Donald Marshall Jr., of Membertou , N.S., hugs his mother, Caroline, in 2003.Vaughan Merchant/The Canadian Press
Caroline Marshall-Hobbs, a Mi'kmaq woman known as a source of strength for her community when her son was wrongfully imprisoned and First Nations struggled for aboriginal rights, has died at the age of 86.
Caroline Marshall-Hobbs died on Dec. 24 in Sydney, N.S. She was the mother of the late Donald Marshall Jr., whose wrongful conviction as a 17-year-old for a murder he did not commit brought scrutiny to Nova Scotia's justice system.
Cheryl Maloney, president of the Nova Scotia Aboriginal Women's Association, said Ms. Marshall-Hobbs will be remembered for her quiet strength during her son's 11-year imprisonment, and for the support she provided to her husband, Donald Marshall Sr., who served as Mi'kmaq grand chief for almost three decades before his death in 1991.
"She carried that dignity, that class through some of the most horrific times that a mother could imagine," Ms. Maloney said. "She and her husband, the grand chief, they carried the nation."
Ms. Maloney said Ms. Marshall-Hobbs assisted her husband as they lobbied for improved Mi'kmaq rights when funding for aboriginal groups was much lower. "They led when we had nothing," she said. "She was a matriarch not just by her husband's side but by the nation's side... They went to all the communities and they led with such class at a time her own son was incarcerated."
Donald Marshall Jr. was released from prison in 1982; he died in August, 2009, after complications from a 2003 double lung transplant.
Ms. Maloney noted that Ms. Marshall-Hobbs helped guide Donald Jr. when he launched a legal challenge after being charged in 1993 with fishing eels out of season. The resulting Supreme Court of Canada decision in his favour found that the Mi'kmaq have the right to harvest and sell fish to sustain a moderate livelihood for their families.
As leaders in the community of Membertou, the Marshall family was often expected to provide food and assistance to the less fortunate. Ms. Maloney said it was a role that Ms. Marshall-Hobbs embraced, welcoming visitors from distant communities along with neighbours seeking help. She was a recipient of the Membertou Citizen of the Year Award and the Atlantic Aboriginal Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ms. Marshall-Hobbs will also be remembered as a woman of faith who maintained and encouraged the Mi'kmaq language and the traditional arts, such as basket making, Ms. Maloney said. "There's a strength and leadership with our women," she said. "But it's a quiet strength. It's a quiet leadership and she portrays it beautifully."
Ms. Marshall-Hobbs, who was predeceased by her second husband, John Hobbs, leaves 11 children, 36 grandchildren and extended family.