Struggle continues for Jacobs despite personal accomplishments

In 1929, with a decision in the landmark "Persons Case," women became legally recognized as "persons" under Canadian law.
Nearly 80 years later, Beverley Jacobs is still fighting to ensure that Aboriginal women receive that same level of respect.
On Nov. 7, Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), received one of the country's highest honours, the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. The award is presented annually to five people who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of Canadian women.
The award commemorates the "Famous Five," a group of women who led the fight for recognition in the Persons Case.
According to the Governor General's Web site, in 1927, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards asked the Supreme Court of Canada if the word "person" in Section 24 of the B.N.A. Act included female persons? After five weeks of debate the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the word "person" did not include women.
Shocked by the decision the women continued their fight taking the Persons Case to the Privy Council in England which at that time was Canada's highest court.
The decision of the five Lords of the Privy Council stated "that the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word "person" should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?"
Only a handful of Aboriginal women, including Bertha Allen, Mary Two-Axe Early and Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, have been among the award's recipients since it was established in 1979. Jacobs was both surprised and humbled to have been chosen.
"I'm someone who just does what needs to be done, so to be recognized for that is overwhelming," she said. "It was an honour."
Jacobs has served as NWAC's president since October 2004, and, as such, is the country's most visible spokesperson for Aboriginal women's rights. She holds a master's degree in law and has been accepted to the bar, and, in a past role with Amnesty International, authored the groundbreaking report "Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada."
She is also the grieving aunt of Tashina General, a young Mohawk woman who went missing in January and was found murdered a few months later. On hearing the news, Jacobs said she was so angry she was ready to quit her advocacy work. She admits that while they have begun to heal, the experience changed both her and her community at Ohsweken.
"It's a lot of trauma that occurred," Jacobs said. "She was only 21, and pregnant... and the majority (of on-reserve band members) are her age, so it has caused a lot of internal struggle here in our community on how to deal with it."
For Jacobs, there is pain in knowing that she wasn't able to be there for her own family during their grief, because she was busy helping other families going through similar trauma. But there is knowledge that her loss has deepened her ability to be an advocate for those families.
"I've learned first-hand what it feels like (to have a loved one murdered). I think that helps in pushing for more that needs to be done."
Jacobs' passion for her work stems both from the growing trend of violence toward Aboriginal women in Canada, and from first-hand experience dating back to long before her niece's death.
As a Mohawk from the Six Nations "I come from a very strong matriarchal society... and I've seen even in my own community the impacts of colonization on our women," she said.
She is "one of those women," as she puts it: abused as a child, later molested, suffering through several violent relationships because she didn't know she had a right to be treated any differently.
"Once I got past the ugliness, [I] realized there were a lot of things that happened that were beyond my control," she said.
Jacobs' legal studies taught her how even the law had been used as a "tool of assimilation," but that those tools could be reclaimed. She has also developed a deeper awareness of First Nations history, languages and traditions, and she sees educating people­both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal­about the truth of the First Nations' experience as key to healing the wounds of colonization.
"A big part of what I do is trying to revitalize that and re-empower that (cultural heritage), and (teaching) that women were a big part of. They were highly respected in our tradition, our culture," Jacobs said.
One of the most powerful experiences of her career was responding, as a representative for Aboriginal women, in the House of Commons to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic apology for the residential school system.
"It wasn't until afterwards that I realized the impact that had, not only on myself, but on all of our people."
She says there is still much to do, especially in the area of preventing the disappearances and deaths of so many Aboriginal women.
"It seems to be worse than it's ever been, and so I'm really frustrated about that," Jacobs said. "That has been the fight for me for the last four years.... I want to see more political will, to (see government) actually want to assist in making that change."
There is also a continued need for education at all levels, as Jacobs re-discovered during her time at Rideau Hall, where she found herself educating even some of her fellow award recipients that gender equality was inherent in her Mohawk culture.
"It was the impact of colonization that caused inequality, and that we (as Aboriginal people) were not included in the Persons Case."
"It's not mandatory for anyone (in Canada) to learn about the real history of our people... You learn about the colonizers. You don't learn about the people they colonized," she said. "I think that's part of the struggle of bringing awareness of all of this. It's not required."
"What I try to do is say, 'This is the truth. This is the reality of our history and the situation we're in today,' and that it's important that everybody knows," she said. "Start from kindergarten, and then maybe we won't be living in a racist society."
The other 2008 award recipients are Shelagh Day of Vancouver, an international authority on women's human rights and the founding President of LEAF (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund); Frances Ennis of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, who is a social activist, educator, author and rug-hooking artist who has devoted her life to advancing equality for women; Maureen A. McTeer of Ottawa, a lawyer, author and expert on issues of women's rights and health and those of law, science and public policy; and Mair Verthuy of Montreal, a researcher, activist and distinguished academic who co-founded Concordia University's Simone de Beauvoir Institute, home of Canada's first women's studies program.
A youth award recipient was also named. Ben Barry of Ottawa is an international modeling consultant, women's health advocate and author of the Canadian bestseller Fashioning Reality.