Jean Cuthand Goodwill OC (1928 – August 25, 1997) was a Canadian Cree nurse who, in 1954, became

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

's first Aboriginal woman to finish a nursing program.

Biography

Goodwill grew up on the

Little Pine First Nation The Little Pine First Nation ( cr, ᒥᓇᐦᐃᑯᓯᕽ ''minahikosihk'') is a Plains Cree First Nations band government in Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserves include: * Little Pine 116 * Min-a-he-quo-sis 116A * Min-a-he-quo-sis 116C Littl ...

in Saskatchewan; she was a member of the Cree

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

and a daughter of Cree leader

John Tootoosis John Baptiste Tootoosis (July 18, 1899 Poundmaker Reserve, Saskatchewan – February 1, 1989) was a prominent Cree First Nations leader in Canada. He is the grandson of Yellow Mud Blanket, the brother of legendary Cree leader Pitikwahanapiwiyin ...

, about whom she would later write a biography. She decided to train as a nurse after spending three years at the

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

in Prince Albert recovering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. Graduating from the program at Holy Family Hospital in 1954, she then worked in rural Saskatchewan, where she reached patients in an emergency via bush plane or

dog team A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transport ...

. She also worked in

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. After returning to Canada she became increasingly interested in aboriginal affairs, helping to develop an aboriginal magazine called ''Tawow''. Goodwill helped establish the

Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada The Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association (CINA) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. It is an affiliate group of the Canadian Nurses Association. The CINA is the only professional nursing organization for Indigenous peoples in Canada ...

, and served as the organization's president during the period of 1983 to 1990. She was the first Aboriginal woman to serve as "special advisor" to the minister of National Health and Welfare in the Canadian federal government; she also worked with the

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. Goodwill taught Indian Health Studies at Saskatchewan Indian Federated College of the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...

(now

First Nations University of Canada The First Nations University of Canada (abbreviated as FNUniv) is a post-secondary institution and federated college of the University of Regina, based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. FNUniv operates three campuses within the province, ...

). She also helped to create a Native Access to Nursing Program at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. She was a board member of the

Canadian Public Health Association The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to public health. The association was founded in 1910 by the editors of the ''Public Health Journal'', which became the ''Canadian Public Health Journal'' ...

and served as president of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health. Married in 1965, Goodwill and her husband Ken Miller had two adopted girls. Goodwill died of cancer in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

in 1997.

Selected works

*''John Tootoosis: A Biography of a Cree Leader'' (1982)

Awards

*Jean Goodwill Award, Manitoba Indian Nurses Association (1981) *Honorary Doctorate of Law, Queen's University (1986) *Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

(1992) * National Excellence Award,

National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Indspire, formerly known as the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF), is a national Indigenous registered charity that invests in the education of Indigenous people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and c ...

(now Indspire) (1994) * In August 2022 the Canadian Coast Guard Ship CCGS Jean Goodwill was commissioned. The ship is based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwill, Jean Cuthand 1928 births 1997 deaths Canadian nurses Canadian women nurses Cree people Canadian biographers Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian women biographers 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers Indspire Awards Canadian women non-fiction writers