Honourable senators, on November 21, the Mi’kmaq nation, Cape Breton, and all of Canada lost a brilliantly talented illustrator and artist. And our colleague, Senator Dan Christmas, lost his beloved wife and soulmate of 37 years, Arlene “Dozay” Christmas. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that our hearts ached for him, his children, and the Mi’kmaw community when we heard the news.

As a young woman, Dozay decided to pursue a career as an artist and she created and displayed her artwork in galleries and exhibits across the Maritimes, Ontario, and the United States. She also became a well-known illustrator of books including Loon Rock/Pkwimu Wkuntem and Tales From Maliseet Country. She was considered one of Canada’s pre-eminent Indigenous artists. My own words fail to adequately express the unique character of Dozay and to properly describe the important role she played in the Membertou community. So I’ll leave it to Senator Christmas to do so himself as he wrote in her obituary:

Dozay was truly a one-of-a-kind person. She loved the Created World and all that belonged to it. She loved its trees, its plants, its medicines and its four legged ones, its winged ones (especially its eagles and its red-tailed hawks) and the ones that lived in its waters. Dozay took so much joy in drawing and painting their likenesses.

Dozay loved all peoples especially her own people, the Wolastoqiyik (or the Maliseet) from Neqotkuk (or Tobique First Nation) in New Brunswick and her adopted people, the Mi’kmaq from Unama’ki (Cape Breton).

On behalf of the Senate family, I offer our sympathies to Dan and their children Peter, Lacey and Gail and to the Mi’kmaw of Membertou and the Maliseet of Tobique, New Brunswick, Dozay’s home community, as we celebrate the life of Arlene “Dozay” Christmas, whose artworks and murals will serve as a testament to her amazing talent for generations to come. Thank you.