UofT student marks history as the first female First Nations Rhodes Scholar
Iakoiehwáhtha Patton is joining the select club of Rhodes Scholars, and the even fewer Indigenous academics to receive the prestigious scholarship—but her path is uniquely her own.
“I’m still taking it all in, it still feels very surreal,” the University of Toronto student told CTV News.
Patton, who goes by Iako, moved to Toronto to study art history. The first thing she did on Saturday when she got the news was call her mom in Kahnawake, the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community outside Montreal.
“My phone rang and I ran outside and she was crying and screaming and she was saying ‘I’m a Rhodes scholar!’ And I was like, oh my god,” Andrea Clair Meloche said. “We couldn't talk, neither of us could speak.”
The call came at the last minute: Patton’s final interview was Saturday, and she was told she would be notified of the selection committee’s decision that night between 5 and 8p.m. The call came at 7:45pm.
Patton says her parents and grandparents instilled in her the importance of education, and made it a priority.
“I was expecting a lot out of her, but she - she overshot,” said her father James Patton, with a smile.
Few Indigenous scholars have been selected for the Rhodes Scholarship. A Metis woman and two Indigenous men have been selected in recent years, but Patton says she believes she would be the first First Nations woman from Canada to join the Rhodes ranks.
As a student of history and an Indigenous woman, Patton says the historical baggage part of the Rhodes Scholarship legacy isn’t lost on her—its namesake, Cecil Rhodes, colonized Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
Patton says it makes her selection and the doors it opens all the more significant.
“It's more than just me, it's more than just a responsibility to myself, but a responsibility I have to my community,” she said. It's a responsibility that I hold for other indigenous scholars and to carve that space.”
Patton, whose biography reports she likes to deadlift and re-read The Hobbit when she isn’t challenging academia, is letting the future after Oxford be an open canvas. All she knows is she wants to pursue her Ph.D.
“Every professor […] every person I have talked to about the Rhodes Scholarship has told me that this opportunity opens doors to things that I can't even imagine,” she said.
As someone who knows a lot about art, she can imagine quite a bit—and achieve even more.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Russia announces nuclear weapon drills after angry exchange with senior Western officials
Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening.
Summer forecast: What to expect as El Nino weakens
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza.