Elsie Charles Basque

Elsie Charles Basque
CM
Born(1916-05-12)May 12, 1916
Hectanooga, Nova Scotia
DiedApril 11, 2016(2016-04-11) (aged 99)
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Teacher, activist
Known forOrder of Canada awardee
SpouseIsaac Basque

Elsie Charles Basque (1916-2016) was a Mi’kmaq known as the first member of her tribe to earn a teaching certificate.[1] She became a noted educator and was a recipient of the Order of Canada in 2009.[2]

Biography

Basque was born on May 12, 1916, to Joe Charles and Margaret Labrador in Hectanooga, Digby County.[3] She was three years old when her mother, Margaret, left the family and his father contracted tuberculosis.[4] His father became a tour guide to wealthy Americans when he got better. He taught his daughter how to fish and hunt.[4]

Shubenacadie Residential School

When Basque was 13, her father sent her to study at a residential school.[3] She then attended the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School from 1930 to 1932, years that she later characterized as "wasted".[2] She entered the school to begin grade 8 but was still in the same grade two years later when she left.[4] She finished high school in 1936 at Meteghan's Sacred Heart Academy.[5]

In 1937, she earned her teacher's certificate from the Provincial Normal College, becoming the first Mi'kmaq to do so.[2] After obtaining her teaching license, she attempted to apply for a teaching job at Inverness County. After a meeting, the county school inspector asked her to go home, noting that members of the community would oppose having a Mi’kmaq teaching their children.[5] By 1939, she was employed at the Indian Day School, a newly opened school for Mi’kmaq children in Indian Brook.[5][2]

At Indian Brook, Basque met her husband Isaac, a farmer. They got married and had four children.

When Basque transferred to a school in Cape Breton Island, she became the first Aboriginal person to teach in a non-Native school.[6] In 1951, Basque relocated to Boston, Massachusetts and lived there with her family for almost 30 years. Her husband was employed at Algonquin Gas Transmission Company while she did public relations work.[7] When her children were old enough, Basque returned to teaching and worked for the Boston Indian Council.[4] She lectured on topics that include Indian elderly, Mi'kmaq culture, and the status of American Indian people.[8] She was active in promoting the rights of First Nations and Native American peoples, particularly seniors.[9] A paper that she wrote detailing the problems of the native American elderly was sent to the U.S. Senate as a position paper.[4] She also served on the Elders' Board of Directors for the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Centre.[10]

Basque was selected as a member of the Order of Canada on November 4, 2009, for her pioneering work as an educator and for advocating the works of seniors and aboriginal people.[5] She was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2005 by the Universite Sainte-Anne.[8]

Basque died on April 11, 2016, at her home in Hectanooga.[11]


References

  1. ^ Simpson, Sally (2022-06-20). "Fifteen Indigenous Women's Firsts to Celebrate on National Indigenous Peoples Day". Canadian Women's Foundation. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  2. ^ a b c d Senier, Siobhan (2014). Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8032-4686-7.
  3. ^ a b Ricker, Darlene Anne (1997). L'sitkuk: The Story of the Bear River Mi'kmaw Community. Roseway Pub. pp. 168, 179. ISBN 978-1-896496-05-4.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lawlor, Allison (2016-05-08). "Mi'kmaq teacher Elsie Basque was a revered role model". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  5. ^ a b c d "Elsie Basque: Mi'kmaq Educator". www.danielnpaul.com. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  6. ^ General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "Mrs. Elsie Charles Basque". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  7. ^ Ricker, Darlene Anne (1997). L'sitkuk: The Story of the Bear River Mi'kmaw Community. Roseway Pub. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-896496-05-4.
  8. ^ a b "Elsie Charles-Basque". Tepi’ketuek Mi’kmaw Archives. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  9. ^ "Mrs. Elsie Charles Basque". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  10. ^ "Mrs. Elsie Charles Basque". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  11. ^ "Obituary for Elsie J. Basque (Charles) at Meteghan Funeral & Cremation Services". www.meteghanfuneralhome.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-10.