RECLAIMING THEIR PLACES : SEVEN WOMEN CHIEFS OF NORTHERN B.C. by Shelly Johnson B.A., The University of Victoria, 1983 B.S.W., The University of Victoria, 1998 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK @ Shelly Johnson, 2000 THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA July 2000 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. UNIVE P.S~TV OF NORTHERN BRITISH COlUMBIA LIBRARY Prfnce George, BC Reclaiming their places 3 Abstract This qualitative social work thesis uses the medicine wheel to analyze and explore unique influences and experiences that encourage the political activism of seven First Nations 6and council, tribal council and hereditary women Chiefs. Between June 9, 1999 and July 19, 1999 seven in-depth interviews were conducted with six currently elected Indian Act women Chiefs and one hereditary woman Chief. Collectively, the: women Chiefs represent nineteen bands in Northern B.C. The findings of this study indicate four distinct elements in the developing leadership styles of the women. First, the women recognize how their traditionally matrilineal Nations and inclusive governance models have been affected by the imposition of Euro-Canadian legislation and Christian religious principles. Second they are developing leadership styles that value and model community-based inclusiveness, transparency, neutrality, respect and mutual accountability at all levels. Third they have begun to organize locally, regionally, provincially and internationally to strengthen First Nations culture, languages and feminine spirituality as well as address child welfare, education and land claims issues. Finally, each woman Chief contributes toward a holistic vision of a safe, hopeful and just future for First Nations people in Northern B.C. The seven women Chiefs recognize that social justice and change requires continued education and alliance building, both in and outside First Nations communities. The necessary and valued role of women in both elected and hereditary systems of governance is an issue requiring respectful acknowledgement, support and encouragement from Aboriginal organizations, Federal and Provincial govenunents. Reclaiming their places 4 Table of contents Approval. ..................................................................... ................... 2 Abstract ........... ... .. .. .... .. . .... .. .... .. ...... .. . ............................................ 3 Table of contents ..................................... . ...................... . .................. 4 Acknowledgements ............................................................................ 6 Map of First Nations of British Columbia .................................................. 7 CHAPTER 1. ....... . .. .. .. . .............................. ... ..... ...... ........................ 8 Introduction ................................................................. .. ................... 8 Background to the thesis research Personal reasons ................................. . ... ...... . ............................... 9 Political reasons ......................................................................... 12 Professional reasons ..................................................................... 14 Literature review ................................................... . ..... ... . ............ 19 May 20, 1999: Corbiere v Canada . ... ... .......................................... .. 22 Conclusion . .. .. ................................... . .. . ...... ..... .............................. 24 CHAPTER 2 ............. . .. . .. . .... . ............ ............................................... 25 The First Nations of Northern B.C ........................................ . ...... ... ........ 25 Female leadership roles in Northern B.C. First Nations ................................. 26 1774- 1876 .............................................................................. 30 1876-1951 ............................................................................. 34 Revisions of the Indian Act: 1951 ................................................... 38 The White Paper : 1969 ................................................................ .41 International embarrassment : Two Axe Early, Laval/, Bedard .................. .41 The development of National women's organizations ............................. 43 Bill C-31 : 1985 ..................... .. .................................................. 44 Constitutional talks : 1992 ........................................................... .45 Conclusion .................................................................................. 4 7 CHAPTER 3 ... .. .... ................................................................... ....... 49 Methodology ................................................................................... 49 Deciding on an analytic frame .................................. ..... ...... ... .... ........ .49 Praxis : An Aboriginal model of social work practice and research .................. 54 Qualitative research methodology ........................................................ 56 Research methods .............................................................................. 61 Design ...................................................... .. ................................ 61 The evolving process ................................. . ...................................... 68 Data analysis .................................................................................... 63 The simultaneous process ..................................................................... 70 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................... 74 Introduction to seven women Chiefs of Northern B.C ................................... 