Dr. Lillian Dyck

An Introduction to
Senator Lillian Dyck – Saskatchewan, Canada

By Jessica Clemmons
August 2007

 

Dr. Lillian Eva Dyck, who is of Chinese and Cree heritage (considered Status Indian), invented new compounds for the treatment of neuro-degenerative disorders.   She is recognized as one of the first  Aboriginal women in Canada ever to pursue an academic career in the sciences .

As someone who comes from a family affected by depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease, I have a personal interest in the chemistry of the brain and how it can be changed positively through medical intervention.  I also have a strong interest in Native American and Indian cultures.  I lived in Alaska for four years and developed a great respect for the Native Alaskan culture.  Guided by these personal interests, I chose to research Dr. Dyck, who is not only a scientist but has been a Senator of Saskatchewan since she was sworn in on April 12, 2005.

This was a hard population to research as there are not a lot of Canadian Aboriginal women in technology.  Or, more realistically, there aren’t a lot of Canadian Aboriginal women in technology who are recognized for their work.  My eyes were really opened to the history of their struggle and just how much work they have been doing to pave a better road for themselves and their people. 

About being a woman and minority in science, Lillian Dyck had this to say, “I didn’t feel that being a woman or a minority impeded me too much in the early stages of my career, however, as I’ve advanced higher and higher up the ranks of my profession, I have felt that I have had to struggle more than normal to be heard and treated fairly (Maier, 1999).”  She was honored with the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) Lifetime Achievement Award on March 12, 1999.  She stated that, “receiving this award was like receiving validation after many years of struggle” (Maier, 1999). 

Supporting the growing trend of women in technology within her culture, Dr. Dyck said this, “I have always felt it is necessary to get more women and more Aboriginals into the study of science, because once there are enough of us, the way we do science and the questions which we ask will change.  Our communities then will have an opportunity to use science as a tool to solve our own problems…There is a reason and a purpose for my being where I am that goes beyond me. There’s a higher purpose. 

“In any career, the first ones who don’t fit the norm – those of us who are minorities in the workplace – women, Aboriginals, physically disabled – we all have barriers to deconstruct.  These barriers are our challenges.. By meeting them, we make it easier for our successors – the next generation – those who come after us will have fewer barriers to face and it will be easier for them to take their rightful places wherever they choose to be”. (Black, 1999)

Canadian women have been active participants in a broad spectrum of science and technology for several hundred years. Medicine, architecture, engineering, aeronautical, biological and agricultural sciences are among the fields in which these women worked. Many of them faced enormous challenges in their personal and professional lives. Despite these challenges, they have made significant contributions to scientific research, achieved firsts in their fields and furthered the advancement of women in non-traditional areas of activity.

“So why do we know so little about them?” asks Marianne Goszotonyi Ainley in the introduction to Despite the odds: essays on Canadian women and science. In response, Ms. Ainley notes that women have encountered many barriers in their attempts to enter the world of science and technology — including limitations on higher education and career advancement — and that these barriers have been reinforced by stereotypical thinking about appropriate roles for women. As a result, even today, few women hold positions of power in the sciences. While recent statistics on the participation of women in scientific professions show an increase in fields such as medicine, women are still under-represented in professions in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. (Statistics Canada, 2007)

Dr. Lillian Dyck is a person example of this struggle.  Being a woman has added enough of a hardship for her in the science and technology field.  She did not actually identify herself as Indian outwardly until 1981, after she had received her Ph.D.  She felt that no one could see her as less than a white Canadian with that advanced of a degree.  Until then she used only her Chinese heritage for her cultural identity.  (Black, 1999)