Stefania tells the story of GA’AXSTA’LAS aka JANE CONSTANCE COOK, an Indigenous woman who was a nurse, healer, activist, interpreter, and translator who regularly took on the role of mediator between the Indigenous peoples - within and outside of her community of Alert Bay - and the Canadian Government. Born: 1870 Port Blakely, Bainbridge Island, Puget Sound, Puyallup, Washington, Died: October 16, 1951, Alert Bay, BC.

 

Episode Sources

Ga’axsta’las - Jane Constance Cook 

 

Robertson, Leslie A. Standing Up With Ga’axsta’las: Jane Constance Cook and the Politics of Memory, Church, and Custom. Vancouver, British Columbia, UBC Press, 2012.

 

Healey, Haley. On Their Own Terms: True Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island. Victoria, BC, Heritage House Publishing Company, 2020.