DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN - After 30 years advocating for aboriginal women in the North and across the nation, Gina Dolphus has been recognized in her own right.

Deline's Gina Dolphus, a longtime women's and social justice advocate, has been chosen as a Wise Woman for 2010. - Photo courtesy of Gina Dolphus

The NWT Status of Women Council has selected the Deline grandmother as a recipient of the 2010 Wise Woman award for the Sahtu. Dolphus, who recently served as a member of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie gas pipeline, will head down to Yellowknife early next month to formally receive the award along with four other women from across the territory.

"I was happy but I was surprised because I didn't even know I was nominated," said Dolphus from her home in Deline, where she was born and raised.

She went on to raise a family of her own there with her husband of nearly 40 years and has five children and nine grandchildren.

Her family came before her political and social justice aspirations, but Dolphus - formerly a mayor of Deline, president of the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories, vice president of Native Women of Canada, and a community drug and alcohol counsellor - said she was inspired at a young age by her elders, especially the strong older women who weren't afraid to speak their minds.

"I always wanted to be like them, but how was I going to do that?" she said, explaining she was able to succeed by "listening, reading, and looking at (my) community."

So, armed with her own research about what was happening in other communities across Canada and internationally, Dolphus first entered local politics in 1983.

"I thought I could make a difference and get recognition for other women in the Sahtu," she said.

And she has.

"I get a lot of compliments from youth saying, 'you're a role model,'" she laughs. "It's really good to be part of something that you yourself might not recognize but other people see."

One of Dolphus' proudest moments came after she quit drinking in 1996 and began doing social work and counselling others in her community, which she still gets involved with when she has a chance.

For now, though, after finishing her service with the Joint Review Panel, "I'm just trying to relax for a bit," she said.

She plans to pick up her traditional sewing again and bake a lot more now that she doesn't have to travel as often. But she's still looking for a full-time project, something to which she can devote herself to, within her community as she aims to live up to wise words elder Joe Naedzo shared with her before he died in the 1990s.

"He said, 'you're going to be recognized in the future, so take care of your people and look after yourself,'" Dolphus remembered. "I had no idea what he was talking about...but maybe this is it."

As for long-term future plans, Dolphus says she's prepared for anything that comes her way.

"If I don't find full-time work, I'd like to get back into politics," she said.

"If there's something for me in the future, I'm ready."