Beverley Jacobs: Current President Native Women’s Association of Canada

Beverley Jacobs was born at the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Southern Ontario. Her ancestors were Mohawk of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, Bear Clan.  Her traditional name "Gowehgyuseh means “She’s visiting”. Beverley completed both an LLB (Windsor) and LLM (Saskatchewan) and is a lawyer by trade.

Since her election as President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) in 2004, she has successfully secured funding for Sisters In Spirit, a research, education and policy initiative aimed at raising public awareness about Canada’s missing and murdered Aboriginal women. In her role as NWAC President she has traveled to countless communities to raise awareness, rally citizens and inspire young Aboriginal women.

During Prime Minister Harper's historic apology to the native people of Canada on June 11, 2008, Beverley Jacobs, representing the Native Women's Association of Canada, told the House of Commons that residential schools took away the native matriarchal system, but that it is coming back now. While she thanked the government for its apology, she added, "[T]he Native Women's Association wants respect," getting a standing ovation in the Parliament of Canada.

Carol Morin: Putting a Face to Aboriginal Women

Carol was 15 when she first visited a radio station in Regina, Saskatchewan. By the age of 16, Carol was a “go-fer” at CKCK Radio, a volunteer position that allowed her to observe. The following year, on a scholarship Carol studied Radio & Television at SAIT in Calgary, Alberta. Before graduating, she was offered a job at CKO-FM in Edmonton. Carol, at age 19, was producing a radio morning talk show at CKRM Radio in Regina, as well as anchoring weekend television news at CKTV. Her career has taken her to all regions of Canada, covering politics, the arts, indigenous issues, and current affairs. Professionally, she has worked for both radio and television, private and public broadcasting, as well as doing some work in print and film. In 1989, Carol became the first First Nations person in Canada to anchor a national newscast (CBC News World – Calgary). She also studied law, with a scholarship, at the University of New Brunswick and spent 3 years working as an actor in Calgary during the mid 1990’s.

Carol Morin, from Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan, is the host of Northbeat on CBC Television. Her background is Northern Cree and Chipewyan. She has been a member of the media for more than a quarter century and has worked at both private and public radio stations in Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Fredericton. While in Regina, she produced a morning radio talk show on CKRM and anchored weekend news for CKCK TV. She was also co-host of the CBC News world program "This Country". Just before becoming host of "InVision", Carol was producer/reporter for radio program, First Voices on CKUA in Calgary, Alberta.

Her personal life gives her inspiration to continue as a journalist. With a great love and respect for her Cree/Dene heritage, she embraces cultural Diversity.

“There are many gifts we’ve been given as aboriginal people. One way for me to honour those gifts I have been given, is to develop them; whether they be telling the stories of Our People, dancing or singing. Another way to honour and give thanks is to pass down the love and respect for Tradition. It’s my prayer that my three children always know who they are, where they have come from and that they are beautiful. On a larger scale, it is my prayer that the work I do within the news media and at CBC-TV will allow others to know that we, as People, are proud and strong. There is a renewal happening within our communities. I’m blessed to be a part of that, even if it’s only as an observer; as a journalist and as a teller of stories."

Carol is an award-winning journalist, recently receiving the Manitoba Film and Television Industry Award for Best TV News Anchor (2000) and winning awards for Best Feature Reporter and Best Live Coverage (of the rioting in Quebec City during the Summit of the Americas - 2001) from the Native American Journalists Association. She has also been nominated for a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the category of Media & Communications (2001).

In 2002, Carol received two awards nominations. The Winnipeg-based women's drum group Squaw'kin Iskwewak, of which she is a member, was nominated for a Prairie Music Award in the category of Outstanding Aboriginal Recording. She was also nominated for a 2003 Aboriginal Achievement Awards in the Media and Communications category. In 2006, she won an award for hosting the Best Newscast awarded by the Radio and Television News Directors Association of Canada (small market).

Carol is also an avid reader and writer. In fact, she recently received a Canada Council Writer's Grant to help in the process of completing her first novel entitled, "Bearskin Diary". She has also received a writer's grant from the NWT Arts Council to help with writing her first stage play entitled, The Ruse. It includes a manuscript of poetry, an anthology of short stories/essays about growing up in southern Saskatchewan, and a number of Children's stories. In 2006 Orca Books based in Victoria picked up "Kookum's Tablecloth", which is in press. Finally, Carol is also a visual artist whose work is recognized within the Northwest Territories on the website:
www.nwtartistsdatabase.com.

The next article in this series will feature the distinguished
Canadian Aboriginal woman artist Kenojuak Ashevak

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