Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum

Sylvia McAdam Saysewahum is a member of the Cree Nation. She is an advocate for First Nation and environmental rights in Canada. She is a founding member of Idle No More, a lawyer, a professor, and an author. In all of these cases, her work is focused on spreading awareness and education about First Nation and Environmental rights.

Background Sylvia McAdam was born and raised on Treaty 6 territory, and is a direct descendant of those involved with creating the original treaty. She received her bachelor's degree in human justice at the University of Regina. She is a single parent to six children.

Name McAdam chose to change her name. Rather than McAdam, which was a name given to her grandfather in school, she chose Saysewahum, which is her family's traditional surname Shortly after her experience with the hunting grounds, she read Bill C-45, and she realized the horrible implications it would have on the environment.

Idle No More

Bill C-45 Bill C-45 was an omnibus budget implementation bill that removed the environmental protections from many of Canada's rivers and lakes. This legislation was passed without consultation with First Nation peoples who it predominately affected. Idle No More fought against this. Their movement started as a hashtag, #IdleNoMore, to spread awareness about the issue of the bill. From there the group's coverage grew and they staged several teach-ins culminating in a flash mob on the National Day of Action. This movement was a catalysis for Indigenous groups abroad in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, used to stand up for their rights and the land.

Literary works Saysewahum is the author of two books, Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing Nêhiyaw Legal Systems and First Nations Protocols and Methodologies. Both books are centered around the topic of Cree Law but with different purposes. Through both of these books Saysewahum develops the intricacies of First Nations. By elucidating these systems she spreads education and counters the assumption that First Nation communities are lawless. She believes the target audience for this book is everyone because it can create a template for Indigenous nations to revitalize their own laws, while also spreading education.

Awards and recognition Sylvia McAdam/Saysewahum is the recipient of:

The Carole Geller Human Rights Award, established by the Canadian Human Rights Reporter : this award is intended to support activists and advocates whose contributions to the improvement of rights often receive no official recognition. Social Justice Award,