1 UBC alumni
awarded the 2024
Indspire Awards
June 2025
The Indspire Awards is an acclamation of Indigenous leaders of all generations who demonstrate outstanding career achievement, promote self-esteem and pride for Indigenous communities, and serve as inspirational role models. 2025 marks the 32nd anniversary of the Awards, a testament to the enduring commitment of Indigenous peoples to pursuing excellence in multiple fields of endeavour.
This year, there is one UBC alum among the Indspire Award Recipients (Laureates).
Michelle Good, LLB 1999, MFA 2014| Red Pheasant Cree Nation, SK
Award category: Arts
“Hope is really all we have…If we abandon hope then where will our energies be fired from? It has to be hope for the future, hope for the coming generations.”
Whether she’s in court, writing, or on a book tour, Michelle Good is fiercely committed to pursuing truth. A Sixties Scoop survivor, Good worked for Indigenous organizations for twenty-five years before obtaining a law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1999, graduating with the highest marks in her Indigenous Law program. She promptly began to represent residential school survivors in legal settings, ensuring that they were offered support, safety and understanding in their pursuit of justice.
Good opened her own law practice and also served as legal counsel for various institutions. While still practicing law and managing her own firm, she earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. She has also taught as a sessional instructor at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) and holds honorary doctorates from Simon Fraser University and the University of the Fraser Valley.
Good is the author of Five Little Indians, a novel, and Truth Telling, a nonfiction collection of conversations about the realities of Indigenous life in Canada. Both nationally bestselling works received multiple awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award (Fiction) and the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Five Little Indians won Canada Reads 2022 and has been translated into multiple languages. Good’s poems, short stories, and essays have been published in magazines and anthologies across Canada.
Summary
Michelle Good, a Sixties Scoop survivor from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, SK, has had a distinguished career in law and literature. After working for Indigenous organizations for 25 years, she earned a law degree from UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, graduating with the highest marks in her Indigenous Law program. She represented residential school survivors, ensuring their pursuit of justice was met with support and understanding. Good also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and has taught at UBC Okanagan. Her literary works, including the award-winning novel Five Little Indians and nonfiction collection Truth Telling, have received national acclaim. Additionally, she has honorary doctorates from Simon Fraser University and the University of the Fraser Valley, highlighting her contributions to education and advocacy for Indigenous communities.
