The support of her peers and professors has helped a University of Victoria law student garner Canada’s premier social sciences and humanities doctoral award—the Trudeau Scholarship.

Dawnis Kennedy is one of 15 Canadian students to be named a 2006 Trudeau Scholar. Created in 2003, the program awards the largest scholarships in Canada for doctoral studies in the social sciences and humanities. Scholarships are worth up to $150,000 over three or four years and allow winners to address major societal issues by interacting with prominent thinkers and leaders.

“I feel tremendously supported at UVic,” says Kennedy, an Anishinabe woman who is currently completing a master of laws degree at UVic. “It’s really important that indigenous students find their own approach to material. My supervisors have been amazing. I’ve been able to develop my own voice and I think this may be one of the reasons I have received this scholarship.”

Kennedy was chosen for the award based on her good grades, letters of sponsorship from her professors, and her contributions to the community. She often travels home to the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation in Manitoba so that she can participate in Anishinabe culture and ceremonies.

Kennedy has also been involved in aboriginal legal services in Toronto and with the indigenous law students’ associations at UVic and University of Toronto. Once she finishes her studies at UVic this fall, Kennedy will begin the PhD program in juridical science at the University of Toronto.

“I wanted to go into law because my interest and my family’s interest were very much about revitalizing our community and culture,” says Kennedy. “Canadian law has had a huge impact upon our communities. I wanted to think about ways that Canadian law could relate more respectfully to indigenous peoples and support the revitalization movement that is happening in indigenous communities.”

“Dawnis’s success reflects the outstanding quality of students and programs at UVic, and celebrates the university’s commitment to strengthening its unique relationships with First Nations communities,” says Dr. Katy Mateer, acting vice-president academic.

UVic alumna Lisa Helps (history) has also won a Trudeau Scholarship. Helps is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Toronto. For more information on the scholarships and winners, go to www.trudeaufoundation.ca.

by Maria Lironi

source: http://ring.uvic.ca