The life of a woman considered to be one of “the last nomadic Labrador Innu mothers” was honoured in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Mary Adela Penashue passed away last week at the age of 98.

Lake Melville MHA Keith Russell rose in the House of Assembly to pay tribute to the woman.

Russell says Penashue was born in 1928, at a time when “the Innu way of life was lived fully and freely.”

Russell says Penashue witnessed a lot of change in her lifetime, noting that as a young girl she made the journey from Natuashish to Sheshatshiu with other Innu on foot.

It was in that community that she met her husband and had a “very large family.” The MHA says that through it all, Penashue remained grounded in Innu values.

Member of the legislature stood for a sustained period of applause in Penashue’s memory.