74 Catalyst in the decision to become i-'Olitical activists .................................... 81 Reclaiming their places 5 CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................. 84 Findings ...................................................................................... 84 The Medicine Wheel perspective : A circle connecting the past and future ......... 84 Spiritual support and challenges : Gifts of the East ... ....... ........................... 85 Givers oflife : A gift from the Creator ................ . .. . ............................ 86 The gift of dreams and reincarnation beliefs ................ ...... ................... 87 Smudges, pipes, tobacco, legends and sweatlodges ................................. 88 Connection to all Creation .............................................................. 91 Summary .................................................................................. 93 Emotional support and challenges : Gifts of the South ................................ 95 The importance of respect .............................................................. 95 Criticizing emotions : Different perspectives ......................................... 98 Honesty and ethics ..................................................................... .I 02 Compassion and inclusion : Modeling a different style ............................ 105 The value of women : Learned sexism .................... .......... ............... 109 110 Summary ....... ...... Physical support and challenges : Gifts of the West .................................. 111 Kinship ................................ .. .............................. . ................... 112 Gender implications .................................................................... 113 Female role models ..................... ...... ... .. .................... .. ... .. .... ....... 116 Male role models ....................................................................... .117 Indian Act legislation, Treaties and the Department of Indian Affairs .......... 118 Community health issues ............................................................. 121 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights .................................... 122 Language and culture ................................................................... 124 Economic development and educational opportunities ................. . .......... 127 Summary: Change starts with resistance ............................................ 129 Mental support and challenges: Gifts of the North ................................... 131 Community Healing .................................................................... 131 A vision ofhope ................. .... ................................................... 134 Conclusion ............................................................................... 135 +•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• CHAPTER 6 ....................................................................... ........ .. 137 Conclusion: Very few people can do it.. ................................................. 137 Reclaiming their places .................................................................. 138 Social work exists to serve people in need ............................................ 141 Seven considerations for social workers ............................................... 143 The connection of "children", "community" and "leadership" ...................... 149 Making a difference for young women ................................................ 150 My way ahead ............................................................................. 151 An Elder's prayer ........................................................ ~ ............... 152 REFERENCES .... . ......................................................................... 154 Figure 1 ................................ ... .................................................... 163 Appendixes .................................................................................... 164 Reclaiming their places 6 Acknowledgements This social work thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Margrett Teres Quechuck (January 9, 1919 to July 16, 1998). She taught me about the importance of respect, education and the power of women. The thought, time and effort that went into the development of this thesis has been influenced by many people and experiences. I would like to thank some of the people. The seven women who honour me with their experiences and for whom I have tremendous respect. My true education began the day you agreed to help me understand. My grandmothers and grandfathers who taught me about the value of family and the importance of guiding, nurturing and protecting children. My parents, Anne & Orville and brother, Kelly whose faith and love for me, leaves a feeling I have no way to explain with words. I could ask for none better. My children, Kirsten & Kienan and my god-daughter, Megan, who are three of the most important reasons I will ever have to work toward a safe and just society. My women friends whose actions teach me about true justice. Melissa Mineault, Chrissy Brett & Bonnie Daly, three young women with incredible leadership potential. I hope they will use their talents and gifts to follo w their dreams. Dr. Barbara Herringer, Professor Margo Greenwood and Dr. Mary Ellen Keirn who would not accept anything less than my best effort. Mary Fabian whose editing gifts significantly improved this thesis and whose positive outlook on life is contagious. Leigh Moore through her mentoring support and encouragement taught me that hope to do "real social work" exists and gave me the opportunity to begin again. Alden