Elizabeth Rose Charlie (May 9, 1930 – March 4, 2018) was a

Sts'Ailes The Sts'ailes (), also known as Chehalis ( ) are an indigenous people from the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Their band government is the Sts'ailes Nation, formerly known as the Chehalis First Nation or Chehalis Indian Band. ...

chief and Indigenous leader.

Early life

Elizabeth Rose Charlie was born on the Chehalis reserve but moved with her family to

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 24,825 at the 2020 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. The island is se ...

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

when she was 11 years old. In 1949, she married a man from Chehalis and moved back to the reserve.

Career

Charlie became a member of the first Indian Homemakers Club in BC started in 1950 in Chehalis, and she later served as president of the

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

chapter. Although these clubs began, officially, as a home-cooking and sewing clubs, some grew increasingly political and vocal. After the small amount of government funding was cut off, Charlie helped merge the many existing Homemakers Clubs into a large

Indian Homemakers' Association Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

(IHA) of British Columbia in May 1969. She became the organization's first president, and continued in that role for 28 years. The IHA also established the monthly newsletter, "Indigenous Voice," which became one of the few prominent media sources of Indigenous peoples in British Columbia. The strength of the IHA allowed Charlie to contribute to the foundation of both the National Indian Brotherhood (now the

Assembly of First Nations The Assembly of First Nations (, AFN) is an assembly of Canadian First Nations ( Indian bands) represented by their chiefs. Established in 1982 and modelled on the United Nations General Assembly, it emerged from the National Indian Brotherhood ...

) and the B.C. Association of Non-Status Indians in 1968. In opposition to the

1969 White Paper The 1969 White Paper (officially entitled Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy) was a policy paper proposal set forth by the Government of Canada related to First Nations. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his Minister of Ind ...

, Charlie and the IHA organized two "moccasin walks", culminating in a large gathering of chiefs, which helped lead to the foundation of the

Union of BC Indian Chiefs The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is a First Nations political organization founded in 1969 in response to Jean Chrétien's White Paper proposal to assimilate Status Indians and disband the Department of Indian Affairs. Sinc ...

in November 1969. Charlie became a member of the Union's executive council and was later named a Grand Chief. Charlie later helped establish the National Association of Indian Rights for Indian Women in 1977 and the Native Women's Association of Canada. Charlie worked for decades to remove section 12(1)(b) of the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

, which stripped women of their

Indian Status The Indian Register is the official record of people registered under the ''Indian Act'' in Canada, called status Indians or ''registered Indians''. People registered under the ''Indian Act'' have rights and benefits that are not granted to othe ...

if they married non-status men. Her work, with other women activists like Mary Two-Axe Early, led to Bill C-31, which amended the Indian act in June 1985.

Death

Charlie died on March 4, 2018, at the age of 87.

Recognition

In 1989, Charlie was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. In 1994, she was the recipient of the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in Commemoration of the

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)'', also known as the ''Persons Case'' (), is a Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward by the Government of Canada on the ...

. In 2003, she was named to the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administe ...

. In 2013, she was awarded a

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

References

External links