{"id":104931,"date":"2026-05-21T08:21:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104931"},"modified":"2026-05-21T08:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T12:24:15","slug":"louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Riel division hires Manitoba&#8217;s first Indigenous woman superintendent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press The new leader of the Louis Riel School Division is a M\u00e9tis teacher who has \u2014 not unlike the founder of Manitoba \u2014 dedicated much of her life to supporting Indigenous families. Jackie Connell has been named the incoming superintendent and chief executive officer of the St. Vital-based board office in charge of educating 17,000 students. The board of trustees announced her historic appointment, which begins Aug. 4, late Tuesday. \u201cI feel Indigenous women are inherently built to lead. I don\u2019t know that education systems always see or honour that leadership,\u201d Connell said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cAnd so, I am honestly so grateful to the board.\u201d The 45-year-old is currently the inaugural assistant deputy minister of Indigenous Excellence, a&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F21%2Flouis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press The new leader of the Louis Riel School Division is a M\u00e9tis teacher who has \u2014 not unlike the founder of Manitoba \u2014 dedicated much of her life to supporting Indigenous families. Jackie Connell has been named the incoming superintendent and chief executive officer of the St. Vital-based board office in charge of educating 17,000 students. The board of trustees announced her historic appointment, which begins Aug. 4, late Tuesday. \u201cI feel Indigenous women are inherently built to lead. I don\u2019t know that education systems always see or honour that leadership,\u201d Connell said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cAnd so, I am honestly so grateful to the board.\u201d The 45-year-old is currently the inaugural assistant deputy minister of Indigenous Excellence, a... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F21%2Flouis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Louis Riel division hires Manitoba&#039;s first Indigenous woman superintendent - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louis Riel division hires Manitoba&#039;s first Indigenous woman superintendent - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press The new leader of the Louis Riel School Division is a M\u00e9tis teacher who has \u2014 not unlike the founder of Manitoba \u2014 dedicated much of her life to supporting Indigenous families. Jackie Connell has been named the incoming superintendent and chief executive officer of the St. Vital-based board office in charge of educating 17,000 students. The board of trustees announced her historic appointment, which begins Aug. 4, late Tuesday. \u201cI feel Indigenous women are inherently built to lead. I don\u2019t know that education systems always see or honour that leadership,\u201d Connell said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cAnd so, I am honestly so grateful to the board.\u201d The 45-year-old is currently the inaugural assistant deputy minister of Indigenous Excellence, a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T12:21:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T12:24:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/21\\\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/21\\\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Louis Riel division hires Manitoba&#8217;s first Indigenous woman superintendent\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T12:21:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-21T12:24:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/21\\\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":644,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/21\\\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/21\\\/louis-riel-division-hires-manitobas-first-indigenous-woman-superintendent\\\/\",\"name\":\"Louis Riel division hires Manitoba's first Indigenous woman superintendent - 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