Student Spotlight
Grace’s Legacy
Posted on Mar 18, 2022
CDLI is honoured to pay tribute to Grace Voisey. Grace was a CDLI student in 2020/21 while receiving cancer treatment for Leukemia at the Janeway Children’s Hospital, in St John’s. Sadly, Grace lost her battle with Cancer in July of 2021. She was 16 years old.
For 16 years, Grace had an immense impact on the people around her and including those she had never met. She was known, near and far, as a loyal friend and confidant. During her sickest days and darkest times, she made time for others and always made those in her physical and virtual circle feel important and heard. A friend said, “She was a great friend and even greater person”.
Aside from being a great friend, Grace was a great endorser of and protector of her Inuit culture. So much was her love of her culture that she was planning to get a traditional Inuit tattoo. She also planned to spend as much time as possible in her beloved Makkovik, Labrador. Grace worked diligently to learn about her culture and traditions so that she could share this knowledge with others. This pride of culture led Grace to serve as a Page in the Nunatsiavut Assembly, to learn and teach beading, and to incorporate Inuit Drum Dancing into her competitive dance routines.
While small in stature, Grace was large in spirit and passion. Not only did Grace represent and share her culture through dance, Grace used the dance medium to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). She also was knowledgeable and vocal about the issues surrounding Residential Schooling and the Federal Government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. At 16, Grace was an activist and leader without even knowing it.
Her impact was so greatly felt that Mealy Mountain Collegiate, in Happy Valley Goose Bay, created “Grace Voisey Kindness Week”. The week was used to advocate, celebrate and educate the school and greater community on issues and topics near and dear to Grace. Students from her CDLI class also participated by completing a “Random Act of Kindness” in her honour and memory. Grace’s life and memory has truly had a ripple effect on her school, community and this province; her kindness has inspired kindness in others and that is something that would make her very proud.
Grace Voisey, at 16, was a beautiful daughter, a proud Inuk, and a graceful dancer. She was an activist and an amazing beader. She could rock a blond wig like nobody's business and she loved her ‘land’. Most importantly, she will always be remembered through the lives of those she touched as a kind and amazing friend.
You have no idea what your legacy will be because your legacy is
- Maya Angelo
every life you touch.
#LiveLikeGrace
Written collaboratively by Mrs. Cindy Giffin and the CDLI English 2201 class
Video 1 - https://www.facebook.com/100008065095999/videos/2306538802958267/?
Video 2 - https://www.facebook.com/100008065095999/videos/2812454419033367/?