Brock University’s first female Chancellor

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Shirley Cheechoo has used her pain caused by years of attending Aboriginal residential schools into an award-winning art career. As Brock University’s first female Chancellor, she hopes to pass on her life experiences with fellow Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students.

Upon graduation, Brock students will receive their degrees from Shirley Cheechoo, the school’s first female chancellor. But the award-winning artist is far more excited about handing out life lessons. “I’ve always spent my time educating youth.”

Cheechoo’s passion for working with young people might be a result of her lack of childhood. It was ripped away after spending ten years in residential school, where thousands of native children died. “I don’t think we ever survive it. I mean I was abused, sexually abused and it’s tough for me to talk about that right now.” Cheechoo channeled her pain towards her writing, paintings and films. “I needed other people to hear about this genocide that happened to these children.”

She hopes her resilience can be passed on to others. “You can be strong still and still survive.”

Out of the roughly 18-thousand students at Brock University, about 15-hundred identify themselves as having Aboriginal heritage. Shirley Cheechoo is hoping to increase that number by letting Aboriginal youth know about the opportunities education holds.

“There’s places where you can study medicine, you can become a lawyer. That is what I want to take home as well.” But she understands that venturing from the reserve to the outside world is a daunting task and will take time. “They don’t know where the hospitals are, they don’t know where to eat, where to get groceries. They don’t know any of that. You need to transition those people before they succeed in the cities.”

It’s work that she is more than willing to do.