Nykole King
Regina Leader-Post
Brenda Reynolds would like to think she was a guiding light for children who attended Gordon’s Indian Residential School nearly four decades ago.
To others, it made her a “troublemaker.”
Regardless, it was a crucial first step toward a long and accomplished career for Reynolds, who’s taken great pride in mentoring fellow Indigenous people while also serving as a catalyst for reconciliation.
After seeing Reynolds’ impact firsthand, former co-worker Leanne Sleigh believes she’s deserving of recognition for how she has helped the Indigenous community in Canada and even globally.
“Brenda (has) made some positive impact to whoever she’s met,” says Sleigh, who became emotional upon learning that the United Nations had honoured Reynolds with the 2025 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize.
“I believe, in a Christian way, when we have saints, Brenda would be considered to be one of our Indigenous saints because of the work that she does.”
A journey of healing
In 1988, Reynolds worked as a counsellor at the residential school on George Gordon First Nation, about 100 kilometres north of Regina. She remembers teaching students to recognize and report abuse, which is why Reynolds believes they felt safe talking to her.
One of those children was a 13-year-old girl who came forward to share her experience of sexual abuse so it could be filed with police. It led to a number of other girls following suit, Reynolds rec “By the end of the night, we had 17 girls talk about their sexual abuse experience by the same staff member,” says Reynolds, who’s from Fishing Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Her brief time at the school helped lead to a lifetime pursuit as a specialist in helping Indigenous people recover from intergenerational trauma. More recently, it resulted in her becoming the first Canadian to receive one of the highest honours bestowed by the UN: The Mandela Prize.
Reynolds, who’s trained in social work, knew she wanted to help Indigenous children through the difficult work of healing — just as she had done in her own life.
When Reynolds first applied to be a counsellor at Gordon’s residential school, she was told they didn’t want any “troublemakers” working there.
It’s a label she now wears like a badge of honour.
After filing the girls’ reports to the RCMP, she recalls receiving death threats as well as physical abuse. The breaking point came when a truck rammed into her vehicle, which prompted Reynolds to move to Alberta for her safety, she says.
Reynolds still wonders what happened to those 17 girls after she helped bring their case to court. Although she never saw them again, Reynolds says she has encountered other former students from the school, including one in particular who explained how she made a lasting impact on his life.
Reynolds says she feels gratitude and emotion when an ex-pupil says they’ve been able to maintain a healthy relationship with their spouse and children — thanking her for playing an important part in the healing process.
“Anytime I see someone from Gordon’s I cry because (of) the happiness I have in seeing them and hearing about the changes they have made,” offers Reynolds.
Fresh start, renewed purpose
After leaving Saskatchewan, she continued to work as a counsellor. Reynolds went on to become the regional lead in Alberta for the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program, which was also part of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, helping survivors come forward to share and heal from their experiences.
Sleigh is a residential school survivor and Blackfoot member of Siksika Nation, located east of Calgary. She worked under Reynolds in 2008 as a resolution health support worker for the program in her region.
Sleigh recalls being silenced by Elders when she wanted to speak about her own experience at residential schools. Then Reynolds arrived and opened up a space for survivors to come forward and work through the trauma, which also helped Sleigh come to terms with her own struggles.
“She laid out a foundation of safety (and) connection to understand my worth of who I am as a Blackfoot woman. And when that healing began, I was able to have that confidence to go out into my community and to begin to provide support,” says Sleigh, now a program co-ordinator with Siksika Health Services.
The experience has been transformational, adds Sleigh, who’s watched her community embrace its culture as a way to heal from the trauma of residential schools.
Reynolds also served as a special advisor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a nationwide initiative launched in 2008 to “document the history and harms of residential schools.”
Reflecting on what she’s learned over many years of experience and research in psychology, Reynolds says a culturally informed approach is key to supporting Indigenous people on their healing journey.
“We will always remain Indigenous people,” she notes. “It’s our culture that is one of the things that’s going to heal us in all aspects related to cultural genocide.”
In her various roles, Reynolds is credited with helping thousands across Canada. She’s also researched trauma interventions in cultural genocide, which can be applied to Indigenous people worldwide.
Reynolds’ work was celebrated by the UN in honour of Mandela, an iconic anti-apartheid activist and the first president of South Africa. He was a leading advocate for equality against South Africa’s racial segregation policies and spent 27 years in prison for his beliefs until he negotiated a peaceful end to the system in 1990.
‘Good troublemaker’
Established in 2014, the UN’s Mandela Prize is awarded to two individuals every five years — one woman and one man from different geographical regions.
It’s bestowed in recognition of service to humanity through the “promotion of reconciliation and social cohesion, and in community development,” according to the UN website, adding that it pays homage to Mandela’s “extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation.”
The award holds special significance for Reynolds, who feels Canada has a comparable history of segregation with Indigenous people.
“I’ve always admired (Mandela’s) work and what it was he was able to accomplish in South Africa, and (he was) just a remarkable person,” she says, reflecting on her own upbringing at Fishing Lake and being the first in her community to graduate from high school.
“I cried for the first 10 days (after learning of the award) because I couldn’t believe it. I grew up on a reserve, and I still work on reserves.”
Reynolds officially received the honour this summer during a ceremony at the UN General Assembly in New York City. One moment in particular has stayed with her ever since — when the head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Naledi Pandor, gave a speech about how Mandela was labelled a “troublemaker.”
It reminded Reynolds of being called the same thing all those years ago in Saskatchewan.
When Pandor sat down after delivering her speech, she leaned over to Reynolds and told her to “never stop being a good troublemaker,” Reynolds says, noting that they shared a laugh together.
“All of us need to learn how to be good troublemakers,” adds Reynolds. “We need to shake the system to make some changes in a good way to make people listen.”
