DEI Initiative / People / Elsie Knott
Elsie Knott
In 1951, an Indian Act amendment allowed Indigenous women to vote and hold office. Thirty-three-year-old Knott took advantage of that opportunity to bring about positive change for her community, Curve Lake First Nation. In 1954, she was elected chief, the first female First Nation chief in Canada. Her rallying the community and lobbying the federal government led to the digging of more wells, building of more houses, improved roads, and a new daycare, community centre, and senior’s home. She began Ojibwe language classes at the local school, revived the annual powwow, and started an annual hockey tournament that involved Indigenous kids from across Ontario. To ensure more young people attend secondary school she arranged bussing and for 31 years drove a bus herself. Knott was chief of her First Nation from 1954 to 1962 and again from 1970 to 1976.