Jean Folster

Jean Folster was a Canadian community worker and the first woman to become the chief of the Norway House Cree Nation. She was also the first Indigenous woman appointed as a magistrate in Manitoba. Born in 1922, she was the daughter of a trapper and was widowed at a young age. She sewed bridal attire to support her eight children. Aware of the financial challenges of being a widowed mother, she opened the first family services organisation in a First Nations community and became a social worker and welfare official for her band in the 1960s. She served as the vice president of the Manitoba Indian Women's Association from its founding in 1970.