Canada Post announces subjects for June 20 Indigenous Leaders stamps

By Linn’s Staff

On June 5 Canada Post announced the subjects of three stamps to continue its Indigenous Leaders stamp series and gave June 20 as the issue date.

The stamps will feature Julia Haogak Ogina, Sophie McDougall and Bruce Starlight, individuals who have helped to preserve the cultures and languages of their respective Inuit, Metis and First Nations communities.

Julia Haogak Ogina (b. 1962) worked with anthropologist Richard G. Condon as a translator and research assistant for the 1996 book The Northern Copper Inuit: A History, and she helped publish a song book titled Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit (Stories Told through Drum Dance Songs).

Ogina contributed to the creation of a regional language framework with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and in 2017 the Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit (a language authority created by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut) recognized Ogina with an Outstanding Achievement in Language Revitalization award.

Sophie McDougall (1928-2023) translated books and other materials into Michif, the traditional language of the Metis, and spent many years as a schoolteacher. She served as a Michif Language Keeper and an Elder with the Prince Albert Metis Women’s Association in Saskatchewan.

McDougall contributed to the creation of a smartphone app called Learn Michif French, which features word translations, pronunciations and phrases for the Michif French dialect of Michif. She also appeared in the YouTube series Metis Women Stories.

In 2023 she received the Order of Gabriel Dumont gold medal in recognition of her lifetime of service to the Metis people in Canada.

Bruce Starlight (b. 1947) is an Elder and Knowledge Keeper of the Tsuut’ina Nation, a First Nation government, and was among the founders of an institute dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of the Tsuut’ina language.

To aid in teaching Tsuut’ina, Starlight developed materials including dictionaries and recordings, and he has collaborated on a collection of traditional narratives and historical accounts written in Tsuut’ina.

In 2023, Mount Royal University in Calgary presented Starlight with an honorary doctorate.

The Indigenous Leaders stamp series began in 2022 and pays tribute to the lives and legacies of Indigenous leaders. The June 20 issue date is one day before National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada.

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