Viola Robinson receives Order of Nova Scotia
Acadia Band member Viola Robinson receives the 2009 Order of Nova Scotia. Photo by RadioGoogoo.ca
Aboriginal rights advocate Viola Robinson recalled the hardship and struggles Mi’kmaq people endured over the years as she listened to her biography being read during the 2009 Order of Nova Scotia ceremony on Wednesday.
“Back then, it was really tough for the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia,” Robinson told RadioGoogoo.ca following the ceremony. “It was a big struggle for us to get recognition and to have a good political voice,” she said.
“Over the years (to) where we are today, we’ve certainly come a long way,” Robinson said.
Robinson, a member of the Acadia First Nation near Yarmouth, N.S. was among five Nova Scotians to be honoured with the Order of Nova Scotia. The other recipients included Nova Scotia Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Baker (Posthumous); food bank founder Melvin Boutilier; peace advocate Muriel Duckworth (Deceased) and; holocaust survivor Philip Riteman.
Robinson, who is in her mid-70s, became the fifth Mi’kmaq person to receive the award since it was first established in 2002. Previous recipients include Daniel Paul, Sister Dorothy Moore, Don Julien and Nora Bernard.
The Mi’kmaq woman’s four daughters and son were present during the hour-long ceremony.
One of Robinson’s daughter, Acadia Band Chief Deborah Robinson, said she felt a sense of pride as she watched her mother receive the award.
“One of the things that came to my mind as she came into the room and when she received her award was her humility,” Chief Robinson said.
“For a woman that is so accomplished and has earned so much in her lifetime and has contributed so much of herself … at the sacrifice of her family, at times, was this humble, wise woman is finally being recognized in this capacity, I think is something that brings great pride to all of the children,” she said.
Robinson was chosen for the prestigious award as a result of her advocacy work on behalf of Mi’kmaq people in the province that dates back to the 1970s. She served as the president for both the Native Council of Nova Scotia and the Native Council of Canada. She was also one of seven commissions with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
She earned a law degree from Dalhousie University in 1998, several years after receiving an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the same university. She also helped to establish a rural aboriginal housing program, an aboriginal court workers program and the Mi’kmaq Legal Support Network.
Robinson currently serves as one of two senior advisors to the Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative, a forum established to negotiate treaty rights between the Mi’kmaq and provincial and federal governments. She is also a land claims negotiator for the Acadia Band and a board member for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
Sister Dorothy Moore, 75, who received the award in 2003, said she was very happy for Robinson and her family as she sat through the ceremony on Wednesday.
“What was going through my mind? It’s more like what was going through my heart was a sense of great pride for this woman who is so shy and you hardly ever hear her anywhere,” Moore said.
Moore, who has served as the chairperson to the Order of Nova Scotia Advisory Council since 2007, said the council received more than 70 applications for the award this year.
“And to have to come up with only five people, it’s a task almost beyond realizing to anyone who’s not part of it, just how difficult that task is,” Moore said.
Robinson, who is still shocked that she was among the five finalists for the award, said she’ll never forget the sense of joy she felt as Lieutenant-Governor for Nova Scotia Mayann Francis fastened the medal over her neck.
“I was just a moment of glory. It’s just unbelievable for me,” she said.
