The youngest of eight children, Mae Louise Campbell grew up in the northern Métis community of Kississing Lake watching her father, brothers and sisters fall victim to alcohol addition. Surrounded by addiction and abuse, she knew the devastation would carry through to her adult life. It wasn’t until her fourth of five children was born that her husband quit drinking and exposed her to another kind of life—one without alcohol. It was then, in 1969, that Mae Louise began her process of healing.

“I went on a journey of self-searching, to heal from the pain of my childhood and all I saw and experienced. Alcohol destroys people—I’m very familiar with the destruction and pain of what it does to people,” she says. “When I began to feel strong and recognize my worth, when I discovered I had a voice and wisdom, I knew I could share that with other women.”

What is Beauty?
For many years, the word ‘beauty’ has been misused, maybe even abused. The Hopi Tribe in the United States says ‘when we journey, we journey into the path of the beauty way.’ Beauty is inside of you, not outside. You could be glamorous on the outside, but very angry on the inside. Only when you create and grow with beauty are you truly beautiful.

Four years ago, at age 70, she was asked to be an Elder-in-Residence at Red River College. Today Elders are in great demand, and with many invitations from social service institutions to provide guidance, she felt the youth needed her most. At RRC she guides aboriginal students on their journey through the education system—she knows their struggles and where they are coming from and offers her wisdom. As an Elder-in-Residence she also helps bridge the divide between all students and faculty through traditional cultural teachings. “We’re the fastest-growing population in Manitoba,” she says. “You should get to know us!”

In 1999, she and her daughter Jamie created Grandmother Moon Lodge, a group of cabins in St. Laurent, Manitoba, which she says create an environment where women can escape the detrimental effects of the city, be safe and heal. With nothing but the land and a group of old, dilapidated houses to work with, Mae Louise, her daughter and a group of female volunteers dug underneath the houses, replacing beams and insulation to transform the houses without any government funding.

“We could have possibly got funding for it,” Mae Louise says, “but a sense of being independent stopped us from doing that. Dependency destroyed our people, so we decided to do it totally on our own.”

Since opening 13 years ago, nearly 3,000 women have visited the Grandmother Moon Lodge to cleanse their minds, bodies and spirits, and to take part in the annual women’s gathering, which brings other grandmothers and their teachings to the land. Mae Louise says the experience allows women in distress to heal themselves and understand their identity.

“It’s all about embracing who you are and understanding the true essence of being a woman,” she says.