Mary John, Sr.

Mary John, Sr. CM (June 15, 1913 – September 30, 2004) was a leader of the Carrier people of the central interior of British Columbia in Canada. She was known as "Mary John, Sr." to distinguish her from her daughter-in-law, also named Mary John. She became well known both for her political and social activism and as a role model, a person of enormous integrity, strength, and gentleness.

John was born at Lheidli (near Prince George, British Columbia) to Anzel Quaw. She grew up in Saik'uz (Stoney Creek) village, raised by her mother and her stepfather Johnny Paul. She was a member of the Tachek clan, whose crests are cariboo and ruffed grouse. She survived the flu epidemic of 1918, during which, only five years old, she had to care for her sick mother. At the age of eight she was sent to the residential school in Fort St James where she learned English. The next year she moved to the newly established Lejac Residential School, which she attended until she was fourteen years old. At the age of sixteen she married Lazare John, with whom she had twelve children.</ref name="VPLColl">

In 1942 she helped to found the local chapter of the British Columbia Homemakers' Association, of which she was the first President. She later served as district president. Although the Homemakers' Association was intended by the Department of Indian Affairs to teach homemaking skills to native women, she and other women turned it into a vehicle for political action. In the 1950s, with the help of her friend Bridget Moran, she founded the Welfare Committee, which worked to place aboriginal children in aboriginal foster homes in or near their own community.

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