Quick Facts
Biography
Ellen R. White (born circa 1922) of the Snuneymuxw First Nation is a Canadian aboriginal elder from Vancouver Island, author and academic who has been recognized with a national Order of Canada and provincial Order of British Columbia.
Training as a midwife made White's assistance for a birth at just 9 years old. She then began delivering children at age 16.
After growing up on an island, she moved to Nanaimo, British Columbia after marrying Doug White. She then raised her children in the Nanaimo First Nation.
After 30 years as a lecturer and storyteller at University of British Columbia, White helped found the First Nations Studies program at Vancouver Island University (then Malaspina College) in 1994 and spent years as an Elder-in-Residence.
She is the grandmother of Snuneymuxw Chief Douglas White III.
Recognitions
- 2006 - Honorary Doctorate by Vancouver Island University, which also rededicated a garden at the Nanaimo campus in her honour
- 2007 - B.C. Community Achievement Award
- 2011 - Order of British Columbia (BC)
- 2016 - Order of Canada
Publications
- Kwulasulwut: Stories From the Coast Salish (Theytus, 1981, 1992). Illustrated by David Neel.
- Kwulasulwut II (Theytus 1997). Illustrated by Bill Cohen.
- Legends and Teachings of Xeel's, the Creator (Pacific Educational Press 2010)