Fort William First Nation Elder to receive honorary Doctor of Letters
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—Fort William Elder Marlene Pierre acknowledges the support she received over the years for her upcoming recognition with an honorary Doctor of Letters at Lakehead University’s convocation ceremony on June 1.
“It came as a surprise to me and I thought about it for a while — a person does not get that kind of honour without the help and support and working together with a whole lot of people throughout my life,” Pierre says. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have so many good workers and wonderful friends and good supporters in the government and outside the government.”
Pierre also acknowledged her family for their sacrifices while she pursued her goals as an advocate for change in the social, economic and justice conditions of the Anishinabek people.
“I owe a lot to my family,” Pierre says. “My family sacrificed much while I went away to do this work, and I am extremely grateful for this honour because it’s not only for me, it’s for all those who walked with me in my journey.”
Pierre is recognized for her focus on improving family life for urban Indigenous people, Indigenous women and all children.
“I got involved first at the [Thunder Bay Indigenous] Friendship Centre as a young woman,” Pierre says. “After we did a lot of community development in the city, I moved on to start the Thunder Bay Anishinaabe-kwe group and we started addressing the issue of family violence. The Native People of Thunder Bay Development Corporation gave us our first house to use as Beendigen, and it still functions today and houses women and their children.”
Pierre is recognized for her active participation in the Canadian Constitutional partition for the inclusion of the Equality Clause and for changes to the Indian Act to end discrimination against women.
“Thanks to the government of the day in Ontario, we became the one-and-only group from across the whole country to be present and participating actively in the Canadian Constitutional discussions right through from the beginning to the end,” Pierre says. “The Equality Clause exercise was a motherhood issue and it was not hard to work the room and get compliance from all 10 provinces. Somehow we worked it through, we got the compliance of the Aboriginal organizations as well, and I place that as a highlight for the Ontario Native Women’s Association.”
Pierre is also recognized for her international efforts, including an effort to build an alliance with women from across North, Central and South America.
“It’s been a real wonderful journey for me and all those who walked with me,” Pierre says. “We can claim to our children that we tried everything we could to make things equal for everyone.”
Pierre is being recognized during the convocation ceremony along with Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations: Finding The Path Forward, whose grandmother is a Fort William citizen; Gwen O’Reilly, a Lakehead University HBSc Forestry graduate who helped start up the university’s first women’s centre and has administered the Thunder Bay Good Food Box Program since 2005; and Colin Bruce, former publisher and general manager of The Chronicle-Journal, who has volunteered with numerous groups, including the United Way of Thunder Bay for more than 20 years.
“This year’s honorary degree recipients are being acknowledged for their exceptional contributions and achievements that have had impacts on northwestern Ontario and, indeed, across Ontario and Canada,” says Moira McPherson, president and vice-chancellor at Lakehead University.
Anishinaabe Elder and storyteller Mark Douglas and internationally recognized artist Charles Pachter will also be recognized at the Orillia campus convocation ceremony on June 8.