INUVIK - It was a final tribute to a woman who fought throughout her life for a healthier community.

Bertha Allen was a respected Gwich'in leader after whom a $3.4 million seniors housing building has been named in Inuvik. - NNSL file photo

The Bertha Allen Apartments, a seniors residence on Kingmingya Drive, was officially opened just before Christmas.

"She fought long and hard for many years to have a home where elders could be together," said Allen's daughter Shirley Kisoun. "This was her dream."

Allen died in May.

The $3.4 million apartments, managed by the Inuvik Housing Authority, include eight fully subsidized one-bedroom suites for seniors. Washroom, bedroom, kitchen and living area are all included. Two of the units are fully wheelchair accessible.

"It was badly needed," said minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Robert McLeod. "Bertha was a lady we all had a lot of respect for - she'd been involved in a lot of things for a long time."

Born in Old Crow, Yukon, in 1934, Allen came into a world that was rapidly changing for Canada's aboriginal people. Early on she took up the banner as a community leader. She was a founding member of the Native Women's Association, instrumental in the Native Women's Training Centre along with the Northwest Territories Arts and Crafts Society and an Inuvik town councillor in her early years.

"She was a great leader," said Kisoun. "Whether Inuvialuit, Gwich'in, from another community or territory, man or woman, she was there to help."

One of her proudest struggles was with other community members in the early 1960s to create Inuvik's first subdivision - a co-operative housing program that saw materials donated by government and labour provided by the community.

On Co-op Hill, as it came to be known, Bertha Allen raised her eight children (two of whom pre-deceased her).

During her 75 years, Allen's leadership didn't go unnoticed - she was awarded membership in the Order of Canada and won the Aboriginal Achievement Award.

"It would have meant a lot to her," said Kisoun of having the apartments named after her mother. "She used to say to the other elders, see you someday at the new home."

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