Cree elder among 12 named to Order of Manitoba

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This article was published 13/05/2021 (1788 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Elder Ruth Christie thought she was being pranked by a friend when Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon called her from an unlisted number in April, and asked her to join the prestigious Order of Manitoba.

“I was this little girl in an isolated community and here I am being honoured by my province,” said the Cree storyteller and teacher, on Wednesday.

“It’s almost like I was numb, I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t until later on it hit me.”

Christie is among 12 Manitobans who will be named this summer to the Order of Manitoba, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the province’s social, cultural or economic well-being.

This year’s honourees represent a vast array of pursuits, including former premier Greg Selinger, singer/songwriter Steve Bell, arts advocate Claudette Leclerc, and women’s rights advocate Doris Mae Oulton.

After receiving the call in April, Christie said she remembered a high school teacher had written in her report card that she “shows great possibilities.”

The words inspired her.

Her passion for storytelling began as a child, when her grandmother recognized her gift of memory and began passing down oral stories. Decades later, Christie said she is proud to share the truths of her people, and even more so to be recognized for her contributions.

“It was just a drive in me that I wanted people to know my people and our contributions. I’m living proof of that, that we are respected and our truth is being heard,” said Christie.

“It’s a dream come true but I guess it was always in the back of my mind that I wouldn’t disappoint that teacher.”

Fellow inductee Kyle Irving, co-owner of the Eagle Vision film and television production company, is not the first in his family to receive the province’s highest honour; his father, Bob Irving, who is the voice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was invested in 2014.

Irving credits his father with teaching him the values that make a great Manitoban.

“It’s about belief in this community. It’s about support in this community. It’s about knowing how great this place is, what it’s capable of, what we’re all capable of here when we work together,” he said.

Irving said he received the call from Filmon while on the set of a film in Stony Mountain Quarry.

“I was surprised and a little bit overwhelmed in the moment, but you try to compose yourself,” he said.

Irving acknowledged the support and contributions of his business partner, Lisa Meeches, who received the Order of Manitoba in 2017, and his wife and colleague, Rebecca Gibson, in elevating underrepresented Indigenous voices through film.

This year’s recipients also include former Winnipeg International Airport CEO Lynn Bishop, aquatic ecologist Gordon Goldsborough, Winnipeg Folk Festival founder Ava Kobrinsky and entrepreneur Arni Thorsteinson, who helped initiate the Canadian Museum for Human Rights capital campaign and served as the museum’s first chairman. Also named is Michael Eskin, who is credited with helping to shape Canada’s canola oil industry; and Gregg Hanson, the former CEO of Wawanesa Mutual.

The official investiture ceremony is scheduled to be held at the Manitoba legislature on July 15, barring COVID-19 complications.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers