Meet some of the 2023 Indspire Awards recipients making a difference in their communities

As a child, it was always tough for Indspire Awards recipient Lori Campbell to get a grasp on her identity. 

But that changed when she found cultural acceptance at her university. The experience later helped her give back to that same university community. 

Now, she and other recipients are being honoured at the Indspire Awards, which recognizes the accomplishments of First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals who have achieved outstanding feats in a range of fields. 

Rosanna Deerchild, host of Unreserved, spoke to Campbell and three other Inspire Award recipients. Here are their stories.

Campbell said she recalls thinking that to find success, she had to be white. 

Growing up, there was no one to talk to about how she felt. It was an "isolating" experience, she says. 

That's because Campbell was part of the Sixties Scoop, a period beginning in the '60s and continuing until the 1980s, when thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and placed with non-Indigenous foster families. 

Without much connection to home, it was at the First Nations University of Canada where she felt like she found community. 

That journey led Campbell to her role as an educator, and now, the University of Regina's associate vice-president of Indigenous engagement. Campbell helps Indigenous students reconnect to their roots and find confidence in who they are. 

"I try to focus on creating a space and place where Indigenous students, staff and faculty can bring their unapologetic Indigenous selves … and take what they want or need from what's in the institution already to use for their benefit," she said. 

In her role, Campbell often works with students whose family members had been part of the Sixties Scoop, and encourages them to talk to their parents about it in order to reconnect with their culture. 

"As they're learning healing backwards, there's this chain reaction and I think that's a beautiful thing," she said. 

"I'm not that person — so don't hire me," she said. "I'm not the one who's going to come in and teach people about Indigenous awareness or Indigenous history." 

Reflecting on her position, Campbell said a younger version of herself would not believe she'd be in an executive position like hers.