6th WIL Final Report

6th Annual National Aboriginal Women in Leadership Training Conference
First Nations Training & Consulting Services (FNTCS) organized the 6th Annual National Aboriginal Women in Leadership Training Conference: “Our Children, Our Youth, Our Future”, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Montreal QC from October 19 - 22, 2005. Over 175 delegates attended the four-day Conference. The theme of the 2005 conference, “Our Children, Our Youth, Our Future”, gave us the opportunity to discuss the importance of our most valuable resource - our children and youth. The theme was selected based on comments and recommendations from delegates at previous conferences and from the National Advisory Committee. Participants at previous conferences have emphasized that our children and youth are our hope for the future.

MCs and Chairs
Kim Ghostkeeper from Alberta and Michele Audette from Quebec were MCs and chaired the plenary sessions. They provided information in both official languages with Kim working in English and Michele in French.

Aboriginal Women in Leadership Distinction Award 2005
In 2005 the award was presented to Corinne Stone (Blue Sage Woman) from Williams Lake BC. She received the award for her achievements in the field of Health and Healing. Ms. Stone is of Tsilhqot’in, Secwepemc and European heritage from the Anaham Band. She has dedicated her life to the healing of her family and the Aboriginal community. In the 1980’s Ms. Stone was instrumental in assisting with the development and implementation of one of BC’s first Aboriginal transition houses for battered women, “Healing Spirit Lodge”. She went on to help develop one of Canada’s only independent social housing projects for street youth., “Swiw’Lus Lam’Chit” which won a national award in 1997. Ms. Stone also assisted in the design, development and implementation of a Native Awareness Parenting Program that has helped hundreds of families. She is gifted and trained in both traditional and non-traditional healing arts and facilitates groups on issues such as family violence, alcohol and drugs, residential school, anger management and the medicine wheel teachings. Ms. Stone works for the Tsilhqot’in National Government Family Care Program and was nominated for the award by her co-workers.

Conference Opening
The Conference opened with a procession of Elders and Guest Speakers and a song by the Keepers of the Eastern Door Dance Troupe. John McComber welcomed the delegates to Mohawk Territory and explained that his group would be performing an Iroquois welcome dance and a friendship dance. In her remarks Ellen Gabriel, President of QNW/FAQ told the delegates it is important share their knowledge which will result in a chain reaction in our communities. “Our communities are not healthy and it shouldn’t be that way because we have a rich culture and heritage”. The conference is a great opportunity to develop good, healthy communication, she said.

Elders
Sonny Diabo of the Mohawk Nation of Quebec returned to the Conference as a Conference Elder for the second time. We were also pleased to welcome Jackie Fletcher of Missanabie Cree First Nation of Ontario, Elsie Paul of the Sliammon Nation of BC and Merilda St-Onge of the Innu Nation of Quebec as Conference Elders for the first time. The Elders shared their wisdom with many people during the Conference. Each of them gave a Prayer at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions.

Keynote/Guest Speakers
In their Keynote Address on the first evening, Bea Shawanda, her daughter Elizabeth Edgar-Webkamigad and her granddaughter Cassidi Webkamigad, spoke about the strength of the family and their relationships as three generations of women. Bea said that as a child brought up with elders and extended family she had no idea what mothers or fathers did but she did know what grandmas did. Grandparents are the custodians, keepers and teachers of wisdom, tradition, language and family history, she said.

On the second day of the Conference, Beverley Jacobs, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada gave delegates an update on the activities and concerns of her organization. The Sisters in Spirit Campaign, an initiative of NWAC, began in 2004 to address violence against Aboriginal women.

Plenary Sessions
Thursday, October 20 Elders Panel: Traditional Child Rearing and Parenting

Elder Sonny Diabo praised women as the caregivers in their families and communities and said men sometimes have to be reminded of their duties as fathers and grandfathers. Elsie Paul of BC said she was raised by her grandparents and, as a result, is fluent in her own language. “Language is very important - it is the culture of the people and we need to get it back in our communities”, she explained. Jackie Fletcher of Ontario talked about the heartbreak of her residential school experience. “I went to my first talking circle years later and knew that this was where I was meant to be”. Merilda St-Onge of Quebec said she was a modern woman with modern ways until she realized the importance of tradition and spirituality. “Finding our true selves is important”, she explained.

