario Native Women's Association Award, YTV National Youth Achievement Award, and a Canada Day Youth Citizenship Award. She speaks publicly in Canada and the United States on issues such as self-esteem, new technologies, entrepreneurship, and the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. Melanie is also finding the time to complete her undergraduate degree in sociology part-time at Carleton University.

"I really love to do things that will have a good impact on the young people. It seemed that the things that I thought were never going to happen to me just happened....Although I'm not the best person in the world, God has helped me to be a good person and to do what is best not only for myself, but for other people."

Before Brandy Kanayuk was born, her mother prayed that her new daughter would be the kind of person who would always help others. Although only 20 years old, Brandy is already fulfilling that wish. In her community and through her participation in the Pond Inlet Youth Committee, the Baffin Region Youth Council, the Tuniit Elders Group, and the school student council, Brandy's commitment to her people is clear. Brandy has also travelled throughout Canada as a youth representative in workshops, conferences, and north-south student exchanges.

* At high school, Brandy regularly won awards for achievement, citizenship, Inuktitut, and academic excellence. She has performed cultural theatre and song in Yellowknife, Regina, and Toronto, at the Spirit of the Arctic Pavilion at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1995. She has worked at the Pond Inlet Housing Corporation and the local health centre. In 1996, she was selected as a National Native Role Model because of her demonstrated leadership within her community. The National Native Role Model Program honours those persons who represent, through their words and actions, the traditions of wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth.

* Brandy is now completing a one-year nursing access program at Aurora College in Yellowknife in preparation for entry to nursing school.

"I would encourage anyone who thinks they might be interested in sciences and engineering...to go for it! The most important ingredients for success are hard work, determination, and a true interest in what you are doing."

At 22 years of age, Sharla Howard is no stranger to recognition. The National Aboriginal Achievement Award she won in 1995 as a youth recipient is the most prestigious of her many honours. As a CEGEP student at John Abbott College in Quebec, she was on the honour roll from 1991?1993, and she has received awards for being the most outstanding student and for attaining the highest average in her high school.

* Sharla excels in more than academics. As an athlete, she won four gold medals at the 1990 First North American Indigenous Games. She now competes at university intramural games in a variety of sports and in a volleyball city league.

* Sharla is currently completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in civil engineering at the University of Waterloo through a co-op program. Her co-op placements have included work with the provincial government, a manufacturing plant, and a consulting firm specializing in geotechnical and environmental engineering. In addition, she has worked as a teaching assistant to first-year engineering students. She has continued to be recognized for academic excellence through scholarships and is regularly on the dean's honour roll. Sharla believes her training in engineering strengthens her stamina, as well as her skills in problem solving, management, decision making, communication, and team work -- capacities that she feels provide a solid basis for many fields of study.

"The two goals that I am reaching for focus on helping people and this is what I want to achieve. From my experience, I would say to other young people, before setting your goals, explore all available possibilities and then make a decision that is best for you."

Mary "Jill" Johnson's professional goals are grounded in her personal commitment to help people. She has settled on two possible career choices: high-school teacher or forensic scientist with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Jill, age 23, is now preparing herself for both these roles. She has a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and is now in her first year of a Bachelor of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

* Jill also participated in the RCMP Aboriginal Youth Training Program and has worked two summers as an RCMP Special Constable. During high school, she was a peer drug educator, working with junior high students. In addition to the university scholarships she received upon graduation from high school, Jill was honoured by her high school in 1991 with a National Women's Day Award in International Studies.

"Especially our young women, they need to develop their skills in the ever-changing technology of today's world. It's important to be aware of the technological advances in computer developments and science. These skills are necessary for our communities to be involved with the greater community of Canada."

Renae Morriseau is familiar as the character Ellen in the television series North of 60, but her accomplishments in broadcasting extend far beyond this visible role. In her determination to ensure that First Nations voices are heard and stories told, Renae's career over the last dozen years has spanned acting, filmmaking, writing, and producing.

* Renae, age 36, was first introduced to television broadcasting when working at the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre in Winnipeg. Her Within the Circle programs, which were shown on the local community cable station, became teaching tools for the centre. Renae went on to co-host, write, and produce segments for First Nations, a nationally broadcast Aboriginal news magazine program.

* In 1991, Renae created the Coyote Collective, a group of First Nations producers, directors, technicians, and writers from across Canada who are dedicated to advancing First Nations issues through broadcast television. Her documentaries have won critical acclaim. In both 1994 and 1995, her work was honoured as best documentary by the Native American Journalists Association. In 1996, the American Indian Film Festival awarded her a Best Public Service plaque for her documentary, Echoes of the Sister, about First Nations women and breast cancer, and an organization that showcases excellence in Canadian television, CANPRO, awarded her a Silver Medal Award for The Medicine Wheel.

* Renae works with young people in leadership workshops and television training. She believes that this generation must take an active role in their communities.

"The concept of failure has stopped many people from pursuing their dreams or doing their best....It's okay to be afraid. Beating fear is a great accomplishment. We have to believe in ourselves in order to overcome fear. Realizing that others have overcome their fear of failure has helped me in my time of need."

