Never give up, Cheechoo tells Niagara women

As a girl, Shirley Cheechoo knew she wanted to heal people.

She had watched as her mother, who Cheechoo says was a surgeon, remove a tumour from her father’s neck.

The lump on his neck was the size of a large man’s fist, she said, and since they were living in a remote northern First Nations community, the nearest medical help had to be flown in.

During her keynote address Saturday at the Niagara Leadership Summit for Women at Brock University, Cheechoo said her father was in so much pain they couldn’t wait for the plane.

So her mother removed the tumour herself and stitched her father up before the medics arrived.

From that point on, Cheechoo said, she wanted to be a doctor. And she might have been, were it not for a patronizing government bureaucrat who didn’t think much of her educational ambitions.

“I wanted to be a surgeon,” she said. “But the man from Indian Affairs said I couldn’t be. He told me I should become a secretary.”

Cheechoo, the first aboriginal woman to become chancellor of Brock University, said the incident was one of several obstacles and setbacks she has encountered in her life.

While she never become a doctor, Cheechoo did manage to chart her own path to achievement.

She encouraged her audience to do the same and not allow anyone to tell them women cannot make a difference.

An internationally recognized director and playwright, Cheechoo is the founder of the Weengushk Film Institute for aboriginal youth.

Her speech kicked off the day-long summit, hosted by the YWCA Niagara Region, that focused on encouraging female leaders in Niagara and openly discussing women’s issues.

For more information on the summit go online to www.niagaralsw.ca.

I wanted to be a surgeon. Indian Affairs said I couldn’t be. He told me I should become a secretary.” Shirley Cheechoo