Pompana who taught me that all things happen when the time is right. My past, present and future connected the day we met. Myles, whom I love with all my heart. You taught me to trust in my values and beliefs and to work from my own story. This thesis would not exist, but for your support. Reclaiming their places 7 1 Homalco and Klahoose 2 Sechelt and Sliammon 3 Squamish and Tsleil Waututh 4 Hul'qumi'num Map 1 First Nations in British Columb ia . First Nations are largely selfdefined. Identified here are major ethnic groups, based on shared territory, language, and culture. Some are represented today by a single nation; others comprise many smaller nations, sometimes known as bands. Muckle. R. (1998). The First Nations of British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press. Reclaiming their places 8 Chapter 1 Introduction To break would mean that I have sent my sons down the river to fend for themselves, to survive on their own without my guidance, it would mean failing my grandmother, my great grandmother, Old Wee'hallite who taught me that they were here to stay, and that we must accept them, that we must be kind to them, we must understand them, because they are poor people they have lost their homeland they are displaced. In the process of acceptance we must always remember that this is our land and that we have a right to live as we have, with our values, culture, spirituality and the compassion that encompasses all. Old Wee'hallite (Great Grandmother) told me that they will try everything in their power to break us, to make us act like them, be like them. Those of us who have our roots firmly rooted know our roots will not break ... (Tait, 1993, p. 14). The seven First Nations women Chiefs who participated in the development of this thesis in the summer of 1999, were elected band council, tribal council and hereditary political leaders of nineteen bands represented by the Dakelh (or Carrier), Wetsu'wet'en, Tsimshian, and Dunne-Za nations of Northern British Columbia (see map on page 7). The intent of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental influences on the lives of the women Chiefs which are set within the legal, historical, social and political context of Canadian society at the beginning of the twenty first century. For many reasons which will become evident through my discussion, I suggest the leadership of First Nations women is a critical factor that will shape relationships and address outstanding issues of concern that directly affect women and children both inside and outside First Nations communities. Reclaiming their places 9 One of the women Chiefs told me that it would be important to begin this work with my own story. She said that people would need a context to understand how this topic regarding influences in the lives of women Chiefs became important to me. For the woman who gave me the advice to bring myself into this work, to set the context so others can learn from my example; thank you. Finally, since I am the author of this thesis, any mistakes or misunderstandings that arise are of my own doing. Background to the thesis research Personal reasons. My reasons for selecting this topic are multi-layered and include many personal, political and professional reasons. Primary reasons include the influence of some family members on my career choice as a social worker and the discovery of my own Aboriginal heritage. Both of my parents moved to British Columbia in the early 1950s from a small, farming community in Saskatchewan. I was born, raised and have lived most of my life m Northern B.C. My maternal great grandparents immigrated to Manitoba from eastern Europe. They died when the Spanish flu epidemic swept Canada in 1918-1919. My maternal grandmother became an orphan within three days of her birth. She was raised in an adoptive home separate from the individual adoptive homes of her four older sisters. Like the families of many First Nations people at the tum ofthe century, her European relatives could not speak the English language well, were impoverished, lacked formal education and did not understand how to gain custody of the five children. An additional barrier was the lack of advocacy services. My grandmother would be a grown woman b) Reclaiming their places 10 the time she learned the circumstances of her parent's death and realized the children were not willingly abandoned by their parents and extended family members. It was from my grandmother that I learned the importance of speaking with children separately from their caregivers. When she learned I was entrusted with the well being and care of children to be placed for adoption or living in foster care she was very intent when she asked me "Shelly do you speak with the children privately?" When I assured her that I did and asked why she was curious, she told me that when she was a little girl , no one ever asked her anything about what was happening in her life and she had plenty to say. I will never forget that lesson and remember to tell her story to other social workers. My relationship with her was the most important connection I had with any one person until my own daughter was born. My grandmother and I both gave birth to our only female children on the same day, fifty-three years apart. Her legacy is that the close relationship I had with her is repeated in my mother' s relationship with my daughter. My grandmother's death on July 16, 1998 has brought unspeakable loss and grief to my life; there has been none greater to which to compare it. My maternal grandfather was born in this country, the son of Polish immigrants. Memories ofhim are of roughhouse play, candy, kindness and fairness for all children. He was a hard working man with straight forward values; he believed in