This week, twelve individuals from across the country were honoured at Indspire’s 30th anniversary celebration.
The twelve recipients came from a very diverse list of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities from across the country to be celebrated for their outstanding achievements.
The Indspire Awards represent the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people, recognizing Indigenous professionals and youth who demonstrate outstanding career achievement on a national level in a variety of fields, including the arts, business, and commerce; culture, heritage, and spirituality; education; health; law and justice; public service; sports; and lifetime achievement.
Lori Campbell, Associate Vice President of Indigenous Engagement at the University of Regina and recipient of the award, said that it felt surreal to be recognized in the same group as her idols and mentors.
“It feels a little bit surreal because I have seen and looked at the list of past recipients of people who have been and continue to be my mentors, idols, and you know, people who have been trailblazers, and the surreal part is just seeing my name on that list of people. Out of everything that I have been recognized for, this is by far the one that I feel most honoured about because it’s from the Indigenous community at the highest level; it’s very humbling,” said Campbell.
“I was the only recipient from Saskatchewan this year, but there’s been lots from Saskatchewan; we’ve had a lot of leaders come from Saskatchewan and a lot of Indigenous leaders, so that’s been very cool as well.”
The ceremony was held at the Edmonton Convention Centre on May 11. A special broadcast of the ceremony will be aired on Sunday, June 18th, at 8 p.m. on APTN, APTN lumi, CBC TV, and CBC Gem, and heard on CBC Radio One and CBC Listen at 8 p.m.