Honourable senators, I want to acknowledge that I come from Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory, and it is the homeland of the Red River Métis Nation.

I want to point out that the Parliament of Canada is located on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinaabe territory.

I thank Senator McCallum for bringing this bill to the Senate of Canada. Bill S-274 honours the life and legacy of Thanadelthur as the ambassador of peace in the early 18th century. Thanadelthur was a young Indigenous woman of strength, resilience and fierce determination to protect her people. Records from the time speak of her as a skilled guide, peacemaker, interpreter and negotiator who played a crucial role in the expansion of the fur trade in the early 1700s. More importantly, at a time when Dene and Cree were traditional enemies, Thanadelthur was the indispensable key to forging peace between the two nations.

Her remarkable story allows us to reflect both on the extraordinary impact she has had in shaping our shared history as a nation and, lamentably, on the many ways in which Indigenous stories, cultural practices and contributions have been ignored for far too long. By supporting this bill, we are sending a strong message and affirming our commitment that these Indigenous stories will no longer be forgotten.

This story takes place before Canada became a nation, before Manitoba existed. Born in the late 17th century, Thanadelthur was a member of the Dene nation, a group indigenous to the sub‑Arctic region of what is now known as Nunavut and northern Manitoba. Little is known about her early years, but in 1713, while on a caribou-hunting expedition with her family, she was captured by the Cree, an Indigenous group rival to the Dene. Thanadelthur managed to escape after a year of captivity, and after a harrowing journey that left her near death, she finally reached York Fort, now called York Factory, which was an early Hudson’s Bay Company trading post.

Thanadelthur’s great work came about in 1715 when she was employed as the guide, interpreter and negotiator for the Hudson’s Bay Company in their efforts to establish peaceful relations between the Cree and the Dene. Her Dene, Cree and English trilingualism, her tenacity and perseverance and her skill as a negotiator led to a historic peace agreement between the two traditionally warring peoples. I mark the wisdom, humility and the depth of character it must have required of her to forgo any feelings of revenge or hostility towards those who were her traditional enemies and her captors and, instead, to choose to forge a path to peace.

The Bay records from that period make it clear that peace would have been unattainable without her pivotal role. In June 1715, a delegation of 150 people set out from York Fort on a peace mission and travelled some 1,000 kilometres in eight months, pushing through an Arctic winter. It was Thanadelthur’s guidance and determination that kept the delegates from turning back. It was her skill and knowledge that kept them from perishing in the wild, and, ultimately, it was her fortitude that saw the final peace accord struck and honoured.

To quote from a record of that period:

She made them all stand in fear of her as she scolded at some . . . and forced them to be at peace.

Her voice was said to be hoarse from persuading her people.

Sadly, she succumbed to illness less than two years later and died on February 5, 1717, buried in York Fort. Hers is a story that still resonates within Cree and Dene communities in their oral history to this day. Examining her story from a distance of over 300 years, we can learn modern lessons.

Thanadelthur is but an early example of the tireless leadership and resolute quality of Indigenous women who both nurture as mothers and protect as warriors. I think of contemporary Thanadelthurs, who, despite obstacles, hardship and opposition, are similarly leading restorative peace and reconciliation efforts in our own time, such as Indigenous activists like the late Mary Two-Axe Earley, Cindy Blackstock, Pam Palmater, Autumn Peltier, Diane Redsky and our former senator colleagues the Honourable Sandra Lovelace Nicholas and the Honourable Lillian Dyck.

I think of Inuit leader Rosemarie Kuptana, artist Daphne Odjig, Manitoba’s own Jackie Traverse and my family’s beloved friend the legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, now 92 and working on her fifty-fourth film. In this place, we are blessed with Indigenous women leaders who were all esteemed trailblazers before agreeing to be named to this chamber.

Indigenous women and girls play a key role in preserving their communities. They often act as agents of peace, leading movements that eventually bring the warring parties to the negotiation table. These strong, clear Indigenous women leaders are often the first to speak truth to power, including within their own communities, to address the root causes of a conflict and increase community engagement.

When I was home in Winnipeg this weekend, I met with three of Winnipeg’s most effective leaders — Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Sandra DeLaronde and Keely Ten Fingers — to debrief on their recent trip to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva to contribute to the review of Canada under CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as members of the largest delegation of Indigenous women ever to attend such a CEDAW review.

Before coming to this chamber, I was a professor who, with a team of students in our human rights program at the University of Winnipeg’s Global College, ensured that Canada’s first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security noted the importance of domestic peace building and Indigenous women’s leadership.

International studies have conclusively shown that women’s participation in peace agreements leads to better and more sustainable outcomes, with higher rates of implementation.

Honouring this historic and heroic peace builder, Thanadelthur, through the passage of this bill also honours Indigenous women as leaders. As an example of some progress, I’m pleased to read to you from Canada’s recently released third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security:

The action plan also recognizes that the Government of Canada is implementing the WPS agenda through a range of efforts aimed at addressing gender-based discrimination, violence, oppression and marginalization faced by women and gender-diverse people in Canada, particularly Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. It acknowledges the intersecting discrimination and violence based on gender, Indigenous identity, socio-economic status and other identity factors, as well as underlying historic causes — in particular, the legacy of colonialism and the devastation caused by the residential school system. It also acknowledges that leadership by Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people is essential to achieving sustainable peace and security for all.

The second lesson I draw from her story is more sombre because Thanadelthur is also a symbol of unknown, effaced and obscured Indigenous voices, stories sadly forgotten or deliberately erased if not for the oral traditions that keep their small lights burning.

She speaks to our ongoing tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, colonial repression, racism, sexism and all other forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Research shows Indigenous women are 400% more likely than other Canadians to go missing. The problem is so pervasive that the Canadian government does not know how many Indigenous women are missing or have been murdered.

Ironically, these women are over-policed but underprotected. Estimates suggest that around 4,000 Indigenous women have been lost. Thanadelthur’s own grave is lost. Estimates that, like this, point to the reality, for example, of the bodies of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, believed to be buried in a Winnipeg landfill still waiting to be recovered.

In the case of Thanadelthur’s grave, the land of the original Fort York has eroded and washed out to sea. Without a monument to mark her resting place, a beautiful tradition has developed in northern Manitoba. Every February 5, to mark the date of her passing, people lay red roses into the waters of the Hudson Bay.

Senator McCallum, in speaking to her bill, brought another modern dimension to this historic tale as she shared aspects of her own Cree upbringing in Manitoba and the ongoing joining of Cree and Dene communities across boundary lines, family ties and generations of hostility.

History is a living, growing thing. When history is herstory, wisdom transcends time.

To conclude, Thanadelthur’s contributions provide a powerful example of the importance of commemorating Indigenous histories, as called for in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action 79, which calls for the federal government to “. . . develop a reconciliation framework for Canadian heritage and commemoration. This would include . . . .” it continues, “. . . the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada’s history.”

Further, Bill S-274 moves Canada a step toward actualizing our commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Specifically, Article 15 of Canada’s UNDRIP Act provides to Indigenous people the right to:

. . . dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.

I commend Senator McCallum for introducing Bill S-274, An Act to establish National Thanadelthur Day. This bill is an excellent starting point in giving equal place to Indigenous stories. This story is about a peacemaker who brought about harmony in conflict that strengthened the foundations for a Canada to be.

By commemorating Thanadelthur’s achievements, not only will we fulfill commitments under the TRC Calls to Action and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Canada’s act of the same name, but also ensure that Indigenous contributions are a visible and celebrated part of our shared heritage. Let us move this bill to committee.

Therefore, Your Honour, I call question on this bill.