Diane Redsky wins Governor General's Award for work with Indigenous women

An Indigenous community leader from Winnipeg will be honoured next week for the work she has done to help strengthen Indigenous families and women's rights.

Diane Redsky, the executive director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, is being honoured with the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, which acknowledges women who have worked for gender equality in Canada.

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Redsky and five other women from across the country will receive the awards on Tuesday in Winnipeg to mark the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote.

Women in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were the first in Canada to solidify their voting rights in 1916. However, many women including Indigenous women were not able to vote until decades later.

"I'm proud that we will be honouring some amazing Canadians," Gov. Gen. David Johnston said in a video posted online as part of the announcement. "What better place to do so than the place where it all started, Winnipeg."

The Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case marks the 1929 fight of five Alberta women to be legally recognized as people and grantedeligibility for Senate appointments. Nellie McClung, who helped Manitoba women win the vote, was one of the group known as the Famous Five.