Canada honors three Indigenous women with postage stamps

By Mary Annette Pember | ICT

Three Indigenous women — a water protector, an artist and a singer who have worked to protect the environment — are featured on new Canadian postage stamps as part of the country’s celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day.

For the third consecutive year, Canada Post, as the postal system is known, celebrated the June 21 holiday by issuing three stamps honoring Indigenous leaders: Josephine Mandamin, Anishinabe; Christi Belcourt, Métis; and Elisapie, Inuk.

The series, launched in 2022, recognizes leaders who have dedicated their lives to preserving their culture and improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples in Canada, according to a statement released by Canada Post.

This year, for the first time, all those honored are women.

“I really like that three Indigenous women are featured,” Belcourt told ICT. “It shows that there is significant power to the leadership of Indigenous women.”

The stamps are available at Canadapost.ca and at postal outlets across Canada. The stamps are $1.99 in Canadian dollars, or $1.45 in U.S. dollars.

Mandamin

Anishinabe

Mandamin, born on the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, helped found the Mother Earth Water Walk movement to draw attention to the issues of water pollution and environmental degradation in the Great Lakes region.

“Josephine had a spiritual connection with the water,” said Essie Leoso, Bad River Ojibwe, who volunteered as a support person for Mandamin on that first walk. “She wanted to bring awareness to all people about the importance of protecting our water.”

Mandamin was inspired by Ojibwe ceremonial leader Eddie Benton-Benai, one of the founders of the American Indian Movement who prophesized that one day water would be more expensive than gold, Leoso said.

“He asked her what she was going to do about it, so she started the walks,” Leoso said. “She was a very humble woman. She had maybe $5 in her pocket when she started the walks, but she understood the importance of protecting our water.”

Mandamin died in 2019 at age 77, but her legacy as “Grandmother Water Walker” continues through the work of the many Native women she mentored.

According to Leoso, Anishinabe women are traditionally seen as caregivers of the water. “Water is released when we, as life givers, give birth,” Leoso said.

Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict praised the postal service for honoring Mandamin.

“Grandmother Josephine inspired generations through her tireless efforts to draw attention to both the importance of protecting our waters and by highlighting the pervasive threats posed to them,” Benedict said in a statement. “It’s encouraging to see a federal institution like Canada Post honour her in this manner.”

Mandamin’s stamp was officially unveiled by the Canada Post on June 18 in Thunder Bay.

Christi Belcourt

Métis

Christi Belcourt is a celebrated visual artist and environmental activist known for her paintings that emulate Métis floral beadwork.

Belcourt was born and lives in Ontario, where she co-founded the Onaman Collective with fellow artist Isaac Murdoch of the Ojibway Serpent River First Nation. The collective works to “converge land-based art creation with traditional knowledge,” according to the organization’s website.

Being featured on a postage stamp came as a surprise to Belcourt. Her normal reaction was to demur such an honor.

“There are lots of elders who have done a lifetime of work that should be featured on a stamp,” said Belcourt, 57.

But after learning that it was leadership of the Métis National Council who put her name forward she felt she had to accept. Among her more well-known works is Walking with Our Sisters, a memorial installation of more than 2,000 pairs of beaded moccasin tops honoring lives of missing or murdered Indigenous women, Two-Spirit people and children.

The selections also reflect the notion that leadership can take place within ceremony as well as art, an area some might not normally think of as venues for activism, according to Belcourt.

The message of caring for the environment, water and earth are resonating with people, she said.

“Josephine believed in every fiber of her being that water is life; she influenced a whole generation of water walkers to carry on that work,” Belcourt said. “I am an environmentalist and artist. I want people to love this earth as they love themselves and fight for the future of all generations of species on earth.”

Belcourt’s stamp was unveiled on June 25 in Ottawa.

Elisapie

Inuk

Award-winning singer-songwriter Elisapie who writes and sings in Inuktitut, English and French was also honored with her image on a stamp. Born in Nunavik, Elisapie is also an actor, director, producer and activist.

She wrote and directed the documentary short, “Sila Piqugippat (If the Weather Permits),” and was nominated for multiple Juno Awards this year — the Canadian version of the Grammy Awards.

Elisapie, 46, collaborated with instrumentalist Alain Auger in the musical project “Taima,” which is Inuktitut for “that’s all,” and the band’s album, “Taima,” won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2005. She released her first solo album, “There Will Be Stars,” in 2010, singing in English, French and Inuktitut.

In 2021, she created and produced Le grand solstice for Radio Canada , a musical and cultural celebration to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day.

Her latest album, “Inuktitut,” released in 2023, includes 10 covers of classic pop and rock songs sung in Inuktitut. She won the 2024 Juno Award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year and was nominated for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.

Her stamp was unveiled in Montreal on June 13.

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