Sarah Lavalley was a nurse, craftswoman, and community leader from Golden Lake Reserve. In addition to her social work, she is known for supporting cultural exchange between the Indigenous community that she was a part of and non-Indigenous people, as well as supporting cultural continuity through her teaching throughout her life. Lavalley was also known as a skilled maker using traditional patterns and stitching techniques, making wearable crafts like moccasins and mittens for instance.
Early life
Sarah Lavalley was born on April 28, 1895 on Golden Lake Reserve. Lavalley attended a day school until grade nine on Golden Lake Reserve, and attended high school in Eganville. Lavalley left school to support her family working as a household servant in Eganville and Ottawa. Lavalley also helped her grandmother Annie Mitchell with midwifery from the age of fourteen. This formative experience led to her completing some training at the Good SamaritanCatholic Hospital in Jersey City, New Jersey, at age nineteen. Sarah married James Lavalley in 1916. On the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary the couple received letters of congratulations from political figures including Governor GeneralGeorges Vanier, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, Agriculture MinisterJoe Greene, and Senator Norman McLeod Paterson, revealing some of the high-profile relationships that Lavalley had established. Other than a couple of brief periods spent in Ottawa and Timmins, Ontario, Sarah lived primarily on Golden Lake Reserve throughout her life. She had eight children and forty-three grandchildren.
Community contributions
Lavalley developed a reputation as a dedicated nurse at Golden Lake Reserve and Village, serving 600 villagers and 300 inhabitants on the reserve, addressing the inaccessibility of the nearest hospital. Lavalley was president of the Golden Lake Branch of the Catholic Women’s League and the Golden Lake Homemaker’s Club, where she encouraged women from the community to meet and develop skills, particularly in Indigenous crafts. Lavalley fostered cultural exchange when she taught Indigenous and non-Indigenous women craftwork and beadwork. Lavalley’s work appeared regularly since the 1940s in the Indian Crafts Pavilion at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, and was sold nationally, in United States, and in Europe. She also led the Algonquin Crafts project, which provided an opportunity for makers on the reserve to sell their work. Later in her life, Sarah Lavalley acted as a consultant for linguistics research and was included in several publications, such as “Kinship Terms in Golden Lake Algonquin” by George F. Aubin, and Restoring the Balance: First Nations Women, Community, and Culture edited by Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, Eric Guimond, and Madeleine Dion Stout.
