Anna Mae Aquash (1945 – 1975)

Anna Mae Aquash was a First Nations activist and teacher. Born into the Mi'kmaq First Nation at Indian Brook, Nova Scotia, she moved to Boston in 1962 and became involved with the emerging Native American civil rights movement. An outspoken critic of both the American and Canadian governments for their treatment of Indigenous peoples, Aquash was a high-profile American Indian Movement (AIM) organizer when she disappeared in December 1975. Her body was found months later, but it was more than a quarter-century before those responsible for her murder, many fellow AIM members, were brought to justice. Her courage has inspired succeeding generations of Indigenous youth, and she is the subject of countless articles, films, books and works of art.

“I’m Indian all the way and always will be. I’m not going to stop fighting until I die, and I hope I’m a good example of a human being and of my tribe.”