Remembering ‘trailblazing’ Yukon First Nations political icon, Margaret Commodore

Remembering ‘trailblazing’ Yukon First Nations political icon, Margaret Commodore

Renowned politician, feminist, remembered as tireless advocate for Indigenous civil rights

People in the Yukon and beyond are celebrating the life and career of renowned politician Margaret Commodore.

In a boundary-breaking career that saw Commodore become the first First Nations woman ever to be named to a cabinet in Canada, Commodore was known as a tireless advocate for women’s rights and non-status Indigenous people.

Originally from Chilliwack and a member of the Stó:lō Nation, Commodore was taken to a Port Alberni residential school as a child.

She moved to the Yukon in 1954 and worked for the Canadian Army, and later worked as a nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital before returning to the North as a single mother and finding work at the Whitehorse General Hospital. Yukon Commissioner Adeline Webber first met Commodore in the 1960s, and remembers her as “fun-loving, outspoken, and a really good friend — a lifetime friend.”

In 1972, Commodore was a founding member of the Yukon Association of Non-Status Indians, which gave voice to Indigenous people who had lost their status under Canada’s Indian Act, as well as the Yukon Indian Women’s Association.

“I had the greatest respect for her,” said Bill Webber. “She seen so many injustices happening, and the things that our people were facing in the Yukon and in Canada.

"The health system didn’t work. The education system didn’t work. So many things were going wrong that you could pick up just about anything and say, we could make this better.”

Bill Webber remembers her playing a critical role — both locally and nationally — in grassroots Indigenous organizing that helped establish important rights and freedoms and laid the foundation for the Umbrella Final Agreement.

She later became a Justice of the Peace and was closely involved with the Indigenous Court Worker Program.

“She used to go up to corrections to try and advise them on how to treat First Nations people properly,” he said. “Whether they were non-status or status, it was all about native people, the discrimination that was taking place.”

After being elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in 1982, Commodore served four successive terms and became the first woman Minister of Justice — not only in Canada, but throughout the Commonwealth.

“It helped people to realize what was possible,” said Adeline Webber. “She was a trailblazer for women. It made us very, very proud.”

She served under former NDP Premier Tony Penikett, who remembers Commodore as “smart, enormously sensible, tough” — qualities that went back to her time as a star pitcher for the women’s softball league.

Webber believes it was Commodore’s experiences at residential school drove her to become a fierce advocate and defender of the vulnerable.

“She talked about that a lot,” she said. “She was someone who just overcame whatever was in her way.”

In 2013, Commodore testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about the abuse she suffered as a child. She said for many years, she was in denial about the impacts of growing up without her parents and the other things she experienced at the school.

“I was a very ambitious person. I moved along and did things I was supposed to do,” the Vancouver Sun reported her saying — until she attended an exhibition by Indigenous artist Jim Logan that depicted scenes from residential school.

“The tears fell and they fell for a very long time. It was then that I realized what happened to me was not normal."

Many have publicly spoken about Commodore’s loss, including Yukon MP Brendan Hanley, Premier Currie Dixon and Yukon NDP leader Kate White.

"There hasn’t been an election that I’ve participated in where Margaret wasn’t involved," White said. "She’d fly in and nurture new candidates, she’d knock on doors and make phone calls. She’d give pep talks and bring a room to its feet."

Most recently, Commodore delighted NDP supporters with a surprise appearance to the party's post-election celebrations in November.

In a statement, Premier Dixon said her contributions to the Yukon would not be forgotten, including helping build and support organizations that continue to serve Yukoners today, like Kaushee’s Place, an emergency shelter, and the Yukon Native Hockey Association.

Trace Joe remembers her mother as humble and grateful for the opportunities she was given, despite how hard she worked.

“She never went on about any of her accomplishments. It was just her. It was what she did. Try to make the word a better place. And she did.” Commodore was 93. Her service will be held on June 8.

Caitrin Pilkington is a reporter with CBC North in Whitehorse. She previously worked for Cabin Radio in Yellowknife. She can be reached at caitrin.pilkington@cbc.ca.