Jeannette Corbiere Lavell (born June 21, 1942) is a Canadian and Anishinaabe community worker who focused on women's and children's rights. In 2018, she was honoured as a member of the Order of Canada.

Biography

She was born Jeannette Vivian Corbiere in

Wikwemikong The Wiikwemkoong First Nation is a First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory (nicknamed Wiky, previously named Wikwemikong) is the First Nation reserve in the northeast of Manitoulin Island in Manit ...

, Ontario to Adam and Rita Corbiere. Her mother, a school teacher, was a cofounder of the Wikwemikong "Wiky" Powwow. Corbiere Lavell learned English from her mother and Ojibwe from her father. Corbiere Lavell attended business college in North Bay. After graduation, she worked for the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto as an executive secretary. She was associated with the Company of Young Canadians, which gave her an opportunity to travel around the country, and was named, in 1965, as "Indian Princess of Canada". Corbiere Lavell married David Lavell in 1970, a non-Indigenous man, and subsequently was no longer deemed an Indian according to the ''

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...

''. She challenged the Act in 1971; though her challenge failed, she inspired a later challenge, the success of which "permitted reinstatement of the First Nations women and children who had lost their status". She later served as president of the

Native Women's Association of Canada The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC; french: Association des femmes autochthones du Canada, nolink=yes FAC is a national Indigenous organization representing the political voice of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people in ...

and founded the Ontario Native Women's Association of Canada. Corbiere Lavell served as a cabinet appointee or the Commission on the Native Justice System, president or the Nishnawbe Institute, and president of Anduhyaun Inc. After she earned a teaching degree from the University of Western Ontario, she worked as a teacher and school principal. She co-edited "Until Our Hearts Are On the Ground: Aboriginal Mothering, Oppression, Resistance and Rebirth". Her daughter, Dawn Harvard, was the youngest ever president of the Ontario Native Women's Association. That organization established an award in honour of Corbiere Lavell in 1987. In September 2009, she became the president of the organization NWAC (Native Women's Association of Canada) for a three-years period. In 2016, Corbiere Lavell was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws at York University for her work as a Native women's rights activist and educator. In April 201
The Feminist Alliance for International Action
recognized Jeannette as a member of the Indigenous Famous Six. Other members are Yvonne Bedard, Senator Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, Sharon McIvor, Lynn Gehl, and Senator Lillian Dyck.

Awards

* Persons Award (2009) * Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) *

Member 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 Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

(2017) *Indspire Award, Lifetime Achievement (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavell, Jeannette Corbiere 1942 births Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners Canadian women's rights activists People from Manitoulin Island Living people Canadian book editors Heads of schools in Canada First Nations women First Nations activists Ojibwe people Members of the Order of Canada

Biography

Awards

See also

References