National Indigenous Peoples Day is an official day of celebration to recognize and honour the heritage, cultures and valuable contributions to society by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
Image description: Illustration of two people standing together. One with brown medium length hair, arms crossed, wearing t-shirt with text ‘2 spirit’, ripped jeans, and red shoes. Second with long brown hair in pony tail, one arm raised in a fist, wearing bone choker, v-neck t-shirt with blue, pink and white stripes, shorts, and moccasins. Text: National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Illustration by Karlene Harvey
“People are confronted with the violence, both the violence that women are experiencing but also the power of and presence of Indigenous women.” - Jaime Black, creator of the REDress Project
“As long as us men and boys fail to respect indigenous women and girls, not because we have mothers, sisters or daughters but as human beings deserving of respect; then we share responsibility for our community’s pain.” - Ricky Mawunganidze
“These women, girls, two-spirited people were all once part of a community across this country. All these individuals were once part of a family, they were a loved one. They might have attended the same school, and they might have been a neighbour.” - Georgette McLeod
Living in Canada gives every person who is not Indigenous the responsibility of taking time to learn and unlearn.
“Two-Spirit is a contemporary English term to reflect gender diversity that Indigenous nations have always had. As Indigenous people, we’ve always had gender diversity and sexual diversity in our Nations before colonization existed on Turtle Island (North America). With the imposition of colonization, Christianity, residential schools and ‘the Sixties Scoop,’ a lot of those teachings of gender diversity have been lost and a lot of people are searching for their identity as Two-Spirit people and the roles and responsibilities that come with that.” - James Makokis
Massive mähsi cho to the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Heritage Department for creating and sharing Hän language around Sisters in Spirit.
Show your support for families that have lost Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks and show your commitment to creating a world without violence by hanging red clothing outside your house October 1st to 8th.
Join us for a gathering, walk along the Yukon River, and a bonfire on Front Street in solidarity to raise awareness about the indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people who have been and continue to be murdered or disappear. Everyone is welcome.
Just did a big shop at Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre! Drop-in to the DWS Library to borrow any of our new library resources or pop by Dänojà Zho’s gift shop when it reopens to buy your own copy.
Kinship reminds me that I deserve good things and so do my friends, family and community. We deserve to live in a world where we don’t have to seek these relationships, rather they are the fabric of our societies.
Massive mähsi cho to the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Heritage Department for creating and sharing Hän language around Sisters in Spirit.
“Over the centuries, Indigenous people have persevered through annihilation, assimilation and integration by ruling foreign powers.” - Faye Chamberlain
We asked folks around Dawson what books they suggest folks read to better understand colonialism, the violence that Indigenous peoples experience, and building a different world that centres Indigenous knowledge.
The report’s Calls to Justice focus on all areas of Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks’ lives: government, health, media, legal systems, policing, resource extraction, social services, transportation, education, and child welfare.
We’re focusing, today, on the Calls for All Canadians.
Over a year ago, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released their final report - Reclaiming Power and Place - a document they spent four years on gathering information from nearly 2400 participants.
Violence against Indigenous women, Two Spirit folks, and girls is a national tragedy.
Join us for a gathering, walk along the Yukon River, and a bonfire on Front Street in solidarity to raise awareness about the indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people who have been and continue to be murdered or disappear. Everyone is welcome.
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- Tagged national indigenous peoples day, indigenous, first nation, metis, inuit, solstice