Friday, October 21 Panel: Federal Initiatives for Our Children and Youth
Panelists in this session represented Federal government ministries that provide services for Aboriginal children and youth. They described the ‘Single Window’ approach which will provide better integration among all Federal departments serving Aboriginal children. Service Canada will integrate services from a number of federal departments to form a single service delivery network. The Panel was followed by an open mic session in which delegates made comments in response to the presentations and the panelists were able to respond to concerns and comments.

Friday, October 21 Reclaiming Our Youth Panel and Focus Groups
In this panel, speakers discussed their own experiences with the social issues facing our young people and our communities, including drugs, alcohol and solvents, suicide, gangs, family violence and sex, date rape and prostitution,

Ted Merriman and his daughter Kelly Merriman, a recovering crystal meth addict, talked about addiction and how it affected their family. Levinia Brown described the growing problem of suicide in Nunavut. Niso Bradford told delegates that children have a right to be protected by their parents and if they are abused, they grow up with unresolved grief. As the director of a safe home for women and children in crisis for 15 years, Sheila Swasson is familiar with the effects of family violence in communities. “Women and children need to know that they have a safe place to go, but there is a chronic shortage of housing in communities’, Verna McGregor explained. Francine Chapman described her experiences as a sex trade worker in Montreal. She said many Aboriginal women in Montreal use prostitution as their only means of survival.

Following the panel, delegates joined one of five focus groups to further discuss the issues presented by the panel. A speaker, a facilitator and an Elder worked with the delegates to identify the problem, the impact of the problem in their own communities and solutions, alternatives and strategies for dealing with the problem. Following the focus groups, the facilitator reported back to the delegates at the plenary session the next morning on the information collected.

Workshops
Workshop topics included traditional beliefs and spirituality, working in a male-dominated field, building a warrior spirit for men and women, building cultural identity through the stages of early childhood development, creating a talking stick, the four directions as a professional service model, healing the trauma of sexual abuse, how to talk to your teens, burnout prevention, helping children to deal with stress, healthy living, negotiation and conflict resolution, parents as partners in their children’s education, an overview of INAC’s programs for Aboriginal women and youth, the role of mentors in developing successful leaders, preserving traditions through storytelling, strategic planning essentials for leadership, traditional dancing, True Colours and successful step and blended families.

Presenters
Twenty-six presenters came from across Canada and represented a wide range of professions: mothers, grandmothers, students, chiefs, councillors, educators, health care professionals, counsellors, consultants, entrepreneurs, administrators, university and college professors, lawyers, skilled tradespeople, members of the Canadian Forces, volunteers, performers and social workers.

Career Fair and Trade Show
Fifteen exhibitors, including women’s organizations, federal government departments and craftspeople, registered to attend the Trade Show. First Nations Training & Consulting Services offered information to delegates on tobacco cessation and living a tobacco-free lifestyle and provided brief interventions to delegates.

Evening Entertainment
A Banquet and Entertainment was arranged for the second evening of the Conference. The delegates were welcomed by MC Michele Rouleau. Following the buffet dinner, fashion designer Kim Picard presented a show of her award-winning designs. The models included young women from her community and volunteers from among Conference delegates. Throat Singers Taqralik Partridge and Nina Segalowitz gave a performance of the haunting traditional music of the Inuit and invited volunteers from the audience to try singing with them. The Aboriginal Women in Leadership Distinction Award was presented to this year’s winner, Corinne Stone of Williams Lake BC. The presentation was accompanied by members of the Nenqayni Drummers, a group of women hand drummers from BC who have been performing together since 1993. A concert with Florent Vollant, formerly of the group Kashtin, presenting a 90-minute concert that had all the delegates dancing and cheering.

Closing
Following the Farewell Breakfast buffet, the Conference closed with comments by the Conference Elders, members of the Advisory Committee and Edith Loring-Kuhanga, the Conference Coordinator who announced that the 7th Aboriginal Women in Leadership Conference would be held in October 2006 in Vancouver or Victoria. Following the closing remarks, delegates also had a chance to express their feelings and opinions in an open mic session.

Funding
The following organizations provided funding to assist in the overall conference costs:

• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
• Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians, INAC
• Health Canada
• Quebec Ministry of Families, Seniors and Status of Women

Delegates’ Comments
The following comments were received from the Delegates during the Open Mic on the last day and in the Overall Conference Evaluations:

• it was my first experience and I will surely come back
• I am very impressed and felt really comfortable
• excellent, inspiring, very useful personally and professionally
• contact with our honoured Elders is powerful - I am so thankful for their presence
• the workshop on dealing with teenagers helped me see some new tools to reach my teenagers in a positive way
• I will bring younger influential females from my community to the next conference
• I often talk of this conference and encourage more