Ann Thomas Callahan (Wapiskisiw Piyésís, or White Bird Woman), a trailblazing Indigenous nurse who made a ‘lasting impact’ on health care, died January 16 at the age of 87. Ann became a nursing instructor in 1983 at Red River College, and retired in 1996.
(links to Aboriginal Funeral Chapel obituary, and CBC article)
I had the privilege of working with Ann when I worked in the Limestone Access Program at the college. She was a lovely lady who always had a smile on her face and who worked diligently to ensure that students in the Access/Inners City Nursing programs were well-looked-after. Many of the students were Indigenous and were out of their home communities for the first time. Ann helped to make the students welcome at RRC and helped them to deal with life in “the big city”.