Lillian Dyck | Stubborn Advocacy: Growing up Chinese-Indigenous

The School Room

Dr. Lillian Eva Quan Dyck’s life has been one of many firsts. The first Indigenous female senator, first Canadian-born senator of Chinese descent, and first Indigenous woman in Canada to earn a PhD in science. Lillian has blazed trails in the sciences and Senate for her work in reforming the Criminal Code to consider harsher penalties for crimes against Indigenous women, the restoration of Indian Status for Indigenous women who had married non-Indigenous men, and her career as a neuropsychiatrist.

On this Truth and Reconciliation Day special episode, Lillian Dyck discusses why she was told to hide her Indigenous heritage and lean into her Chinese identity growing up, her subsequent advocacy and incredible achievements in the Senate for women and Indigenous peoples, and the inspirations behind Shelley Niro’s recent film based on Lillian’s life, Café Daughter.

To learn more about the Chinese Canadian Museum and book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/