Edmonton (Mar 05/04) - Albertine Rodh has been named the recipient of the Wise Woman Award for the Deh Cho region.

She is drawing on all her wisdom and patience to help her through her recovery from a recent fall and head injury.

"It was a terrible fall and it was a drag to get back," she said from Edmonton where she is recuperating.

"I'm battling it. I'm doing good."

Her daughter, Beatrice, submitted her name for the award. The nomination describes her as a, "friend, confidant, care-giver, listener, leader, respected elder and healer."

Rodh grew up in Fort Providence, the daughter of Joe Lafferty and Celine "Granny" Lafferty.

She spoke strictly French until age 13 when she began learning English.

She has gradually been acquiring Slavey skills, a language she was not exposed to as a child because her mother didn't speak it. The nuns forbade it at the time, she explained.

Learning later in life isn't something new to Rodh. She took night classes while raising her children in Fort Simpson, eventually earning her Grade 12 GED.

She has served on many public boards, including the health board. She was also one of the founders of the Native Women's Association in the 1970s.

Over the next few decades, she helped educate women on fetal alcohol syndrome, AIDS and other issues of the day.

"It is still going. It has come a long way since we started," she said, referring to the association's existing educational programs and shelter for abused spouses.

She also tried to find foster homes for children, which was difficult because families often form strong attachments to the newcomer and don't want to let go, she said.

Rodh worked for the Metis Nation for many years, including several years as president of the office in Fort Simpson. Politics begets critics, she acknowledged.

"There are always people who, no matter what you do, it is never good enough," said Rodh. "You can do your very best, but they'll always want a little bit more."

Yet Rodh said she considers herself blessed to have plenty of friends across the NWT. She said has met many other knowledgeable women in her lifetime such as Bertha Allen and Mary Louise Norwegian.