By: Melanie Escobar-Echeverria
Saturday, September 30th, marks the third annual Truth and Reconciliation Day, and it begs the question of how we acknowledge and uphold Indigenous history and how we tell it respectfully and educationally. It’s important to recognize the history colonialism has had on Indigenous people and its impact on Indigenous people today. For this blog, I wanted to highlight Indigenous historical figures and their accomplishments: Elsie Charles Basque and Ralph Garvin Steinhauer.
The first historical figure was Elsie Charles Basque, born in 1916. Basque is a Mi’kmaw woman; Mi’kmaq are first nations from the Northeastern woodlands in provinces such as Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick. Basque was the first Mi’kmaq First Nation to earn a teaching license and teach in non-native schools and one of the oldest residential school survivors. Due to her time in residential schools, she valued the importance of healing through education. Basque graduated from teachers college and taught at Indian Day School in Indian Brook, Nova Scotia, allowing Indigenous children to remain in the community rather than sending them to boarding schools. Many of the children she taught went on to have successful careers. Basque also advocated for Native issues and lectured on Mi’kmaq first nations; in 1997, she received a doctorate from Nova Scotia Teachers College.
Ralph Garvin Steinhauer was born in 1905 and was the first Indigenous person to serve as a lieutenant governor of a Canadian province. He was also a residential school survivor. Steinhauer’s experience within residential schools motivated him to become involved in Indigenous rights organizations. Steinhauer was a Treaty Indian of Cree descent. A Treaty “Indian” is “An Indigenous person who belongs to a band that is party to one of the eleven Numbered Treaties signed by Canada with various First Nations between 1871 and 1922.” At 23, Steinhauer began working on his father’s farm and teaching others to use the reserve system to maximize their agricultural opportunities. Over the years, he grew interested in politics and served as chief of the Saddle Lake Reserve. In 1963, he was the founder of the Indian Association of Alberta. This association was meant to focus on Indigenous rights and advocating for them. In 1974, he was given the position of lieutenant governor of Alberta due to his contributions to his community. As lieutenant governor, he was committed to Indigenous affairs in Alberta. Similarly to Basque, Steinhauer also received an honorary doctoral degree from the Universities of Alberta and Calgary.
Many more Indigenous figures in our history participated in activism, politics, and education of Indigenous culture and history. It’s valuable to educate ourselves on the history of these figures and remember days like Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation. It isn’t easy to put into a short blog post the accomplishments and importance Indigenous figures had (and continue to have) on Canadian history. However, there are resources and places where you can educate yourself on Indigenous history and current issues today.
Resources & Education
Bibliography “Treaty 6.” Treaty 6 - Indigenous Saskatchewan Encyclopedia | University of Saskatchewan.
https://teaching.usask.ca/indigenoussk/import/treaty_6.php#:~:text=Treaty%206%2C%20between%20the%20Queen,well%20into%20the%2020th%20century.
“5 Notable Indigenous Historical Figures.” Live & Learn: a project of English Online Inc., June
27, 2018. https://livelearn.ca/article/about-canada/5-notable-indigenous-historical-figures/.
Simpson, Sally. “Fifteen Indigenous Women’s Firsts to Celebrate on National Indigenous
Peoples Day.” Canadian Women’s Foundation, June 20, 2022. https://canadianwomen.org/blog/indigenous-womens-firsts/.
Lawlor, Allison. “Mi’kmaq Teacher Elsie Basque Was a Revered Role Model.” The Globe and
Mail, May 8, 2016. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mikmaq-teacher-elsie-basque-was-a-revered-role-model/article29934335/.
Holmgren, Eric J. “Ralph Garvin Steinhauer.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, February 4, 2008.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ralph-garvin-steinhauer.
Sipekne’katik. “Elsie Charles-Basque.” Tepi’ketuek Mi’kmaw Archives. Accessed September 30,
2023. https://mikmawarchives.ca/authors/elsie-charles-basque.
"Ralph Garvin Steinhauer." In DISCovering Multicultural America: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2003. Gale In Context: Canada (accessed September 30, 2023). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ2116111731/CIC?u=camb64863&sid=bookmark-CIC&xid=1459c65b.