"Even as she acquired awards and accolades, she never became complacent. She continued to fight for Indigenous sovereignty and reject the hypocrisy of a nation more interested in talking about reconciliation than enacting it. She was a fierce critic of appropriation, indifference, ignorance, and all the other subtler methods of colonial violence that continue to oppress Indigenous people. She made readers and listeners confront their complicity; she refused to be silent. Perhaps this is why so many obituaries have referred to her as “combative” or “aggressive”; I think it’s more accurate to say she was a tireless critic of injustice, puncturing the national self-image of Canadians as nice people."