Jessie Stirling and Riley Yesno receive Outstanding Indigenous Student Awards
Published: February 12, 2021
Riley Yesno, a fourth-year student at Victoria College, and Jessie Stirling of the Faculty of Law are the winners of the President’s Award for the Outstanding Indigenous Student of the Year.
Stirling and Yesno were recognized for their contributions to the Ƶ as well as to their broader Indigenous communities.
“You’ve brought a spirit of engagement and community spirit to our university, enriching our entire academic community, and you inspire us,” President Meric Gertler said during the ceremony, which was hosted via Zoom by U of T’s First Nations House.
Yesno, a member of Eabametoong First Nation, has been heavily involved in community advocacy for years. She has served on the Prime Minister’s Youth Council and addresses Indigenous, environmental, youth and LGBTQ2S+ issues in her work as a writer and public speaker.
Stirling, a recent graduate of the U of T Faculty of Law’s JD program, is a Kwakwaka’wakw woman of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation who grew up on reserve lands in Campbell River, B.C. The president and chair of the board of directors at Aboriginal Legal Services, she is completing her articles at the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, part of the Ministry of the Attorney General.
The event included an opening prayer led by Ojibwe Elder Whabagoon, a welcome song by Nenookaasi Ochrym, an Indigenous singer and activist, and remarks from First Nations House director Michael White and Andrea Johns, a previous award recipient.
