Indigenous leader, social worker, community activist.
Born on the Fisher River Cree Nation on 19 June 1930, daughter of Elijah and Priscilla Bowers, granddaughter of traditional leader Niigaanilgaabo, she attended the Brandon Indian Residential School and Birtle Indian Residential School. Her experiences drove her lifelong conviction that formal education was a vital tool for Indigenous self-determination and navigation of societal structures. She was a foundational Red River Métis activist, community builder, and social worker whose structural reforms dramatically advanced Indigenous rights, education, and legal protections in Manitoba.
She worked in the social work field, serving with the Manitoba Department of Health and Social Services. In 1958, she co-founded the Winnipeg Indian and Métis Friendship Centre and made the floor motion to formally establish it. In 1967, she was a co-founder of the Manitoba Métis Federation and served on its inaugural Board of Directors while also directing the Education Portfolio until 1974. She co-created the Provincial Court Communicators Program to provide Indigenous legal translation and navigation. She also designed an employment upgrading program later adopted nationally by Canada Manpower, and led the housing study that directly prompted the Lord Selkirk Park Housing Development. She spearheaded the Prince of Wales / Princess Anne Bursary for Métis scholars.
She married Ernest Alvin “Ernie” Guilbault (1925-1996) and they had five daughters.
She died at Winnipeg on 13 June 2013 and was buried in the Glen Eden Memorial Gardens. The Louis Riel Institute later established the Mary Guilbault Métis Award, an annual academic scholarship, for Red River Métis students.
Obituary [Ernest Alvin Guilbault], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 September 1996, page 29.
Honouring our elders and community trailblazers: The educational legacy of Mary Guilbault, Aboriginal Education Research Forum (AERF), 2013.
Obituary [Mary Jane Guilbault], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 June 2013.
Mary Guilbault (1930-2013), Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture, Louis Riel Institute, no date.
Marion Meadmore, Mary Guilbault, and Dorothy Betz: Celebrating Indigenous women’s leadership in the early years of the Friendship Centre movement and beyond, The Discover Blog, Library and Archives Canada, 27 June 2024.
Mary Guilbault Métis Award 2026/2027, Louis Riel Institute, no date.
This page was prepared by Nichola Doran.
Page revised: 1 November 2026
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