Gulkihlgad Yakgujanaas – 2020 Tawga Haala Leeyga Bursary Recipient

Published by info@haidanation.com on

This article was originally publish in the Coastal First Nations Newsletter (October 2020). It was adapted for Haida Laas.

Gulkihlgad Yakgujanaas is one of 12 secondary school graduates chosen for the 2020 Strong Minds, Strong Nation grant awards of the Haida Nation. This year’s bursary awards recognize students beginning post-secondary studies in a range of careers, including medicine, business, social work, health and renewable energy.

The eighteen-year-old is starting her studies in a rural pre-med program at Selkirk College in Castlegar. Gulkihlgad was awarded the first Tawga Haala Leeyga bursary created this year in honour of her grandmother Tawga Haala Leeyga May Russ, a former Hereditary Chief of the Village of Massett, who passed away last year. The award is given to a post-secondary student of Haida descent who is a female leader in the community. 

“It was truly an honour. I don’t want to boast about myself,” Gulkihlgad responds when asked why she was chosen for the award. “For my essay I wrote about how my grandmother basically raised me – growing up I spent every weekend at her house. Coming from a small community you never think you will make it so I want to be a role model. I want the youth of Haida Gwaii to have somebody to look up to so they can say, “Hey she came from the same place I did – she went through the same things I did and look at her now.”

I want the youth of Haida Gwaii to have somebody to look up to so they can say, “Hey she came from the same place I did – she went through the same things I did and look at her now.”

Raised in Gaw Tlagee Old Massett in the K’wii Gandlas Yakgu Laanas/Jaanas clan, Gulkihlgad was named after her grandmother. “She was a very powerful woman and well respected. I had the honour of growing up with her. She taught me a lot of what I know today and she dedicated her life to our Nation.”

She is thrilled to be attending BC’s only pre-med program designed specifically for students from rural communities who want to practise medicine in rural and Indigenous communities.

“Ever since I was little, I really wanted to be a doctor. Coming from a small community, I never thought I could do it. But there’s been so many people who have encouraged me,” she explains. “I thought at first I would become a nurse and then, after people told me they believed in me and encouraged me, I thought I would do my best to become an Indigenous doctor.”

“There’s not a big Indigenous presence in the healthcare field. I believe in order to change the system of racism and discrimination I need to be part of the system,” she says. “I want the hospitals and health care system to be a safe place for Indigenous peoples, especially youth and women who have been abused, because I know there’s a lot of people who are scared to speak out because they’re worried nothing’s going to happen if they do.”

“There’s not a big Indigenous presence in the healthcare field. I believe in order to change the system of racism and discrimination I need to be part of the system.”

Gulkihlgad says her understanding how Indigenous peoples and communities work together is something she can offer as a future family doctor. “I will bring my knowledge of how we’re just one whole family and of what my people have gone through and what they continue to go through. Many non-Indigenous people don’t understand why our people hurt so much.”

After graduating from medical school, she hopes to gain experience practising in diverse communities across the province. “I’d like to work in different Indigenous communities and open my mind to the different cultures. I’d like to help Indigenous communities other than my own then return home and work in my community.”

One of the biggest challenges Gulkihlgad faced in secondary school was a lack of cultural understanding and support when she began struggling with her grades due to missing classes when her grandmother passed away. “Because she was such a big influence in my life, it was hard. My teachers didn’t get the connection I had with her. They weren’t Indigenous so they didn’t realize how hard I was struggling and they didn’t understand the connection we had to our families.”

Gulkihlgad demonstrated her leadership skills when she called for a meeting with school officials. “Finally I had to use my voice and let them know they had to support me through that process in my life. I think that also sparked a realization about the racism also in the education system. I told them they should put a system in place to support the students when that happens.”

Her biggest mentor has been her mother, Mudalaaw Elizabeth “Sibby” Moore, a former Chief Councillor in Gaw Tlagee. “As I was applying for this program, I doubted myself a lot because of my grades, but my mother encouraged me every single day. She said even if you don’t get in, you can say you tried. I think she’s also one of the reasons I want to become a doctor. I want to make her proud.”

Her advice to other students? “Just keep working hard, you can do it. Always believe in yourself and surround yourself with good energy. Get connected with people full of knowledge, especially the Elders. No matter what you’re going through you can always be successful.

Her advice to other students? “Just keep working hard, you can do it. Always believe in yourself and surround yourself with good energy. Get connected with people full of knowledge, especially the Elders. No matter what you’re going through you can always be successful.

When not working hard on her studies, Gulkihlgad loves to be out on the water. “I grew up with my Dad on the boat fishing so that’s a happy place for me to food gather and be out on my traditional territory.” She has also spent the last four summers as a dedicated youth counsellor at the Swan Bay Rediscovery Program in Gwaii Haanas.

“It’s something I love doing. It has definitely given me a strong sense of who I am and a better connection to my culture – and it grounded me as a teen,” she says. “I hope that I can continue working with Swan Bay throughout my whole life because it really helped me a lot and I want it to be always accessible to all Haida youth.”


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