b'LITTLE SPIRIT MOONThroughout the 1980s, she continued toLEAVING A LEGACY Today, Buffalo serves as Elder advisor serve her people through leadership rolesBuffalos decades of advocacy have earnedwith the Confederacy of Treaty Six with the Nistawoyou Association Friendshipher numerous honours, including theFirst Nations and continues to mentor Centre, Samson Cree Nation and theQueen Elizabeth II Platinum JubileeIndigenous youth and advocate for Alberta Liberal Party, where she becameMedal (2023), Chief Dorothy McDonaldhealth, wellness and self-determination. founding chair of the Aboriginal PeoplesLeadership Award (2013), Golden EagleIm still pretty active, she laughs. I Commission. Her advocacy helped shapeAward from NWAC (2004) and Canadaschallenge any 25-year-old to try and the Indigenous policy chapter of the LiberalRole Model of the Year from Chatelainekeep up with me.partys 1993 Red Book, a key policy frame- magazine (2000). Yet her proudest achieve-work under the then-newly elected Primement remains her lifelong mission: SinceAs for her message to the next genera-Minister Jean Chrtien. residential school, I have always beention: Dont be afraid to go out there In the early 1990s, she moved to Ottawadriven by the restoration and revitalizationand create something that doesnt exist. to serve as the national director of theof everything we lost through colonialYou always have to strive for a better genocideour languages, our culture, ourtomorrowGod gave you a voice, so Aboriginal Peoples Commission and as aceremonies, our rights. use it. senior policy advisor to both Prime Minister Jean Chrtien and National Chief Ovide Mercredi. Her work focused on Treaty rights, Indigenous economic development and issues such as residential schools and the Delgamuukw Supreme Court case in 1997.By the late 1990s, Buffalos reputation as aNishnawbe Aski Police national and international leader was wellService is now hiring!established. She served as a delegate at the State of the World Forum chaired byPlease visit joinnaps.ca for Mikhail Gorbachev, chaired the Indigenousmore information on:Women of the Americas and led the QualificationsGlobal Indigenous Women Forum at the Salary & BenefitsUnited Nations.Candidate Preparation ListIn June 1997, Buffalo was elected President of the Native Womens Association of Canada (NWAC). It was a role she initially hesitated to accept. I never saw myself as being a national woman leader, she says. But after talking to my dad, my grand- Contact Sgt. Cory Oleschuk, Uniform Recruitment for more information:mother and my aunt, I accepted. Contact Sgt. Cory Oleschuk, Uniform Recruitment for more information:1-800-654-6277 ext. 6593Cory.Oleschuk.naps.caUnder her leadership, NWAC emerged1-800-654-6277 ext. 6593Cory.Oleschuk.naps.cafrom a financial deficit and secured a groundbreaking five-year, $15-million national partnership with Human Resources Development Canada to support Indigenous womens employment and training. Native women were being pushed out again, she recalls. So, I put on my boxing gloves and punched my way back.After NWAC, Buffalo continued to serveBuilding Homes, Empowering Urban as a senior policy advisor and lobbyist for Samson Cree Nation, representing theIndigenous CommunitiesNation on Parliament Hill and playing aServing the housing needs of Indigenous women, girls, pivotal role in securing a $360-million settle- 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, their families, and their communities.ment in Buffalo v. The Queen. Returning home in 2007, she shifted her focus towardsConnect with us! education, childrens rights and social policy, consulting for organizations such as1-866-391-1061 @OAHSSCthe Kasohkowew Child Wellness Society,OntarioAboriginalHealth Canada and the University of AlbertaHousing.ca @OntarioAboriginalHousingon reconciliation and cultural protocols. She also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Nechi Institute in Edmonton for six years, where she trained addiction counsel-lors and therapists.Ontario Native Womens Association43'