Williams awarded Order of Canada

When Dr. Kona Williams received an email in the spring saying she would be a recipient of the Order of Canada, she was sure it was some kind of mistake, or maybe even a scam.

Still, she decided to answer the email; she received another asking for a phone call.

“I was thinking that they were going to be asking me for somebody else, something like ‘would you recommend this person,’ and I have this shortlist in my head of people they should name,” said Williams.

When the person on the phone confirmed to Williams that she, in fact, was receiving the Order of Canada, she was flabbergasted.

“What the heck did I do? That was a total shock,” said Williams.

“It doesn’t quite feel real. I’m getting all these congratulations, and I keep thinking to myself, ‘I’m still a girl that walks into closed doors and trips up stairs.’”

Even though it has been a few months between receiving the news and it being publicly announced, it still has not quite set in for her, she said.

“From a technical standpoint, I understand that it’s in writing, but in terms of processing it, I’m still doing that,” said Williams.

Her list of accomplishments is long: she was the first Indigenous person in Canada to be a forensic pathologist after completing her medical studies, her anatomical pathology residency, and a fellowship at the University of Toronto; she was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials, which helped Indigenous communities locate, identify, and memorialize missing children who died in residential schools; she was named the new section chair in pathology at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine; and she is currently working on her MBA (Master of Business Administration) while still working in forensic pathology.

“I figure that this is a good time in my life, where I’m very comfortable with the work that I do. It’s time for a new challenge,” said Williams of her MBA pursuit.

She hopes that this recognition could help Indigenous youth pursue the field of pathology.

“Let’s use this momentum and let’s do good things with it. That is what I am really hoping for,” said Williams.

“The whole point of existing is making sure that the gifts that you have are given to other people.”

Williams said that this award wasn’t just her accomplishment; it is the accomplishment of everyone who supported her in her efforts to get to this point in her career.

“Thank you to the community in Kahnawake, my dad’s community (Peguis First Nation in Manitoba), all the First Nations across Canada, who looked at me and said ‘there’s something here, I think she’s going to do it, so let’s lift her up,’” said Williams.

“It is possible. I’ve done it, and I’m not the smartest person in the world. It’s a lot of hard work, it requires a lot of determination, but it is possible. By doing it and going through it, you learn so much and you grow so much, and then you can take that and just give it back. That’s so important.”

A ceremony will be held in Ottawa with other Order of Canada recipients, although the date is as of yet not known.

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