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Elder Gordon Williams of Brandon University will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award For Community Service at the university’s Homecoming celebration the weekend. The award is given to Brandon University alumni who have made outstanding voluntary contributions to community service.
Williams, (BA ’66, MDiv ’68) has been a leader, mentor and advocate for First Nations people and Canadians.
Now retired, after a career in federal, provincial, and Aboriginal governments, including his appointment as chair of the Indian Residential School Survivor Committee (responsible for providing advice to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission), Williams remains committed to helping others, reads a statement on the university’s website.
Williams served on the Board of Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton and was a board member on various Native friendship centres across Canada, including the Canadian Native Friendship Centre (Edmonton), Aboriginal Friendship Centre (Calgary), and the Odawa Native Friendship Centre (Ottawa).
He provides Elder services for a number of organizations, including many friendship centres, the Assembly of First Nations, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, schools and universities.
Williams also served on the Police Services Board in Ottawa where he organized cultural sensitivity training for both municipal police services and the RCMP and was a member of their respective Race Relations Committees.
As part of his work for Corrections Canada, he volunteered his time to visit correctional facilities across Canada and assisted in determining the cultural needs of inmates. He facilitated the creation of the Native Court Workers Association in Calgary and Edmonton and helped promote the reconciliation of relationships and self-determination of Aboriginal peoples and their families.
He has led various church youth groups and was member of the Elders’ group for Grace Presbyterian church in Orleans, Ont.
Doris Pratt will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Brandon University Senate at the Homecoming Dinner and Awards banquet on Saturday. An Elder from Wikoza Wakpa (Sioux Valley Dakota Nation), she is being celebrated for her contributions to education, particularly in the promotion and teaching of the Dakota language.
Pratt, who is an Educational Elder advisor for Sioux Valley Education, has been involved in school administration for three decades. She has published books in the Dakota language and developed other educational materials which have been used as resources at Dakota schools and included in treaty relations learning packages distributed to schools across Manitoba.
Pratt’s mainstream education includes a Master of Education from Brandon University and an Educational Specialist Degree from the University of Arizona. Her traditional education includes teaching from her family and community knowledge carriers.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes long-term service and volunteer commitment to Brandon University, as well as to the commitments and principles of the university.
Homecoming events will include class reunions, a Brandon University Bobcats/Brandon College Caps football reunion, the unveiling of the renewed Brandon College Portrait Gallery and the Dick and Verda McDonald Sports Wall of Fame Brunch.