NEWS RELEASE UNIVERSITY OF REGINA

News & Information Services phone 584-4402

RELEASE ON RECEIPT MAY, 1977

REGINA (May 18) -- A Indian leader and a pioneer Saskatchewan drama teacher will receive honorary doctorate degrees at the 1977 spring convocation of the University of Regina on May 27. Chief David Ahenakew, leader of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, and Mary Ellen Burgess, a pioneer Saskatchewan school teacher and drama educator, will receive the degrees for their contributions to their fields. Mrs, Burgess, born at Chatham, Ont., in 1895, was among the first to graduate from Regina Normal School 65 years ago, and began her long teaching career at a rural school in 1912. She returned in 1961 to the Saskatchewan Teachers College in Regina, as it was known then, as an instructor. The college now is part of the University of Regina. Chief Ahenakew, who last spring was the first Indian leader to address the University's convocation, also had a major role in the establishment of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, located at the University of Regina, the first such college in North America. The 65th anniversary of Mrs. Burgess' graduation from Regina Normal School coincides with the University's celebration this year of the 65th anniversary of its beginning. The list of Mrs. Burgess' contributions to the dramatic arts in Saskatchewan is enormous. On many occasions she has served as an adjudicator, a writer, an editor of drama publications and above all a teacher and scholar of drama education. Currently, she is working on a draft of her autobiography, which has been considered for pub- lication. From 1947 to 1961 she was an instructor in educational drama for two months each year at normal schools and teachers colleges at Moose Jaw and Saskatoon. She spent several months froth 1955 to 1961 instructin chools in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Manitoba. MAy /077 s- aFP!TT, ANT OF rc?rN)' • • • 2 i OF t~ii44 - 2 -

In 1918 she was made a life member of the Canadian Red Cross Society and in. 1947 she won the Canadian Drama Award of the Dominion Drama Festival (now Festival Canada) "for pioneering in the field of Canadian drama." In 1953 she was awarded the Coronation Medal by Queen Elizabeth II for "pioneering work in drama in Canada." She has likewise received honors and praises from almost every arts and drama concern in the province. Allan McCallam, a former Deputy Minister of Education in Saskatchewan, said this about her: "I know something of her dedicated service to the cause she loved. She was to Saskatchewan school teachers and students the spirit of drama which she zealously promoted in and out of season with unflagging energy . She loves Saskatchewan, she loved her work; she gave generously and richly." Mrs. Burgess, 82, now resides in Calgary where she teaches drama to people over 65 as part of Mount Royal Community College. Chief Ahenakew was born in 1934 on the Sandy Lake Indian Reserve, the fifth in a family of 10 children. He joined the in 1951 and served in Korea, and with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in before gaining his discharge in 1967 to work with the Indian Placement Service of the Indian and Metis Departments of the Saskatchewan government. In 1969 he was elected Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians and has since been re-elected four times, once by acclamation. Chief Ahenakew has worked hard over the years to maintain the objectives laid out by the Federation. "My personal philosophy," he said, "is in concert with that which has been taught to me by my Indian Elders and Wise Men, and that is to grasp responsibilit:(, not only in terms of involving myself in Indian affairs, but also as a parent and teacher for my childreh and the guardian of my heritage and my identity as an Indian within the framework of the human community." Chief Ahenakew is married, has five children and three grandchildren and lives at Prince Albert. -30-

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Jim Osborne and/or Jerry Horne at 584-4402