Strong women stories : native vision and community survival

266 Pages·2005·8.614 MB·English

by  Anderson, Kim, Lawrence, Bonita

STRONG WOMEN STORIES
Native V ision and C ommunity Survival
I'
Strong
Women
Stories II
N V
ative ision and
C S
ommunity urvival
EDITED BY
Kim Anderson
&
Bonita Lawreme
SUMACH
PRESS
W omen’s Issues Publishing P rogram
Series Editor beth McAuley
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Strong women stories: native vision and community survival/
edited by Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1 -894549-21-X
1. Native women — Canada — Social conditions. 2. Community
development — Canada. I. Anderson, Kim, 1964 - II. Lawrence, Bonita.
E78.C2S739 2003 305.48*897071 C2003-901921-7
Copyright © 2003 Kim Anderson and Bonita Lawrence
Edited by Beth McAuley
Designed by Elizabeth Martin
Cover detail from My Indian Me and A Womans Drum (page 99)
by Lita Fontaine. Both used with permission of Lita Fontaine,
Ernie Mayer and The Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Sumach Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for
the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media
Development Corporations Ontario Book Initiative.
&
OMTMtO *m COUNCIL
CONSUL Oli àjLTI 01 CONTMUO
Printed and bound in Canada
Published by
SUMACH PRESS
1415 Bathurst Street #202
Toronto Canada
M5R3H8
sumachpress @on.aibn. com
www. sumachpress. com

Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction:
For the Betterment of Our Nations
Bonita Lawrence & Kim Anderson
11
PARTI
Coming H ome
Chapter 1
Where the Spirits Live:
Women Rebuilding a Non-Status Mi’kmaq Community
Gertie Mai Muise
25
Chapter 2
The Drum Keeps Beating:
Recovering a Mohawk Identity
Laura Scbwager
37
Chapter 3
From the Stories that Women Tell:
The Metis Women’s Circle
Carole Leclair & Lynn Nicholson
with Métis Elder Elize Hartley
55
Chapter 4
The Eagle Has Landed:
Native Women, Leadership and Community Development
Sylvia Maracle
70
Chapter 5
Strong Spirit, Fractured Identity:
An Ojibway Adoptee s Journey to Wholeness
Shandra Spears
81
PARTII
Asking Q uestions
Chapter 6
Tribal Feminism Is a Drum Song
Rosanna Deerchild
97
Chapter 7
She No Speaks and Other Colonial Constructs of
“The Traditional Woman”
Dawn Martin-Hill
106
Chapter 8
Approaching the Fourth Mountain:
Native Women and the Ageing Process
Bonita Lawrence
121
Chapter 9
Arts and Letters Club:
Two-Spirited Women Artists and Social Change
Nancy Cooper
135
Chapter IO
The Healing Power of Womens Voices
Zainab Amadahy
144
Chapter 11
Aboriginal Womens Action Network
Fay Blaney
156
PART III:
Rebuilding O ur Communities
Chapter 12
Vital Signs: Reading Colonialism in
Contemporary Adolescent Family Planning
Kim Anderson
173
Chapter 13
Creating a Community-Based School
Jean Knockwood
191
Chapter 14
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: The Teachers Among Us
Rebecca Martell
202
Chapter 15
From Victims to Leaders:
Activism against Violence towards Women
Cyndy Baskin
213
Chapter 16
The Truth About Us:
Living in the Aftermath of the Ipperwash Crisis
Shelly E. Bressette
228
Chapter 17
Coming Full Circle:
A Young Man’s Perspective on Building Gender Equity
in Aboriginal Communities
Carl Ferndndez
242
Selected Bibliography
257
Contributors
261
A cknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge all the friends and family who have
walked with us as we put this collection together. Among the
many, there were Ben Barclay who worked on the editors’
photo, and Kathe Gray who proofread the final manuscript.
Lita Fontaine, Ernie Mayer and The Winnipeg Art Gallery
generously granted us permission to use the artwork that
appears on the cover and in the essay that discusses Lita’s work.
The OFIFC originally funded the research that appears in the
articles by Rebecca Martell and Kim Anderson, and they con-
tinue to assist us as we launch our “Strong Women Stories.”
Finally, thanks for the ongoing support from Beth McAuley
and Sumach Press, who have given us the means to make our
voices heard.
All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated
to the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres
Post-Secondary Education Bursary for Native Women.