Bridget Moran

Bridget Moran (September 1, 1923 – August 21, 1999), née Drugan, was a Canadian social activist and author in British Columbia. Born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, shortly after her birth her family emigrated to Success, Saskatchewan, where she grew up.

Biography After attending Normal School, she taught school in rural Saskatchewan until 1944 when she enlisted in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service. Discharged from the Navy in 1946, she received a B.A. in Philosophy and English with Honours, graduating as a gold medalist from the University of Toronto. She began work on a master's degree in History, but was unable to continue because the Department of Veterans' Affairs refused to provide financial support on the grounds that they found no women teaching in history departments in Canada.

As a result, she immigrated to British Columbia and began a career as a social worker in Prince George in November 1951, going on to work in both Salmon Arm and Vernon. In 1954, she took the position of District Supervisor of Welfare Services, based in Prince George. She was responsible for a significant portion of BC's Central Interior and worked in Prince George for 10 years.

In 1964 the provincial government suspended her, along with four other social workers, for their public criticisms of child welfare services, including an open letter to Premier W.A.C. Bennett (Social Credit party) She ultimately won reinstatement but was not able to find further work in the provincial Ministry of Social Services. Thereafter, she worked as a social worker for the Prince George Regional Hospital, the University of Victoria Social Work Department, and, from 1977 until 1989, the Prince George school district.

Around the time of her retirement from the Prince George School District, she began to write. She became interested in the inquest into the death of Coreen Thomas, a Carrier Indian woman. At the inquest she met Mary John, Sr. In 1988, Mary John's daughter Helen Jones, asked her to write her mother's biography. Mary John told her the story of her life on the Stoney Creek reserve, resulting in the award-winning book Sai'k'uz Ts'eke: Stoney Creek Woman. This was the beginning of her writing career. In addition to Sai'k'uz Ts'eke: Stoney Creek Woman, she wrote Judgment at Stoney Creek: Sai'k'uz Ne ba na huz'ya,, about the death of Coreen Thomas. This second book also offered an analysis of Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations in rural BC (1970s). Her memory lives on in many aspects of Prince George life, including an award named after her, and a tradition of dressing her statue up seasonally. For example, the Prince George Celtic Club has been known to dress her up for St. Patrick's Day and street people frequently wrap her in warm scarves and toques on cold winter days.

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