This award honors Vernon Yellowhead, a passionate advocate of environmental stewardship and Indigenous knowledge.
Vernon was a direct descendant of Chief William Yellowhead and carried the title of Hereditary Chief of the Reindeer (or caribou) Clan.
While Vernon passed away in the Fall of 2018, this award was created to honour his legacy. Two students pursuing work in the areas of environmental stewardship or Indigenous knowledge will receive $6,000 each. This award is offered annually and open to all Indigenous students.
The Vernon Yellowhead award is made possible by Lori Yellowhead, Allison Urowitz and TMU’s PACE program. Learn more about the inspiration for this award in this article, New award extends Yellowhead legacy.
- Be registered as an Undergraduate, Graduate, Continuing Education or First Nations Technical Institute student at Toronto Met University and have clear academic standing;
- Identify as an Indigenous person in Canada (including First Nations [status or non-status], Metis, or Inuit)
Apply for this award via AwardSpring. You will need to complete a general application first. Once you have filled out the general application, the award will appear on your AwardSpring “Dashboard” for Follow-Up completion. Here, you will be required to submit the following:
Written Statement / Audio / Video File: The written statement should outline, in less than 1000 words, the applicant’s commitment to environmental stewardship and/or Indigenous knowledge and how their academic and/or community work contributes to these areas. If a student chooses, audio and video files (no more than 10 mins) can be submitted in the place of a written statement.
Reference Letter: The Reference Letter should be written by a member of the Indigenous community (reserve, urban, an organization, etc.) that the applicant identifies with. The letter writer should claim the applicant and support their application with reference to their community or academic work revolving around environmental stewardship or Indigenous knowledge.
Application Deadline: To be Announced.
For questions about the award application and requirements, please email info@yellowheadinstitute.org.
For questions about the award platform, please email awards@torontomu.ca
