Vianne Timmons returns Indspire award following CBC probe of statements on Indigenous ancestry
CBC
The former president of Memorial University has returned an award described by Indspire as "the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people."
Vianne Timmons had accepted the honour in 2019.
News that she returned it was first reported by The Independent website on Sunday.
The move follows a CBC News investigation that looked into her statements on her Mi'kmaw ancestry and her past membership in an unrecognized band.
Timmons has stressed she has always been careful to make the distinction that she has Mi'kmaw heritage but does not claim an Indigenous identity.
Days after that CBC investigation was published in early March, she apologized and took a leave of absence from the top job at Newfoundland and Labrador's only university.
Less than a month later, MUN's governing body removed her from the position.
In an email to CBC News Tuesday morning, Indspire's vice-president of communications and marketing, Brandon Meawasige, confirmed that Timmons returned the award.
Meawasige has not responded to questions about the circumstances of how that happened.
In an interview with CBC News on Feb. 28, Timmons said she was honoured with the award for education in 2019 because of her work helping to keep First Nations University in Saskatchewan open amid funding cuts.
She said she initially turned it down, despite having signed the application form two years earlier.
"I went back to them and said, 'I do not identify as Mi'kmaw, so I'm not comfortable accepting this.' They came back and said, 'We know you don't identify as Mi'kmaw. It's very clear in the nomination we received. The reason we're providing the award was your work you did, particularly around First Nations [University],'" Timmons said.
She said she accepted the award only after speaking with an elder in Regina who advised that in accepting the award, she would acknowledge her ancestors.
She has not immediately responded to a request for comment.
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