Bev Sellars facts for kids

Bev Sellars is a writer from the Xat'sull First Nation. She wrote an award-winning book called They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School. This book shares her personal experiences from when she attended a residential school.

Bev Sellars has also served for a long time as the Chief of the Xat'sull (Soda Creek) First Nation.

About Bev Sellars

Bev Sellars is married to Bill Wilson. She was born in 1955 in Soda Creek, British Columbia.

Her Education

When she was young, Bev Sellars went to the St. Joseph's Residential School in Williams Lake, British Columbia. Residential schools were places where Indigenous children were sent, often far from their families and cultures.

Later, she studied history at the University of Victoria. She also studied law at the University of British Columbia. In 2016-2017, the University of Victoria recognized her as a "Distinguished Alumnus." This means she was honored for her important achievements after graduating.

Her Work as a Leader

Bev Sellars was the chief of the Xat'sull First Nation in Soda Creek, British Columbia, from 1987 to 1993. She served as chief again from 2009 to 2015.

She also worked as an advisor for the British Columbia Treaty Commission. This group helps make agreements between the government and First Nations in British Columbia.

Her Books and Advocacy

In 1991, Bev Sellars spoke at a big meeting about residential schools. She shared her experiences and talked about how these schools affected First Nations people for many years. Her speech was later included in a book by Elizabeth Furniss.

In 2012, Bev Sellars published her own book, "They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School." In this book, she tells about her childhood at St. Joseph's Residential School. She also explains how those experiences still affect her and her family today. Her book helped show the difficult challenges faced by children in the Canadian Indian residential school system.

Her book won the 2014 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness. It was also a finalist for the 2014 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.

In 2014, a dam broke at the Mount Polley mine. Bev Sellars was the acting chief of Xat'sull at that time. Since then, she has worked to highlight the issues between mining companies and First Nations communities in British Columbia and across Canada. She speaks about the effects of the Mount Polley spill on her community. She also warns other communities about possible dangers from mining.

In 2016, she published another book called "Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival." This book looks at the history of Indigenous rights in Canada from an Indigenous point of view.

Bev Sellars is also involved with groups like First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining. She is a Senior Leader of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative.

Awards and Recognitions

Bev Sellars' book They Called Me Number One was very popular. It stayed on the British Columbia Bestsellers list for 44 weeks after it was published in 2013.

The book was also a finalist for several other awards:

• First Nation Communities READ – Periodical Marketers of Canada Aboriginal Literature award (2017–2018)
• Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (2014)
• Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature (2014)

The University of Victoria, where she earned her history degree in 1997, honored her as a Distinguished Alumni for 2016-2017.

In 2017, CBC Books listed They Called Me Number One as one of 15 important books by Indigenous writers that people should read.