Description
Hereditary Chief, Dr. Robert Joseph of the Gwawaenuk First Nation, is a Residential School Survivor and internationally recognized peacebuilder. His life work reflects his dedication to inspiring healing, hope and advocating for collective change.
Chief Dr. Robert Joseph was taken to the St. Michael’s Residential School at the age of 6. Over the course of 11 years, he lived through ineffable abuse at the hands of the church and government. Following his early adulthood, Joseph embarked on a path to healing that began as personal but would grow into a shared journey towards reconciliation. At the 1994 First Nations Summit in Vancouver, he shared his experiences and issued a call for help for Survivors. This led to the creation of the First Nations Survivors Society, where he served as Executive Director for over 10 years.
Joseph continued to lead reconciliation efforts, co-chairing a roundtable advocating for public inquiry into residential schools and eventually serving as an honourary witness to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Joseph’s efforts were instrumental in the activities of the TRC, participating from its development all the way to the issuing of its final recommendations in 2015. He would also become a member of the National Assembly of the First Nations Elders Council as well as act as an Advisor to Indian Residential School Resolutions Canada.
As Founder and Ambassador of Reconciliation Canada, Joseph currently works to unite Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through exploration of the meaning of reconciliation. Reconciliation conversations are extended abroad through his sharing as Chairman of the Native American Leadership Alliance for Peace and Reconciliation and Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation with the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IFWP).
One of the last fluent speakers of the Kwakwaka’wakw language, Joseph is a Ceremonial House Speaker and also speaks in the Big House. He has contributed as a language speaker with the University of British Columbia. As an author and co-author, he voices his knowledge, childhood experiences at residential school and the journey of reconciliation as a Survivor in his books such as 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips, and Suggestions To Make Reconciliation a Reality, as well as Namwayut- We Are All One: A Pathway to Reconciliation. Joseph is also an internationally recognized art curator and co-author of Down from the Shimmering Sky: Masks of the Northwest Coast.
The significance of Chief Robert Joseph’s dedication to reconciliation efforts has been acknowledged through numerous awards and honours. He has been awarded multiple Honourary Doctorate degrees: Law from the University of British Columbia (2003), Divinity from Vancouver School of Theology (2014), as well as Law from Vancouver Island University (2018). He received the highest provincial and federal honours when he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia in 2015 and was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2018 for his contributions to the communities across the lands referred to as Canada. Other recognitions have included The Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue from Simon Fraser University (2014), the City of Vancouver Diversity and Inclusion Award of Excellence (2014), a Deputy Ministers’ Recognition Award for Collaboration and Partnerships (2014), the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Award (2016), and the Indspire Lifetime Achievement Award (2016).
