How Shirley Williams's traditional knowledge helped her become a professor at Trent University

June is National Indigenous History Month. To celebrate our accomplishments CBC Indigenous is sharing stories highlighting First Nations, Inuit and Métis trailblazers in law, medicine, science, sports — and beyond. 

When Shirley Williams began teaching Anishinaabe language and culture at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., in 1986 there were no textbooks, so she had to develop her own learning materials for students.

"I remember the first sunrise ceremony that we did. It was up on the hill and we had to do it secretly," Williams said.

"Today it's free and we can do all kinds of cultural things for people to learn."

By 2003, Williams had become a full professor based on her traditional knowledge, and is believed to be the first Indigenous woman in Canada to have done so. Now 85, she's a professor emeritus of Indigenous studies at Trent.

The Odawa/Ojibway elder is from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, and attended St. Joseph's residential school in Spanish, Ont., between the ages of 10 and 16.

"We had to fight for everything to be recognized ... because the language was forbidden and the culture part," Williams said.

"We had to go through a lot of hoops in order to practise our language and culture."

She's semi-retired but still teaches, hosting online immersion workshops in Anishinaabemowin from her home in Wiikwemkoong.

David Newhouse, who is Onondaga from Six Nations of the Grand River and chair of the Indigenous studies department at Trent since 1993, was one of the creators of tenure and promotion recognition for traditional knowledge in the department.

"Full professor is the highest rank that you can achieve within the university," Newhouse said.

"I thought it was important that we have individuals who had high levels of Indigenous knowledge to be appointed to that highest rank."

At Trent's Indigenous studies department, candidates for tenure can meet requirements three ways: as a conventional scholar who is academically trained in the western tradition; as a traditional Indigenous knowledge scholar who has knowledge of the customs, tradition, histories, languages and ceremonies of a particular nation; or as a dual tradition scholar who has both traditional knowledge and academic credentials.

Williams, who holds a BA in Native studies and a master's degree in environmental studies, was considered a dual tradition scholar.