Marie Smallface Marule

Marie Smallface Marule (Isstoikamo¹saakii, 1944 – December 31, 2014) was a Canadian academic administrator, activist, and educator. She served as executive director of the National Indian Brotherhood (NIB), chief administrator of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), and secretary of the Indian Association of Alberta. Marule was president of Red Crow Community College for two decades, and led the creation of several indigenous studies programs. She was previously an assistant professor of Native American studies at the University of Lethbridge.

Early life and education Marie Smallface was born in 1944 to Emil and Olive Smallface. She had numerous siblings and was raised on the Blood Indian Reservation. Her maternal grandmother, Rosie (née Smith) Davis (Blackfeet, 1873–1983), was born at Fort Benton, Montana, and migrated to Alberta in 1877. She worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the court at Fort Macleod as a translator and was a well-known quilter. Smallface and six other students attended school in Cardston at the suggestion of an Anglican Indian priest. Her older brother Allan Smallface served in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Germany. In 1966, Smallface was one of the first indigenous women to earn a BA in sociology and anthropology at U of A.

Career

Advocacy At the suggestion of the University of Alberta’s Dean of Women, Mary Saretta Sparling, She started at a girls' camp in Northern Province, Zambia, near Lake Tanganyika, before relocating to Lusaka, Jacob Marule worked at an agricultural centre in Kentville, Nova Scotia. In 1972, Marule and her husband provided contacts to Marule in Stockholm, facilitating meetings with the Tanzanian ambassador to Sweden, Michael Lukumbuzya, and Chinese embassy officials. Marule served as chair of the Blood Tribe Police Commission, the Blood Tribe Elections Appeal Board, and the Indian News Media, and as secretary of the Indian Association of Alberta.

Academia Marule taught community development and literacy at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She joined the faculty at the University of Lethbridge (U of L) in February 1976 as an associated professional officer in the Native Students' Association. Later in 1976, she worked as an academic assistant. of Native American studies in the area of politics and economic development. At RCC, she developed curriculum focused on the needs of indigenous students.

Death and legacy Marule died on December 31, 2014. A memorial service was held on January 10, 2015, at Senator Gladstone Hall on the Blood Tribe Reservation.

Marule is recognized for her efforts to preserve indigenous cultures and language through education, promoting higher learning locally, nationally and internationally. Marule developed inclusive curricula so that education respected cultural heritage and indigenous identity. In 2019, RCC graduated the first class of its Indigenous Bachelor of Social Work program, which was the result of a task force Marule created to assess the community's need for professionals.

Awards and honours For her advocacy work in education and the human rights of aboriginal peoples around the world, Marule received the 1995 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for education. In 2002, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding community and education service. Marule received the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005 for her work in community and education development. Athabasca University presented her with a doctor of letters in 2006. She received a doctor of law from University of Calgary in June 2010. In 2014, Marule received the Esqoao Dorothy McDonald Leadership Award and the Circle of Honour from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women.