From Trondek.ca:
Image Description: A painting, ‘Medicine People’ by Darcy McDiarmid in a circle with text included in post, Hän motifs and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in logo.
Join us at the Sisters in Spirit Walk and Vigil on Wednesday, October 4th. We will begin at the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre at 5:30pm before we take a Candlelit Vigil and Walk to the Farmers Market on Front Street, with a Sacred Fire until 8:30pm.
This evening is in honour of MMIWG2S+, and Indigenous strength and resilience. Speakers include Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Deputy Chief Erin McQuaig, Mary Jane Moses, Natalie Taylor, and Kirsten Maides from the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle. Food and warm drinks will be available at our Farmers Market location.
There will be “Red Hand Face Making” happening at the K’äjìt-in Zho at 4pm prior to the Walk and Vigil.
Mähsį cho to our hosts the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Departments of Justice, Wellness, Education, the K’äjìt-in Zho, Yukon University, the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, and Robert Service School. Generously funded by the Women and Gender Equity Directorate and Yukon Government.
Rides for Elders are available, please call 867-993-3568 to arrange.
For more information, contact Tiss Clark-Robinson at 867-993-7100, ext. 254.
HǪZǪ ŁËKʼÄ̀NÄ̀CHA - WE TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER
Confronting the systemic violence of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks can bring up a lot of feelings.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Support Line is a national, toll-free 24/7 crisis call line providing support for anyone who requires emotional assistance related to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. You can also access long-term health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based emotional support and cultural services and some travel costs to see Elders and traditional healers - 1-844-413-6649.
Hope for Wellness Help Line is available to all Indigenous peoples across Canada who need immediate crisis intervention. Experienced and culturally sensitive help line counsellors can help if you want to talk or are distressed.
Call 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or connect to the online Hope for Wellness chat.
Telephone and online counselling are available in English and French. On request, telephone counselling is also available in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.
There’s a whole mountain of resources out there to learn more about ending gender-based violence, but good ones can be hard to find sometimes. We’ve collected some here…
“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
The non-Indigenous mining company, BMC Minerals, chose to name their mining project the very thing it will compromise: Kaska caribou country. They didn’t name their project “caribou country” in English, either.
“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.
A year ago today the national inquiry report into missing and murdered First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people was released.