Elder Claudette Commanda is an Algonquin Anishinabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation in Quebec. A University of Ottawa alumna (Common Law and Arts), she has spent over 35 years promoting First Nations history, culture, and rights through education and public speaking.
She teaches at the University of Ottawa across multiple faculties, including Law, Education, and Women’s Studies, delivering courses on First Nations women, Indigenous traditions, and decolonization. Claudette is also CEO of the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres, which works to preserve First Nations languages and knowledge.
She has served on the Kitigan Zibi Band Council and the Board of Governors for the First Nations University of Canada. In 2017, she became the first First Nation Elder in Residence for the Faculty of Law and the first Indigenous person appointed to the University of Ottawa’s Board of Governors. In 2022, she became the university’s first Indigenous Chancellor.
Claudette is a proud mother of four and grandmother of ten. She has received numerous honors, including the 2020 INDSPIRE Award and the 2024 King Charles III Coronation Medal for her national and international advocacy for First Nations rights and languages.