April 5, 1936 – June 24, 2019
Grand Chief Mary Lou Parker was affiliated with the Eastern Woodland Métis Nation Nova Scotia for over 40 years. The Nation was founded by Grand Chief Parker and her husband Albert Parker. She was a Secretary for the Korean Veterans Association of Kentville and a lifetime member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 61. Amongst many other awards, she was awarded the Governor General’s Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers in 2017. Upon hearing she would receive this award she said, “I don’t like to brag, but I’m just little ol’ me,”. That was classic Mary Lou! She was also named Professional of the Year by Capital Who's Who Canada for her distinguished accomplishments and contributions in the field of Tribal Government Services.
It was her dream to one day raise enough money to erect a cultural center to promote the understanding of the Metis/Aboriginal peoples and the knowledge that they are not a blanket of one size and colour. She believed Métis people are like a patchwork quilt, made up of many shapes and colours, but all joined together by a common thread. Although this dream never came to pass in her lifetime she never gave up in her passionate struggle for recognition of Métis people within Nova Scotia and beyond. She embraced the adage, Métis people share, “One Voice, One Identity, and One Family”. She has been the voice and the collective heart at Eastern Woodland Métis Nation Nova Scotia since it’s inception. Members of her family, albeit with a heavy heart, are striving to keep her dream alive by managing the organization.
Rest in peace Grand Chief Parker.
Our site is here for promoting Education, Training, Business opportunities and Leadership in Self-Governance. Our goal is to help our people reach their full potential and realize Economic, Cultural, Social and Spiritual wellness, while becoming more economically independent and self-reliant.
It is hoped that this site will never be finished and that there will always be something new to pass on, promote, educate and inform the world about.
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children, their future rests in our hands.
Definition of Métis: A person of mixed blood; specifically: a person of European and North American Indian Ancestry, regardless of how many generations back (i.e. a person who is not entitled to registry through the Indian Act), a person who Self Identifies and is accepted by the Community. A MÉTIS CITIZEN IS DISTINCT FROM FIRST NATION, INUIT and NON-ABORIGINAL.