Brown was born on December 30, 1940, in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] Her great-grandmother Elizabeth Young was the inspiration for her book "Mission Life in Cree-Ojibwe Country: Memories of a Mother and Son."[2]
After earning her PhD, Brown taught at Colby College, Northern Illinois University, Chiang Mai University, and Indiana University. In 1983, Brown was hired by the University of Winnipeg as an Associate Professor in History.[1] In 1992, she was awarded the Erica and Arnold Rogers Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship by the university.[3] Later, in 1996, Brown was named the director of the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies due to her focused work in Aboriginal studies.[4] Two years later, she simultaneously worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba for graduate thesis and dissertation service and consultation. She stayed in this position until 2011.[5]
In 2002, Brown earned a British Academy Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford.[5]
In 2004, Brown was named the University of Winnipeg Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Peoples in an Urban and Regional Context.[6] In 2008, Brown became the second University of Winnipeg professor, and first woman, to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[7] In the following years, Brown and fellow University of Winnipeg professor Susan Gray published a collection of essays on Ojibwe Studies.[8] Brown officially retired from the University in 2011.[1]
In 2017, Brown was the recipient of the Canadian Historical Association Prairies Lifetime Achievement Award[9] and the American Society of Ethnohistory Lifetime Achievement Award.[10] That same year, Brown published a collection of essays in relation to Rupert's Land and colonization in the 17th century.[4] The book was shortlisted for the Manitoba Day Award.[11]
