| Rights of First Nations Women |
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Around the world, Indigenous peoples have seen their lives, lands, experiences, and voices either ignored or exploited and appropriated. We engage in a dangerous and unconscionable game when we deny the continuity of global and national colonialism and colonial attitudes, while reaping the benefits. Negative light is shone on people, events and circumstances, while the causes are ignored. The decolonization of our institutions, our history and our minds begins with listening to how First Nations women define themselves and identify issues important to them. Presentations recently sponsored by the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women on some issues affecting Aboriginal women and communities, as identified by Aboriginal women: ELDERS IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES AS LONG AS WE HAVE THE LANGUAGE HOW SHARON MCIVOR IS TAKING ON THE INDIAN ACT WORKSHOP ON BILL C-31 - PAST, PRESENT AND ... WORKING FOR MORE CHANGE On May 8, 2008, the NB Aboriginal Women's Council Inc. and the NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women held a workshop at Maliseet Nation at Tobique, N.B. It honoured the women from Tobique who in the 1970s and 1980s were at the forefront of the fight for the rights of Aboriginal women and their children who lost their status as a result of the discriminatory sections of the Indian Act. The Tobique Women organized the Native Women's Walk in July 1979, from Oka to Parliament Hill, and were behind the complaint to the United Nations. Click here to view 18 photos of the workshop, including original posters from the 1979 Native Women's Walk. Special guest speaker to the workshop was Sharon McIvor, a member of the Lower Nicola Band and a lawyer in B.C. who won a groundbreaking constitutional case in the Supreme Court of British Columbia which challenged the preferential treatment still given to males and those whose Indian status is traced from male status: the court agreed with her that the Indian Act contravenes international conventions on human rights, women's rights and children's rights as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sharon McIvor is raising money to defend the decision which is being being appealed by the federal government. If you need a tax receipt: Make cheque to Vancity Community Foundation - McIvor Case Fund and mail to: attn: Kathie Bell, Manager, Named Funds, Vancity Community Foundation, 510 - 815 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 1B4. If you do not require a tax receipt, send to either:
Columns by NB ACSW Chairperson Ginette Petitpas-Taylor in support of First Nations women: ATTENTION NEEDED TO THE RIGHTS AND RECOURSES OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN HOW SHARON MCIVOR IS TAKING ON THE INDIAN ACT ABORIGINAL WOMEN AND MATRIMONIAL RIGHTS CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS of interest to First Nations women, 1869 to 1985, with special reference to the activities of the Women of Tobique in the 1970s - Excerpted from the book, Enough is Enough: Aboriginal Women Speak Out, Toronto, The Women's Press, 1987. BACKGROUNDER ON BILL C-31 STATUS AND MEMBERSHIP - Excerpted from Gender Equality Consultation, Aboriginal Women: An Issues Backgrounder, prepared for Status of Women Canada, August 2005, by Michelle M. Mann. www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/resources/consultations/ges09-2005/aboriginal_e.html
NEW BRUNSWICK CONTACTS AND RESOURCES: New Brunswick Aboriginal Women's Council Inc., Committee for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada - the N.B. position is currently vacant. www.anac.on.ca Fredericton Native Friendship Centre Gignoo Transition House Inc. Creating Healthy Personal Relationships: An Information Booklet for Aboriginal Women - Booklet by Gignoo Transition House and the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick, www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca/showpub.asp?id=124&langid=1 or www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca/assets/docs/Aborig-Wmn-e.pdf . Wolastoq Language And Culture Center For general First Nations groups, consult Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat website www.gnb.ca/0016/organ-e.asp OTHER RESOURCESAboriginal Women - A Profile from the 2001 Census, Jeremy Hull, Prologica Research Inc. Winnipeg. Prepared for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, February 2006. www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/pub/abw/index_e.html Social Determinants of Health and Canada's Aboriginal Women (2007) - Submission of the the Native Women's Association of Canadato the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, www.nwac-hq.org/en/documents/NWAC_WHO-CSDH_Submission2007-06-04.pdf Reclaiming Our Way of Being: Matrimonial Real Property Solutions (2007) - Position paper by the Native Women's Association of Canada, www.nwac-hq.org/en/documents/NWACMRP.pdf. Native Women's Association of Canada The Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/ Texts of the Numbered and Named Treaties concerning Aboriginal peoples and nations: www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/trts/hti/site/trindex_e.html New website, the only one dedicated to Non-Status Indian issues in Canada. Aboriginal women are disproportionately affected by Non-Status Indian issues. Administered by Pam Palmater, Chair in Aboriginal Governance at Ryerson University in Toronto: www.nonstatusindian.com
DIVERSITY DEFINITIONS From the Diversity Dictionary, N.B. Workplace Diversity Project Employer Resource Manual, 2005 www.diversityscope.ca/dictionary.cfm Aboriginal Peoples: The descendants of the original inhabitants of North America. The Canadian Constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people - Indians, Métis and Inuit. These are three separate peoples with unique heritages, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. Band: A body of Indians for whose collective use and benefit lands have been set apart or money is held by the Crown, or declared to be a band for the purposes of the Indian Act. Each band has its own governing band council, usually consisting of one chief and several councillors. Community members choose the chief and councillors by election, or sometimes through custom. The members of a band generally share common values, traditions and practices rooted in their ancestral heritage. Today, many bands prefer to be known as First Nations. First Nation: A term that came into common usage in the 1970s to replace the word "Indian," which some people found offensive. Although the term First Nation is widely used, no legal definition of it exists. Among its uses, the term "First Nations peoples" refers to the Indian peoples in Canada, both Status and non-Status. Some Indian peoples have also adopted the term "First Nation" to replace the word "band" in the name of their community. Indian: Indian peoples are one of three groups of people recognized as Aboriginal in the Constitution Act, 1982. It specifies that Aboriginal people in Canada consist of Indians, Inuit and Métis. Indians in Canada are often referred to as: Status Indians, non-Status Indians and Treaty Indians. Inuit: An Aboriginal people in Northern Canada, who live in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Northern Quebec and Northern Labrador. The word means "people" in the Inuit language - Inuktitut. The singular of Inuit is Inuk. Métis: People of mixed First Nation and European ancestry who identify themselves as Métis, as distinct from First Nations people, Inuit or non-Aboriginal people. The Métis have a unique culture that draws on their diverse ancestral origins, such as Scottish, French, Ojibway and Cree. Non-Status Indian: An Indian person who is not registered as an Indian under the Indian Act. Off-Reserve: A term used to describe people, services or objects that are not part of a reserve, but relate to First Nations. Registered First Nation: A Status Indian. Reserve: Tract of land, the legal title to which is held by the Crown, set apart for the use and benefit of an Indian band. Status Indian: A person who is registered as an Indian under the Indian Act. The act sets out the requirements for determining who is an Indian for the purposes of the Indian Act. Treaty Indian: A Status Indian who belongs to a First Nation that signed a treaty with the Crown.
Photos taken at the "WORKSHOP ON BILL C-31 - PAST, PRESENT AND ... WORKING FOR MORE CHANGE", May 8, 2008, Maliseet Nation at Tobique, N.B., including photos of posters used in the 1979 Native Women's Walk from Oka to Ottawa, organized by Tobique Women
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