Aboriginal children in Manitoba do not have to look far to find an inspirational role model in their midst. Over the last 25 years, Dr. Mary Jane McCallum has been providing dental services to the province's First Nations communities. Literally living the phrase "learning the business from the bottom up," Mary Jane first worked as a travelling dental assistant throughout Manitoba. She went back to school on three separate occasions to gain new skills, graduating as a dental nurse in 1977, then obtaining a Dental Therapy Diploma in 1979, and ultimately receiving her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree in 1990. Except for a brief stint as an assistant professor for the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Manitoba after completing her dentistry degree, Mary Jane has devoted her professional career to serving the rural and remote First Nations communities of Manitoba. At age 44, she recently assumed the position of regional dental officer for the Manitoba region of the Medical Services Branch of Health Canada.

* Throughout her work, Mary Jane has come into close contact with Aboriginal children. She is particularly concerned about the negative feelings these young people may have about their worth in society. As might be expected from someone who has achieved so much during her life, Mary Jane finds in failure both an inspiration and the strength to overcome setbacks.

"Needing to...understand all that my people had suffered and lost motivated me to achieve a higher education.... I get to help others, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, learn about our people and our past. And I, in turn, go on learning from research and from the many people I meet along the way."

It was Miriam McNab's desire to understand her people's past that led her to her profession. In her search to find out what being a "Treaty Indian" meant, she became an educator. Miriam now shares her knowledge of Aboriginal culture and history with students at the Native Studies Department of the University of Saskatchewan and occasionally at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College at the University of Regina.

* Miriam studied cultural anthropology and Native studies for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Her master's thesis in 1992 examined how a northern Saskatchewan trapping community has changed and coped with the European influences of this century. At age 39, Miriam remains a researcher as well as a teacher, and she has lectured and written about Aboriginal women in Canada. She recently contributed an article on Aboriginal women's issues to The Canadian Encyclopedia Plus, and she has written numerous articles for the Aboriginal press, most notably on animal rights and trapping.

"BALANCE is the one word that I use to describe my life. Being deeply involved in academics, athletics, and culture, I manage to maintain a happy and fulfilled state of mind....Whatever an individual's dream may be, they must find a comfortable balance amongst the things that are important to them. For it is this balance that will be their foundation in making their dream a reality."

Blending traditional and contemporary aspects of life can be challenging. Stephanie Redman intends to take this challenge one step further. Her goal is to incorporate an understanding of traditional medicine into her future career as a medical doctor. At 21 years of age, Stephanie is preparing carefully for her role. As a high-school student at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, she maintained an honour-roll standing. Now she is in her final year of pre-medicine and is studying Aboriginal health and biology at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina. Stephanie believes that this is the training she needs to provide culturally appropriate health care as a physician in First Nations communities.

* As a co-ordinator for the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College summer math/science camp in 1994 and 1996, Stephanie has been a role model for high-school students interested in careers in science and health. She is the first Aboriginal student to be involved in chemistry research at the University of Regina. Leadership comes naturally to Stephanie -- she has combined volunteer activities in her community with excellence in school, traditional dance, and sports. Upon graduation from high school, Stephanie was honoured with the President's Cup for Leadership.

"I think that you can do anything that you set your mind to. We all have a gift and our role in life is to try and figure out what that is and to develop that. And everybody has something worthwhile to say, no matter what people tell them."

As an Aboriginal physician, Dr. Janet Smylie knows the importance of nurturing ambitions and desires in young children so that one day their dreams may become a reality. Janet herself came from a highly supportive family environment. With a physicist as a father, the academic world held no fear for her. Janet has turned her own interests in the sciences into a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, followed by a degree in medicine and a certificate in family practice.

* At age 27, Janet has practised as a physician in both urban and northern areas. She has worked with the Anishnawbe Health Clinic in Toronto and is on an Aboriginal health clinic planning committee in Ottawa. She is a member of the Native Physicians' Association in Canada and the Committee on Aboriginal Women's Health Issues of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. She is also interested in women's issues. In Toronto she was involved with the Women's Health Centre, the Bay Centre Birth Control Clinic, and a gender issues medical committee at the University of Toronto.

* There are now 67 Aboriginal physicians in Canada and a further 33 Aboriginal students in medical schools. Janet finds encouragement in the fact that persons from all sorts of backgrounds are now in the medical profession and that support exists for those who are interested.

"It is important for me that I chose a career in which there is a demand for the skills I have acquired....I believe that anyone who devotes themselves to obtaining a good education opens up so many options to themselves. Even if they are unsure which avenue they wish to pursue, by having a good foundation, they can have many choices to choose from."

In planning her career path after high school, Stacey Porter looked closely at opportunities and skills that would be needed in the future. She was interested in accounting and finance -- areas that her father has been involved in for some years. Stacey followed her interests while taking a Bachelor of Administration degree and, in the process, chose her profession. Accountants are in high demand in First Nations communities and the Canadian marketplace.

* Now 24 years old, Stacey has always been highly motivated to be successful. She attributes her strong work ethic to the examples set by her parents and grandparents. During her university education, Stacey worked for the Bonaparte Indian Band in Cache Creek, British Columbia, in a variety of areas, including administration and at the Band's historic Hat Creek Ranch. Stacey's first employment after obtaining her degree was as project manager for her community. Then she accepted a position with Price Waterhouse in Kamloops, British Columbia, which subsequently merged with KPMG in January 1997. At KPMG she has the opportunity to meet her next goal -- to become a chartered accountant. Stacey continues to be involved with First Nations communities through the firm's Aboriginal Services Division.

© Published under the authority of the
Honourable Ronald A. Irwin, P.C., M.P.,
Minister of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development
Ottawa, 1997

QS-6109-000-BB-A1

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