A 2017 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award recipient, Cameron Adams continues to be a shining example of our program’s vision and mandate. Cameron graduated from the University of Winnipeg in June and was named Valedictorian, which he considers a capstone in his academic journey. He received two degrees, a Bachelor of Education in History and a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Languages, and is grateful for the relationships he built during his time on campus and considers them a highlight of his program. 

This fall Cameron will be attending McGill University in Montreal as a McCall McBain Scholar. Cameron is one of 30 recipients of the first global cohort of the McCall McBain Scholarship. The scholarship will cover a 2-year master’s program at McGill and will also support Cameron with a living stipend. Additionally, he will be provided with mentoring and advising and will be given opportunities to build his leadership skills. In August, he will be attending a weeklong teambuilding retreat in Montreal to get to know his colleagues before his Master of Arts in Indigenous Language Revitalization begins in the fall.  He will also be taking history courses during this time. Cameron plans on tying these together to understand how history around the world can interconnect with indigenous languages.  

While preparing to leave for Montreal, Cameron has worked at the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre transcribing elder stories from Cree to English and standardizing the written language to allow these teachings to reach a broader audience. For the second time this year, he was also able to spend a week in Grand Rapids building and strengthening relationships while visiting with elders and speaking Cree.  

Cameron has also created an application, Swampy Cree, which is a tool and resource for translating and speaking the Cree Language. He is working on uploading the audio and written material from the application to a dictionary software program with the goal of creating an extensive dictionary of Swampy Cree as a resource to improve our literacy as a nation.  

Cameron has been involved with Habitat for Humanity since the age of sixteen. While the pandemic has limited the organization’s work globally, there have been discussions about doing Habitat builds in indigenous communities in Canada. Cameron looks forward to aiding those in need by potentially taking on the role of Build Leader in the future as he marks his tenth year of involvement with the organization. 

As a child raised by a single mother in Manitoba, the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award was of great importance to Cameron as it relieved the financial burden associated with the first leg of his post-secondary education and enabled him to continue his humanitarian work in the community. His advice to those considering applying for the scholarship is to put themselves out there, continue working hard and contribute to the community.  

2017 Recipient Biography

Cameron Adams

Cameron is from Gimili, Manitoba where he attended Gimili High School. He has always been involved with volunteering, but he realized his true passion for humanitarian work in grade 8 when he began knitting toques for the homeless. Cameron joined his school’s Social Justice Club and became involved with Habitat for Humanity, where he went to El Salvador in 2014 to help build a house. He has completed two more humanitarian trips on his own since and fundraised by knitting and selling toques. In Gimli, he helped build the first house with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2016. In the fall of 2017, he will be attending the University of Winnipeg where he will be pursuing a double major in Indigenous Studies and Human Rights. Cameron has had two brain surgeries and has worked hard to overcome the challenges associated with these surgeries.