Celebrating Our Matriarchs

Press Release

This International Women’s Day we are Celebrating Our Matriarchs and recognizing the incredible women who sit on our Treaty Kihci-Anishinabe Atnedhe kihtehayah Council. We are so grateful for the time they share with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner team.

Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier
Chief Day Walker-Pelletier is a lifelong advocate of language preservation, traditions, and Treaty rights. She was Chief of Okanese First Nation from 1981 to 2020 and sat as part of the Saskatchewan First Nations Women’s Commission.
She is a member of the Order of Canada and in 2021 received a Saskatchewan Order of Merit. In June 2022 Canada Post unveiled a new stamp in her honour.

Gladys Wapass-Greyeyes
Language plays a foundational role in the transmission and preservation of culture and for more than 30 years Gladys has made this her commitment: teaching Cree (Nehiyaw) in First Nations schools including Thunderchild and Muskeg Lake.
As an Elder in Thunderchild and invited to many communities, she is a role model to many, mentoring the next generation to make a positive impact.

Senator Jenny Spyglass
Senator Spyglass made history in 2019 as the first woman appointed to the Battlefords Agency Tribal Council and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Senate.
This comes after work as the chief and long-time councillor of Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation. Her contributions were recognized with the naming of an arena in her honour in December 2024.

Senator Amanda Louison
Senator Louison has a long history of supporting women and advocating for Indigenous communities, sitting as part of the Saskatchewan First Nations Women’s Commission and a director with the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation.
She was a band councillor for 12 years for the Kahkewistahaw First Nation and served as Chief for a term.

Georgina Musqua
Along with being a member of the OTC Treaty Kihci-Anishinabe Atnedhe kihtehayah Council, Georgina speaks about Treaty, Indigenous worldview, and Indigenous ways of knowing as part of the OTC Speakers Bureau. By fluently speaking her Anishinabe language and practicing her culture in everyday life, the Kihci-Anishinabe from Keeseekoose First Nation sets an example for others.

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