Strong women

College of Arts & Science faculty members Bonita Beatty and Tasha Hubbard were honoured at the second annual Strength of our Women Awards last week.

The awards, organized by the women’s commission of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations to recognize outstanding achievements by Indigenous women in Saskatchewan, were celebrated at an event in Saskatoon on Sept. 7. Winners were announced in 11 categories from among 41 nominees.

Bonita Beatty (Department of Indigenous Studies) was recognized in the health and wellness category. Beatty’s academic and non-academic work focuses on First Nation health management and administration, policy-making, strategic planning, community development and training. Her past roles have included senior policy analyst for the provincial government in the Saskatchewan Indian and Métis Affairs Secretariat, director of community development and executive director of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Health Services Inc., and executive director of the Health and Social Development Secretariat for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

Tasha Hubbard (Department of English) received the award in the arts and entertainment category. Hubbard is an award-winning documentary filmmaker focused on Indigenous creative representation of the buffalo and on recovering historic Indigenous stories. Her film Two Worlds Colliding won a Canada Award at the Geminis and a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival. Her most recent work is the animated short “Buffalo Calling.”

Priscilla Settee (Department of Indigenous Studies) was also nominated for a Strength of our Women Award in the education category.

See the complete list of award winners at the MBC Radio website.

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