Dawn Murphy, also known as Delta Dawn, upon seeing her section in the BC Sports Hall of Fame. All photos courtesy Dawn Murphy

By Tommy Osborne

Professional Wrestler

Former pro-wrestler from Prince George to be featured at Vancouver International Film Festival

Sep 27, 2024 | 3:19 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Dawn Murphy, also known as Princess Delta Dawn in the wrestling ring, will be featured at the Vancouver International Film Festival this weekend in a documentary highlighting her career. While her prolific career is reason enough for a documentary, it will also showcase her personal journey of growth, resilience, and reconnecting with her Lheidli T’enneh roots.

“When I started wrestling in Tokyo, my cultural aspect really came into focus for me, and I was able to really pull out this this person that I’ve hid for so many years,” she said.

“I was always intimidated and worried about my Indigenous side and whether or not people accepted it, so when I was able to bring this out into the ring and really showcase my background and who I am, I was able to be who I wanted to be when I stepped into that ring,” she continued.

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Princess Delta Dawn rose to fame in the 1980s and 90s as a fan favourite wrestler due to her charisma and flashy moves. She became the first Indigenous woman wrestler and the first Canadian woman wrestler to compete in Japan. Her Lheidli T’enneh roots became a huge part of her wrestling persona and her life, but she explained it wasn’t always this way for her.

“It made me realize that there was a piece of me that was missing. And when I started learning who that was and my background of my ancestral people that were before me and them giving me the strength, it is absolutely important.”

Her journey of rediscovering her roots is one that rings true for many Indigenous people who have had to struggle against anxiety over your identity, and having gone through that struggle herself Murphy hopes to pave the way forward for the next generation to grow up and embrace their heritage, so they won’t have to struggle with the repression and later discover she went through.

“If they do not know where they come from and their culture, it does hinder their future and their progress because they are not knowing who they really are,” she said.

“In my wrestling career, I always wanted my Nation or my culture to follow me into the ring,” she continued.

Murphy’s impressive wrestling career and the historic milestones she accomplished earned her a spot in the BC Hall of Fame, which was special not only as a celebration of her own personal achievements, but also a celebration of Indigenous culture.

“It is absolutely beautiful the showcases that they’ve (the BC Sports Hall of Fame) made. And part of the work that BC Sports Hall of Fame has done is that they followed Truth and Reconciliation and all of the guiding principles of what’s come out of Truth and Reconciliation. So when they inducted me, part of their vision of why they were doing it is they were following that Truth and Reconciliation, and they were doing it in the power of reconciliation by honoring Indigenous youth and the successes that they are doing,” she said.

Princess Delta Dawn’s section at the BC Hall of Fame

With her documentary premiering this Saturday and Sunday in Vancouver, Dawn adds she’s incredibly proud of her roots and can’t wait to show everyone what our community is capable of.

“I’m going to do my absolute best to represent Prince George in an absolute wonderful way, because I think Prince George is beautiful.”

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