Dene Lawyer Content with Role Model Status
Tuesday, September 21, 2004 at 14:03
A former resident of the Clearwater River reserve says she hopes to see more northerners following in her footsteps and becoming lawyers.
25-year-old Dawn Cheechum graduated to the Bar earlier this year and has since joined a Saskatoon law firm.
Cheechum, who was born in Ile-a-la-Crosse and raised in La Loche, says it would benefit the North if more of its residents were able to go to bat for them legally.
She adds all too often northern communities get a bad rap for no other reason than poverty.
Cheechum says it’s also vitally important students in the province learn more about the assimilation policies the government used on Indian bands.
She intends to focus on Aboriginal law through her career.