Carol Couchie | Ojibway – Nipissing First Nation in Northern Ontario

Heal

Carol Mercedes Couchie is a Nishnawbe kwe (Ojibway woman) and a member of Nipissing First Nation. She is the eldest daughter of Wilfred Couchie, niece of Edna Lewis, granddaughter of Margret Chevier, and great-granddaughter of Maggie Beaucage. Her father was born in a place called K’Tigaaning, translated as “In a Garden,” and today, it is called Garden Village. The family lived in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Carol grew up hearing her father tell the border officers at the New York state border that he was born on the Garden Village Indian reservation. He wanted to make it clear to border services that he could not be prevented from crossing unless they had a good reason.

The impacts of colonization left Carol feeling that she and her family were like refugees, disconnected from the community and extended family. They kept some ties and relationships largely because of her non-native mother, who understood the importance of kindness, generosity, and hospitality. Her Nishnawbe father worked hard to show them unwavering respect for the power of women. Their home was always open and welcoming for anyone who wanted to visit. But things were far from perfect. Carol adored her father, but he suffered from addictions and trauma. Trauma visited her mother and aunt also. Both had lost children for no real reason other than violence and intolerance. It is what happened to her Aunt Edna and her mother that drives Carol every day to continue her work to support women, particularly birthing women and young families, because they are some of the most vulnerable in society.

Carol’s life has been dedicated to reconnecting family to who they are as Anishinaabe people. In addition to being a mother and a grandmother, Carol believes the most significant privilege of her life is doing birth work. She understands midwives hold the future in their hands. They stand at the door of a sacred lodge and watch as the world changes with each birth. For many years, she could only assist one family at a time by learning her craft, teaching her hands to be intelligent, and learning how to hold the sacred space of Birth. Now in her work, she can teach the next generation of midwives, support sister midwives, and reconnect whole communities to the sacredness and the ceremony that is Birth and what it means to Indigenous Peoples and their cultures and customs. Carol tells us, “This will be my work until I can no longer speak or think.”

A graduate of Ryerson University’s inaugural midwifery class, Carol became one of Canada’s first two registered Indigenous midwives in 1998. Together with her daughter Rachel Dennis-Couchie, she helped found K’Tigaaning Midwives, an Indigenous-focused midwifery practice and birth center. In her twenty years as a midwife, she has attended some 800 births in Ontario, northern Manitoba, and northern Quebec. She is a founding member and previous co-chair of the National Council of Indigenous Midwives, established in 2008 as a platform for the collective voices of Indigenous women throughout Canada working toward the restoration of midwifery in their communities. Today, Carol serves NCIM as its Resilience and Mentorship leader.

In addition to being a mother and a grandmother, Carol believes the most significant privilege of her life is doing birth work. She believes midwives hold the future in their hands. They stand at the door of a sacred lodge and watch as the world changes with each birth.