Donor Spotlight: Dr. Shauneen Pete on behalf of The Pete Family

The Jacob Pete Award for the Advancement of our Nations

Shauneen, Charlene & Jeff Pete established this one-time $5000 scholarship in conjunction with the First Nations University of Canada to help provide students with the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education and to encourage careers in Indigenous Studies.

The late, Jacob Pete (1941 – 2020) was from Little Pine First Nation in Treaty 6 Territory. His parents were Myra and Ernest Pete. They had ten children. Jacob was the second oldest son, and like many of his siblings, he attended residential school. Jacob attended the Indian Residential School in Lebret, Saskatchewan. Upon graduation, he attended the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) training depot in Regina. He served in detachments in Manitoba and Alberta. He later became a student at the University of Regina, before enrolling in the Faculty of Law at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). He was one of the first students in the new Native Law Program (U of S).

Because of his policing experience, he was invited by First Nations in Ontario and Alberta to help develop their community-based police programs. He also provided advise on Indigenous recruitment to the RCMP.

His skills as a writer and researcher meant that First Nations often reached out to him. As a management consultant, he was called to help them advance their goals of self-determination. He wrote briefing documents, funding proposals and organizational plans on matters associated with housing, sustainability, community-safety, governance, membership policies, First Nations business cases, wellness centre programs, entrepreneurship, water quality, land management, and many other topics of concern. He was also an avid reader. You can be assured that if you wrote a master’s thesis or dissertation on themes associated with self-determination or sovereignty, he probably requested a copy, read it, and made extensive notes in the margins. In his conversations with his children and grandchildren, he always promoted higher education as a necessary step toward achieving Indigenous independence. He believed that education offered us one avenue for disrupting the effects of ongoing colonialism. It is with these ideas in mind, that Charlene, Jeff, and I offer this award to a First Nations University of Canada graduating student. On behalf of our late father, and our families, we want to acknowledge the way in which you are promoting First Nations self-determination through your actions and your vision for transformed First Nations. We trust that you will continue to contribute to the transformations that our nations deserve. All our relations.

One time donation for two $2,500 scholarships

• Applicants must be of Indigenous ancestry (First Nations, Metis, or Inuit).
• Applicants graduating from the Indigenous Studies program will be given preference.
• Exemplify commitments to advancing sovereignty, self-determination, and Indigenous resurgence (language and cultural revitalization).
• The award deadline of October 31 and February 28.
• The scholarship selection will be based on academic merit.

Scholarship Applications through AwardSpring opened September 22, 2025.