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First woman chief worked tirelessly for communityBy Kim GuttormsonFree Press CorrespondentTHE FIRST woman to be elected chief of a Manitoba Indian reserve died at her Norway House home Boxing Day.JeanFolsterwas73.: Friends and relatives describe folster as an outgoing, unassuming woman who left her mark in the community where she was born by working to improve people’s everyday lives.t She is credited with starting the first local child and family services agency on a reserve in the late 1960s, and in the early 1970s was one pf the founders of what is now a personal care home.* Folster, chief at Norway House from 1971 to 1975, was also the first aboriginal woman to be appointed a magistrate in the province, aFolster recalled as strong, caringOBITUARY/Jean Fotsterposition she held from 1973 until about seven years ago.In 1974 she received a special Canadian Speech Association award for her contribution to the understanding of Canadians by Canadians. Former prime minister John Diefenbaker won it the year before.Folster also made the majority of bridal and bridesmaid dresses for weddings in the community.Widowed in 1954, she raised eight children and a number of foster children on a seamstress’s earnings.Son Hubert Folster said she waslooking after a little girl at the time of her death.“People knew where to go when they were in trouble,” long-time friend Maggie Balfour said.“She always said Tm ordinary Jean Folster,' ” Hubert Folster said. “She was a very strong individual, very caring. One of her strengths was her caring.“I can’t begin to say what she taught everyone, There was caring and honesty in everything she did.” Folster said when Jean Chretien visited Norway House years ago he asked to meet “the lady with the same name as me.”Balfour, who herself was chief at Norway House in the early 1980s, said she and Folster attended a First Ministers conference in 1983.Balfour said Folster walked up to all the premiers and introduced herself.“She joked with them like she'd met them before, like she knew them her whole life, Balfour recalled. She laughs while telling how Folster got Manitoba premier Howard Pawley to take their picture with Pierre Trudeau. And how Folster was about to chase after Rene Levesque.“Sometimes I had to pull her back. “She had a good sense of humor,” Balfour said. “I’ll remember all the good things. I’ll remember all those crazy things.”I remember one time I said I was very hurt and she said, ‘Why don’t you cry?’ I said, ‘I can’t cry.’ She said, 'Let’s go down to the sawmill and I’ll give you a good licking and you'll cry,’ ” Balfour said. “I cheered up after that.”
Newspaper Details
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA
Wed, Dec 28, 1994
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Susun W.
USA 03 Aug 2023
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