Indigenous advocate from Montreal turns down coronation medal from King Charles

For more than two decades, Na’kuset has served as executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. She is well known in Montreal for her work helping homeless Indigenous people, particularly women. It was because of this work that she was nominated for King Charles III’s coronation medal. But she refuses to accept it. She explains to APTN News, “King Charles is the oppressor. So how do you take an award from an oppressor? I don’t know how to, so I would prefer not to.” Na’kuset is also the founder of Resilience Montreal, a shelter for homeless people primarily serving the unhoused Indigenous community near Cabot Square in the west end of the city’s downtown. When Na’kuset considers the poverty, addiction, and distress affecting the community she serves, she believes that the Crown itself bears the burden of responsibility. “There’s so much harm that has happened because of the Crown,” she says. “And we are still struggling. It makes no sense to receive an award. Na’kuset argues that accepting the award also contradicts the spirit and intent of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) she is organizing next year, which will investigate human rights violations related to missing children and unmarked graves. That project aims to hold the Canadian government and the Crown accountable for their roles in the genocide perpetrated in Indian residential schools. “The PPT is going to happen in May of 2026,” she says, “so it would feel very strange to serve him with an indictment and then take an award. No, it’s no, I can’t, can’t do it. I can’t. I can’t.” Senator Michèle Audette, former president of both Quebec Native Women and the Native Women’s Association of Canada, nominated Na’kuset for the award. Audette told APTN National News that she respects Na’kuset’s decision to refuse the award. “One of my colleagues got the award,” Na’kuset says. “And I was like, ‘When you go, can you ask them for land back? Because that’s what we want.” For Na’kuset, the path to reconciliation doesn’t lead through awards from the King of England. “What I would prefer,” she says, “is to have more action from the crown to mend all the harms they’ve done.” Continue Reading