Two First Nation leaders conferred with Honours and Honorary degrees at Lakehead University
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon and Redcloud Studios CEO Jennifer Podemski were conferred with Honours and Honorary degrees during Lakehead University’s May 30 convocation ceremony.
Solomon received an Honours Bachelor of Arts Indigenous Learning degree and Podemski received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
Podemski, an award-winning film and television producer, creator, and actor, was one of three First Nations people who were conferred with Honorary degrees by Lakehead University at this year’s convocation ceremonies; JP Gladu received an Honorary Doctor of Commerce degree and Margaret Kenequanash received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, both on May 29.
“I received my BA (Indigenous Learning degree) in 2017, so I’ve been slowly chipping away at the credits I needed for my Honours (degree) from 2017 to now,” says Chief Solomon. “Both processes were really challenging and difficult.”
Chief Solomon says the comments Podemski made during her Honorary degree address about the challenges she faced as an Indigenous woman resonated with her.
“It really rang true for me, the things that she shared,” Chief Solomon says. “They really resonated with me in my own struggles of trying to accomplish education. I went to school part-time for lots of years to get my BA, and now, of course, I did the same thing; continued to go part-time to get my Honours degree, but it came with struggles because I had to work at the same time and I had children. So, yeah, education is not a linear process for everybody, particularly for First Nations students.”
Podemski, who first gained recognition for her performance in Dance Me Outside in 1994 and was the executive producer (show-runner) of Little Bird, which was released in 2023, and is the most nominated drama series in the history of the Canadian Screen Awards, says it was an incredible honour to be recognized with the Honorary degree.
“I did never do any post-secondary education because I opened a production company in my early 20s and built a career in the film and television industry, and have been dedicated to doing that work for 30 years,” Podemski says. “Being that this is such a high honour, I just feel overwhelmed and very lucky that I was able to achieve this recognition for the work that I’ve put in, I feel so grateful for that.”
Podemski says she started up Big Soul Productions along with Laura Milliken when she was 24-years-old.
“It became the greatest learning experience of my career,” Podemski says. “We did a lot of work together and made the first Indigenous dramatic TV series, Moccasin Flats, and many other shows that were telling Indigenous stories through an Indigenous lens, which was a very uncommon practice.”
Podemski says she started up her own production company, RedCloud Studios, about five years later.
“I really wanted to expand my work and have a bigger focus on the creative process and not worry so much about keeping a huge production company alive, it was a huge stress,” Podemski says. “I started working from home, which everyone thought was weird at the time, but it became the norm 20 years later.”
Podemski says during her Honorary degree address that her work as a storyteller is an act of resistance.
“Especially as the granddaughter of Residential School Survivors on my mother’s side and Holocaust survivors on my father’s, their stories are constant reminders that the world can be a very cruel place,” Podemski says. “And here in Canada, as Indigenous people, we live every day within a system that continues to fail us. For me, undoing the harmful narratives and the lies that have been told over time about Indigenous people on this land through my work as a storyteller and producer, combined with my advocacy work through my not-for-profit, The Shine Network Institute, is a small but meaningful contribution to the larger movement of reclamation, reparation, reconciliation, and rematriation.”
Gillian Siddall, president and vice-chancellor at Lakehead University, says she commissioned two First Nations artists, Fort William’s Daanis Pelletier and Chippewas of Rama’s Melissa Benson, to design the sashes she wears at the convocation ceremonies.
“The incredible beadwork on each sash honours the lands on which Lakehead University resides,” Siddall says. “For me, these sashes symbolize what I am setting out to achieve as your president, a commitment to advance reconciliation, to work in partnership and give back to the communities of Thunder Bay and Simcoe County and to work with all of you to guide Lakehead University into an evolving future with hope and optimism.”