providing for his family, instilling the work ethic in his children, believing in God, being a good neighbor and having compassion for people who were less fortunate than him. He was a man who firmly believed that the most important thing he could do for his children was to love Reclaiming their places 11 their mother. He remained committed to their marriage for sixty three years until his own death on January 1, 2000. I knew my father' s family less well although I learned some important lessons about respect from my paternal grandmother. She and I both have only one sibling, a brother. My brother and I were always told that our paternal grandmother was raised in a 'convent' in Saskatchewan. In 1994, while travelling to a family reunion in . Saskatchewan, I decided to visit the Lebret convent with my husband and children. Upon entering the community and locating the institution, I discovered my grandmother and her younger brother were indeed raised by a Catholic Order of the Grey Nuns. As the first member of my family to visit the institution, I also discovered a piece of our family history and my grandmother's secret. The institution she was raised in was not a convent, it was a residential school for Aboriginal children. Until that point, few people in my father' s family knew or openly acknowledged our Aboriginal heritage. My grandmother, Laura, and her younger brother, Alfred, entered that residential school shortly after the tum of the twentieth century. She lived there for eight years, leaving only in the summers to visit their father who was employed as an Indian Agent in other posts in Saskatchewan and in The Pas, New Manitoba. Family information reveals that their mother died giving birth to my grandmother, and that she was raised by an aunt until she was sent to the residential school at age eight. The musty and weighty residential school ledger at the now renamed White Calf Collegiate school provides scant information on the hundreds of children who lived and died in that institution. One line per child in the ledger tells me that their mother was a Saulteaux woman who came from a reserve community close to Lebret. Reclaiming their places 12 A meeting at the band office with the social worker on what had been my grandmother' s reserve community shocked me in a way not much has been able to. The obvious physical resemblance was immediately recognized by both of us. In 1994, when I stumbled through my story she watched me closely and listened patiently. When I finished , she said "I know who you are and I know who your family is." She is part of my extended family. The professional connection is even more striking. At that time, she was a social worker employed by the band in Saskatchewan; I was a child welfare social worker employed by the provincial government in British Columbia. ~ Political reasons. When my grandmother left the school in 1916, she did not return to her reserve community and severed all ties to both sides of her famil y of origin. She would rarely speak about her experience in the residential school and denied her Aboriginal identity. Over time I have come to realize the incredibly complex position in which she found herself because of who she was and who her parents were. According to Frideres (1998) many Indian Agents were initially men of military background and this was true for her father also. He was a man of Scottish descent who worked as an Indian Agent and fought against Louis Riel in the Red River Rebellion of 18 85 . As an Indian Agent at the tum of the century, her father held a position of absolute power over First Nations people living on reserve. This considerable power was conferred on him by the Indian Act and likely accounted for fear of him by her mother' s people. Interestingly, at the same time his own family would have clearly rejected his children because their mother was an Indian defined by the Indian Act. In my grandmother' s time, going into the past held no hope of reconciliation or support between Reclaiming their places 13 those two worlds. Her decision was to move forward with her husband and children and make of her life what she could. My paternal grandfather was an orphan who immigrated to Canada from Norway at the tum of the twentieth century. His experience reflects strenuous physical work, a different language to learn and extremely limited family support. In retrospect, both my grandfathers were men who struggled to ensure their children would survive to see a better day. The personal experiences they endured in order to accomplish this are a huge part of family story telling. Balanced against their struggle is knowledge regarding land + and other benefits of privilege extended to Caucasian immigrants entering Canada at the tum of the twentieth century. My father had no idea why his mother was raised was in a residential school or of the political reasons this was so. Her silence disconnected herself and her children from the reality of certain rejection and racism of her father' s people. Her knowledge that she could not be an Indian Agent' s child living on reserve with her mother's people firmly shut the door connecting them to their maternal heritage. I have no history about my great-grandmother; what was important to her, what she believed, or how political forces and institutions shaped her life. Instead, for some family members, my grandmother' s contribution of giving life to our family, and her sister' s caring for our grandmother as a young child, is surrounded with silence, denial, embarrassment, and shame. 