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79-year-old Indigenous great-grandmother celebrates doctoral graduation at University of Toronto

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A 79-year-old Indigenous great-grandmother marked a major milestone on Thursday, receiving her doctorate in education from the University of Toronto.

"I've been excited and I couldn't sleep the past couple of nights," newly minted doctor of education Jacque/line Lavallee told CTV National News.

It was a lifelong dream of hers to reach this accomplishment, inspired by a message from her father.

"I only knew him for a short time when I was a kid, but he always stated, 'When you get big, when you become a woman, you need to pursue the educational field,'" she said.

Lavallee had also been the university's elder-in-residence and would have received an honorary doctorate, but she wanted to earn her degree. Her doctoral thesis focused on the important role Anishinaabe traditional knowledge can play in higher education, centring her own experience as a residential school survivor and a teacher.

"The rest of the world doesn't understand what traditional knowledge is," she said. "It's oral. It's always spoken. It's not written down on some paper. If you want to learn something, you have to go look at look for it."

 

Lavallee defended her thesis at a lodge was set on campus in 2020, which has also provided space for other learning and traditional ceremonies.

"In many ways, Dr. Lavallee's research has allowed us to think and learn more about what the role of elders is in the university," Eve Tuck, an associate professor in social justice education and Lavallee's supervisor, told CTV National News.

Lavallee will continue on as the elder-in-residence, teaching Indigenous knowledge to help develop curriculum.

"I just want to tell young Anishinaabe students that are coming up this way to not be afraid to tell their story. Because it's valid, it's their life," she said.

Correction

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the lodge on campus was developed as a result of Lavallee's work.

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