Chief Judy Wilson

Chief Judy Wilson has served her community for ten years as chief and eight years as a council member. She is a strong advocate for recognition of inherent title and rights and self-determination and for the fundamental shifts needed for the survival of all Peoples. Close to her heart, and a mission she has passionately devoted herself to, is ending violence towards Indigenous women and girls. 

For over 25 years, Kukpi7 Wilson has been a staunch advocate for Indigenous women and girls, participating in provincial, national, and international forums to raise awareness of the systemic violence in Canada that continues to disproportionately affect and tear apart Indigenous families and communities.  She herself has experienced firsthand the pain and grief of losing a loved one after her sister was murdered over 20 years ago. Since then, she has actively advocated for and supported women participating in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). She supported her own mother who testified in the Inquiry’s hearings, and tirelessly lent her empathy, warmth, and compassion to countless other women whose sisters were stolen. Kukpi7 Wilson also played an integral supportive role in the development and release of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre’s Red Women Rising: Indigenous Women Survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a comprehensive report containing the stories and lived experience of Indigenous survivors. 

Kukpi7 Wilson will be a key panelist in the upcoming Blackfeet Tribunal for MMIW in Browning, Montana, a two-day tribunal that will record public testimony from MMIW survivors and victim’s families. The work and advocacy Kukpi7 Wilson has achieved on behalf of Indigenous women and girls is a testament to her indefatigable drive to see a world in which colonial state practices and systemic violence no longer target and hurt Indigenous women, girls, families, and communities.