1 ' Since visiting the residential school, I have gained a clearer understanding of how my family is shaped by ~ social policies, political ideologies, institutional and legal influences. After meeting .family members from the reserve community, the I Reclaiming their places 14 assimilationist policies of the past, my social work beliefs and values, the current child welfare and adoption system became connected in a profound and personal way. The child welfare system, like the residential school and tum of the century adoption system, has the power to shape and direct people's lives- not just for the children currently within it, but for generations to come. The residential school legacy still exists in my father's family in the form of many unanswered questions, racism, sexism and denial about our family heritage. Because of my grandmother's silence, denial and shame, her experiences, perspective and much of our First Nations family history are lost to us. Professional reasons. There is a great need for those who are willing to take the risks, brace their fear, and blaze the trails to know that, to some degree, they are creating a path for others .. . Women are beginning to voice their concerns, youths are giving us strong messages, elders are taking their place, and our communities are beginning to have hope (Absolon & Herbert, 1997, p. 225). This thesis topic developed primarily because of my sixteen years of front-line and supervisory child welfare social work experience. Following my transfer to Prince George, the unique needs of Aboriginal children in foster care prompted my request for a guardianship social work caseload almost exclusively comprised of Aboriginal children and youth. I began to recognize incredible leadership potential in many of the young women on my caseload and looked for ways to support their interests and talents. My knowledge and sensitivity toward Aboriginal issues was heightened as a result of joint planning meetings, discussions, activities and collegial relationships built over time with many First Nations community people and Aboriginal agei1cy personnel. As the level of Reclaiming their places 15 trust rose, people began to share personal stories of devastating injustice inflicted on their families and First Nations communities. My understanding of critical issues dramatically increased because of the direct, concise and honest way many First Nations individuals described horrific loss, despair, cycles of abuse, violence, healing and survival. Their stories and experiences significantly altered my social work practice. I began to ask First Nations teachers, leaders and healers to help me reconnect children in foster care to their families and communities. We began to adapt policy and procedure expectations using inclusive practices and culturally significant tools . Once they began helping, other friends, colleagues, foster parents and community people started to share culturally relevant resource material, ideas and suggestions. While these specific endeavors were successful, a lack of funding and organizational support prevented further joint community initiatives. My thesis topic began to develop through personal reflection about the ways people influence one another to act against unfairness and injustice. It became interwoven with respect for individual First Nations women leaders who continue to act against injustice and strive to heal, despite an overwhelming lack of financial resources and support. Two statistics demonstrate why there is a need to introduce the profile and work of positive, female Aboriginal role models to Aboriginal youth and communities. First, Aboriginal youth comprise the fastest growing demographic group in B.C. with fifty-seven per cent (or 96,900) of the total B.C. Aboriginal population of 170,000 under the age of twentyfour (B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, 1999). Together with knowledge of men's roles in le.,dership, a key consideration in the education of young people, is their right to Reclaiming their places 16 know B.C. Aboriginal history from women's perspectives. Understanding the women's struggles and leadership in guiding the renewal work both on and off reserve communities has the potential to instill pride and value of women's contributions for future community leaders. Second, my experience suggests, and statistics support the fact, that the vast majority of Aboriginal children and youth in foster care continue to be placed in nonAboriginal foster homes (B.C. Ministry for Children and Families, 1999) impeding First Nations cultural transmission and traditional language development in a significant way. I listened as many First Nations people expressed concerns that Aboriginal youth continue to be taught by non-Aboriginal teachers and access social work, probation and support services from non-Aboriginal professionals. Some Aboriginal youth were frustrated by barriers to advanced education and reconnection to family or community. Other community members expressed impatience over various funding concerns, lack of consistent direction, communication difficulties and unresponsive politicians and bureaucrats, both on and off reserves. My decision to choose a thesis topic regarding First Nations women Chiefs was influenced by three women. Their actions to influence change in their communities inspire me to consider my own actions regarding issues with which I disagree. Personal reflection about how people influence one another led to a question about how different influences, supports and barriers shape the leadership of First Nations women Chiefs in Northern B.C. I met the first woman in 1998 shortly after I moved to Prince George. She is the first elected woman CHef I have ever met; what she said and the way she said it Reclaiming their places 17 profoundly influenced me. This woman Chief and her primarily female council spoke to high level child welfare officials about the actions they were taking to ensure the safety of