SISTERS OF ST. MARTHA’S GIFT $500,000 TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS STUDENTS

e Sisters of St. Martha’s congregation showed their incredible generosity by announcing substantial gi s to St. Francis Xavier University and Cape Breton University to honour Sister Dorothy Moore and Sister Veronica Matthews.

e Marthas have donated $250,000 to each university, which received matching funding, resulting in a total $1 million towards supporting Indigenous students. is gi will establish scholarships at both StFX and CBU, one for an Indigenous student in nursing and one for an Indigenous student in education. e scholarships will be awarded to a rst-year Indigenous student from one of the seven eastern Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia, including Membertou, Eskasoni, Wagmatcook, We’koqma’q, Potlotek, Paqtnkek and Pictou Landing.

“As a community that aspires to be inclusive, fair, and equitable, today is another step forward in reconciliation,” said StFX President Dr. Andy Hakin. “ is generous gi by the Sisters of St. Martha, matched by the Jeannine Deveau Educational Equity Endowment, will support Indigenous people in their chosen eld. A half a million dollars in new scholarships will impact generations of Indigenous people to come.”

Beginning in September 2023, students at StFX and CBU are eligible for a $10,000 renewable scholarship, making the path to post-secondary education a bit clearer.

Sister Dorothy Moore, an honorary degree recipient of CBU, knows what it’s like to yearn for an education. Born in Membertou in 1933, she attended multiple schools, including two years at the residential school in Shubenacadie, where it was forbidden to speak the Mi’kmaq language. Against her parent’s wishes, she enrolled at St. Joseph’s school in Sydney – the rst Mi’kmaw person to “jump the Membertou fence,” as she says. It was one of her many ‘ rsts’ a er graduating from Holy Angels High School (as its rst Mi’kmaw student), she became the rst Mi’kmaw person to enter a Roman Catholic order when she made her vows as a Martha in 1956. Her staunch belief in the power of education led her to embark on a lifelong career as a teacher, administrator, and later, faculty member at CBU. She has been particularly in uential in advocacy to preserve First Nations languages, and has been recognized with the Order of Nova Scotia, the Order of Canada, and three honorary degrees. She is one of the founders of Indigenous education at CBU, dating back to 1984 when she rst advocated for the Mi’kmaw Resource Centre, which would eventually become Unama’ki College.

Although Sister Dorothy was the rst Mi’kmaw person to become a Catholic nun, she was soon joined by Sister Veronica Matthews, in whose honour the second scholarship has been created. Sister Veronica was also born in 1933, down the road in Eskasoni. She entered the Sisters of St. Martha in 1955 and made her vows in 1957. She graduated from St. Martha’s School of Nursing in Antigonish and completed her BScN at Dalhousie. Her work in Indigenous health care made her a deserving recipient of an honorary degree from StFX in 2015. Sister Veronica’s family has many medical practitioners, including paramedics, a midwife, and a doctor. Her grandfather was a great medicine man and passed along his love for and devotion to the people to his granddaughter. Recognizing the debilitating e ects of diabetes on people in First Nations, Sister Veronica started the rst certi ed Indigenous diabetic clinic in Atlantic Canada in 1997. She has worked closely with StFX faculty and sta over the years, as they collaborated on community health initiatives and sought solutions to common problems. She’s mentored and encouraged countless young people to pursue education in healthcare elds.

StFX is honoured the Sisters of St. Martha trusted in StFX to support the next generation of Indigenous leaders.