Brantford school to be named after Edith Monture, 1st First Nations registered nurse

A school in Brantford, Ont., will don thename of Edith Monture, the first First Nations woman to become a registered nurse in Canada, this fall.

Montureserved her community of Six Nations of the Grand River, 15 kilometres southeast of Brantford,for over 40 years as a community nurse and midwife. She died in 1996 but her grandson, John Moses, saidshe would have been tickled to receive this honour.

"It's a very timely and a very appropriate reconciliation gesture, of which I think she would be very proud," said Moses, 59, from the Delaware and Upper Mohawk bands of Six Nations of the Grand River.

The school was previously called Ryerson Heights after Egerton Ryerson, a 19th-centurypublic education advocate who helped designthe residential school system and whose actions as superintendent of education informed racially segregated schools in Canada. The Grand Erie District School Board moved to rename the school last fall.

First, 250 name suggestions were put forward,then the renaming committee narrowed the listto 11. Students were then encouraged to research the names and their histories. Edith Monture wasselected for the school's new name.

"We're committed to engaging with our communities to build a culture of learning, well-being, and belonging," said JoAnna Roberto,director of education for Grand Erie District School Board. in a news release,

"Part of that vision means understanding our history, recognizing the importance of culture to one's sense of identity, and engaging schools and community voice to create safe and welcoming learning environments."

The school currently serves 800 students.

Moses said his familytouredthe school recently and that he was grateful to know his grandmother's legacy would live on.

"My grandmother was inspirational to a number of other Six Nations band members in the health care system," said Moses.

Edith Monture's daughter, Helen Moses, would later become a nurse herself and a founding member of the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association.

Edith Monturewas born in 1890 at Six Nations of the Grand River. The Mohawk woman received her high school diploma fromBrantfordCollegiate Institute. She then moved to New York state to pursue her nursing education, having struggled to be accepted to a Canadian nursing school. At the time,First Nations peoplefaced involuntary enfranchisement (loss of Indian status) for pursuing higher education.

She completed her degree in 1914 and whenAmerica entered the First World War in 1917, Monturevolunteered with the American Expeditionary Force.

She later made her way back to her home community where she workedas a community nurse and midwife until the 1960s.

"This was her vocation and her calling in life," said Moses.

Heremembers his grandmother as a kind andsweet woman who doted on him and his brother. She died in 1996 just shy of her 106th birthday. Moses said his grandmother is recognized today as a pioneer of Indigenous health care.