children in their Northern B.C. reserve community. With honesty and dignity she stated " I am the first woman Chief in the history of my Nation and I'm not going to stand here and tell you everything in my community is fine and wonderful because it isn' t. But we are working hard to make it that way. You have to ask yourself what you are doing in your own communities to make it safe for the people there". With that simple statement she was able to convey an inner strength of courage and spirit that gained my respect and ~ admiration. I found myself wondering if I could ever be seen by others to have that kind of presence and wishing that at some point in my life it would be so. The second person is a young First Nations woman who was raised in a middle class, Northern B.C. home by decent and caring non-First Nations adoptive parents. As a result of a cultural identity crisis, she entered the provincial foster care system as a youth and exited the child welfare system some years later. Shortly after we met, I had the opportunity to sit with her natural family and Chief of her band when she represented herself in a Supreme Court action regarding her own daughter. I can not find the words to describe the emotion I felt when this young woman with barely a grade ten education won the court action against a seasoned, professionally educated lawyer representing the provincial child welfare system. She taught me by example about determination and hope for the future when she provided me with an opportunity to view child welfare from a different perspective. She had done something I believe few people have the confidence to do and for that she will always have my respect and admiration. Reclaiming their places 18 The third woman is also an elected First Nations Chief living in Northern B.C. I remember opening the newspaper to see a picture of her admission to the bar wearing a lawyer' s robe and dancing traditionally in the courtroom while a First Nations man drummed and people whom I assumed were friends and family, shared in her celebration. There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words and that picture had a tremendous effect on me. I remember looking at the expression on her face and being surprised to discover tears welling in my eyes when I thought how proud her parents and famil y must feel to know that it was her accomplishment that brought the sound of drumming into a courtroom. I considered the kind of meaning that picture had for me given First Nations peoples ' experiences with the judicial and legal systems across Canada. Some time later, I met this woman whom I respect and admire because of her intelligence, compassion, willingness to confront difficult issues and dedication to social justice. My responses to each ofthe women is grounded in shame at injustices inflicted on First Nations people in this country and in admiration for their refusal to be beaten into submission despite layers of oppression and a colonized history. The message from these women is clear; each day they are more resolved to speak publicly and act purposely in response to injustices inside and against their communities. I have watched them refuse to be silent and acquiesce to a view that is not theirs and to take risks to tell personal stories from their own perspective. Their resolve to expose injustice encourages and models for others, how to do the same. Reclaiming their places 19 Literature review From an educational perspective, I believe this research will have positive longterm effects through its contribution to knowledge, bridging differences of understanding between cultures and creating alliances between women. Currently, there is a gap in the knowledge surrounding the contemporary shaping of Northern B.C. First Nations or Aboriginal political women leaders. I was able to locate two sources personally written by women Chiefs ofNorthern B.C. The first is the unpublished Harvard University Master of Law thesis by Erickson (1996), current Chief of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council based in Prince George. She argues that the matrilineal system of the Carrier or Dakelh people ofNorthern B.C. needs to be recognized by the western world of politics and protected under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Erickson notes that assimilationist, sexist practices seek to limit women's involvement in decision making in many ways. First, it does not recognize First Nations women's involvement in traditional wage economies such as the domestication of berries, sale of fish and crafts. Second, it views women as sex objects rather than people with traditionally respected roles in decision making in First Nations communities. Third, she discusses the traditional opposition of First Nations people and women in particular, to "economic development" as defined Canadian governments. She cites clear cut logging and strip_, mining practices as examples of harm done to the earth. I Throughout the Law thesis, E ~ explains why the inclusion of First Nations women in governance is critical in decolonizing First Nations politics. I Reclaiming their places 20 Tait (1993) offers the only published literature personally written by a Hereditary woman Chief of Northern B.C. Her writing reflects her personal experience of being confronted by racism while living and working in an urban setting. In B.C., Aboriginal academics such Absolon & Herbert (1997) have published literature regarding their feminist First Nations perspective on community action and organizing. Absolon, Herbert & MacDonald (1996) provided qualitative research to the provincial government regarding Aboriginal womens' views of the B.C. treaty process. Non-First Nations Northern B.C. academic Fiske (1981, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996) has written fairly extensively regarding the role of women in Carrier (or Dakelh) communities in the North central interior region ofB.C. Cooper (1993) has published a historical perspective of the experiences ofthe Nishga and Tsimshian women ofthe Northern B.C. Pacific Coast during the fur trade and mission eras (1830-1900). The Hereditary system of governance in the Wisuwit'en Nation of Northern B.C. is discussed by Mills (1994), an anthropologist currently employed at the University of Northern B.C. I have been unable to locate any national or regional qualitative studies specifically relating to First Nations women Chiefs across Canada or in Northern B.C. However, I have been able to locate three unpublished qualitative Master's theses at the University of British Columbia relating to First Nations women's political organizing in Vancouver, (Cole, 1994), interior traditional ways Shuswap people identified and nurtured gifted and talented girls (Jules, 1990) and male Indian leadership (Jules, 1987). Three common themes appear in the qualitative Master's theses. The first theme revolves around the different ways that First Nations people recognize, organize and support male and female leadership development. The second theme identif1.;s Reclaiming their places 21 difficulties or barriers to leadership development both inside and outside First Nations urban and rural communities. The third theme underscores the need to develop leadership that is based on a collective understanding ofthe importance of inclusion and community wide participation in addressing issues and moving toward healthy self governance ofNations. In addition, a number of articles and books regarding First Nations women discuss injustices and influences that may shape decisions to become involved politically. For example Silman (1987) discusses how women's struggle for adequate housing on the Tobique reserve in New Brunswick resulted in National attention and awareness of sexual discrimination in the Indian Act. Their actions helped to create political pressure that resulted in a 1985 revision of section 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act. Tiecherob (1997) clarifies the role of community women involved in child welfare following the death of thirteen year old Lester Dejarlais and the need to break silence in order to protect children both on and off reserves. Prindeville and Gomez (1999) and McCoy (1992) focus on the importance of gender and ethnicity in American Indian women leaders while voting behavior, election strategies, female kinship organization and demography in Amerindian communities is discussed in detail by Miller (1992, 1994), Green (1980), Knack (1989), Klein (1976), Bataille and Sands (1984). Numerous First Nations newspapers and magazines available in B.C. (Aboriginal Expressions, First Nations Drum, Kahtou News, Raven' s Eye, Western Native News, Windspeaker, the Native Voice, Talking Stick Newsletter, Secwepemc News, Coqualeetza News, Aboriginal Times) report issues of particular concern to First Nations Reclaiming their places 22 women. For example, the Aboriginal Times (June 1999) identifies a number of B.C. First Nations women leaders and profiles their work on behalf of First Nations people. As a result, the shaping of women Chiefs in Northern B.C. seems to be a timely topic given that it has been less than fifty years since First Nations women have been a political force in their own communities in B.C. struggling against what Absolon & Herbert ( 1997) describe as a definite male leadership bias within Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal women believe that their traditional role of decision making in their communities was usurped by the sexist assimilative policies and practices of the Indian Act and are still being perpetuated by the current politics of Aboriginal communities. Only 20 per cent of the Chiefs in BC are women, which is related to the fact that First Nations women could not vote or run for position on council in their own communities until 1951 (p. 212). The figure of 20 per cent was consistent during the summer of 1999 when 40 of the 197 currently elected B.C. Chiefs were identified as women (B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Chief and Council List, 1999). That reality may change given the May 20, 1999 Supreme Court ruling, identified as the COI-biere decision. May 20, 1999: Corbiere v Canada The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that section 77(1) of the Indian Act, stating that only members who are "ordinarily resident on reserve" can vote for Chief and Council, violates section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court urged the Federal government to work with First Nations to implement the decision and 18 months (until ·"Jovember 20, 2000) to change the Indian Act to implement the new voting procedures. Concerns are that the numbers of voters in band elections may increase Reclaiming their places 23 dramatically on some reserves and that lack of appropriate funding levels, expectations of service delivery and accountability will become priority issues for the local government. As a result, the Department oflndian Affairs and Northern Development (D.I.A.N.D.) has invited four national Aboriginal organizations to be involved in implementing the Corbiere decision. They will conduct consultations with their members and stakeholders on the issue. The organizations include the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP). Each organization will receive $200,000 to conduct the national consultations (INAC, 1999, p. 1). One of the women Chiefs had this to say about the Corbiere decision. It is going to be the biggest change you'll ever see. And I'm really excited to see what's going to come out of that. Because I can see a lot of new leaders coming out, because women are very strong, very stable the majority of them, not all ofthem, the majority ofthem (Participant). It remains to be seen whether the ruling will illicit fundamental gender changes on local council or whether "women's issues" or matrimonial property will become higher in profile as a result. The potential for further divisiveness and factionalism as a result of this ruling is a concern of many Aboriginal people. Viola Thomas, current President of the United Native Nations in B.C. states that concerns about the lack of housing, unemployment and the lack of adequate resources to bands from the Federal government forces people to relocate off reserve. She urges all "Aboriginal peoples to begin finding ways to build our collaborative, cooperative relations, rather than using the Indian Act to divide us" (Savage, 1999, p. 12). It would appear that seven women Chiefs from Northern B.C. are delivering the same message and are acting accordingly. Reclaiming their places 24 Conclusion This introductory chapter identifies personal, political and professional reasons for the development of my social work thesis. As well, it provides a brief literature review regarding the paucity of social work literature and gaps in knowledge regarding Northern B.C. First Nations women in political leadership positions. This broad context identifies the need for research to better understand, from the perspective of the seven First Nations women of Northern B.C., what influences encourage them to become Chiefs and political activists. It also identifies the need to encourage women to move into leadership roles, thereby balancing the power differential and male bias in First Nations politics. With this foundation identified, the following chapter will discuss the historical, legal and political policy issues that help to shape the macro and micro context for the seven women Chiefs ofNorthern B.C. Reclaiming their places 25 Chapter 2 The First Nations of Northern B.C. This chapter will be divided into four sections. The first section will discuss female leadership roles in four Nations of Northern B.C. These Nations provide examples oftwo indigenous societies reflected in traditional Northern B.C. tribal groups. The second section begins in 1774 with the first recorded contact between European and indigenous cultures and ends in 1876 with the passage of the firstlndian Act legislation. The third period begins in 1876 and ends with a major revision in 1951 to the Indian Act. The fourth period begins in 1952 and chronicles the political, legal and social changes that focus national and international attention in First Nations women's issues to 2000. Fifteen culturally diverse nations of indigenous people have called Northern B.C. "home" since time immemorial. These include the Dakelh (or Carrier), Wet'suwet'en Haisla, Tsimshian, Haida, Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Sekani, Dunne-za, Dene-thah, Kaska, Tahltan, Taku Tlingit, Champagne and Aishihik and Nat'oot'en Nations (Muckle, 1998, p. 7). Anthropologist Fried (1967) notes, that historically, B.C. tribal groups reflect two examples of indigenous societies, the first being "rank societies" and the second being "band equalitarian societies". He argues that rank societies were primarily the larger, coastal, highly structured societies that value status and hierarchy. Examples of such societies are the Tsimshian, Ni$ga'a and Haida Nations ofNorthern B.C. While the Tsimshian and Nisga'a (or N ~ are members of the Tsimshian language family; the I Haida belong to the Haida language family (Muckle, 1998, p. 35). The differing I spellings of Nations, for example "Nishga and Nisga'a" or "Wet'suwet'en and Reclaiming their places 26 Witsuwit'en" reflect the joint efforts of linguists and Nations to reclaim traditional names and correct pronunciation and spelling oftraditionallanguages. Fried (1967) contends that rank societies differed from the smaller, Northern interior band equalitarian societies that were more reflective of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The interior Nations were comprised of nomadic family groups which, according to Tennant (1990), valued individual equality and had little need for specialized politics or complex political behaviors. Examples ofthese societies are the Dakelh (or Carrier), Dunne-Za, Sekani and Wet'suwet'en (or Witsuwit'en) Nations. According to Muckle (1998) these Nations are members of the Athapaskan language family. This differing societal perspective is supported by Borrows & Rotmann (1998) who contend that First Nations systems of governance "varied from clan to nation, and were suited to the varieties of languages and cultures represented on the continent ... Traditions of governance were often closely connected to land and family, and many emphasized the connection of the spiritual, familial, economic and political spheres" (p. 673). Female leadership roles in Northern B.C. Nations The colonizers saw (and rightly) that as long as women held unquestioned power of such magnitude, attempts at total conquest of the continents was bound to fail ... (Allen, 1992, p. 3). As mentioned earlier, this thesis is an exploration of influences in the lives of seven elected and Hereditary women Chiefs ofNorthern B.C. that encourage their political activism. To fully appreciate how these influences affect the participants' emerging leadership, it is necessary to develop an understarding of the Northern B.C. context First Nations women experienced from 1774 to 2000. Reclaiming their places 27 Cooper (1993) provides a historical perspective ofTsimshian and Nishga (or Nisga'a) women between 1830-1990 and notes that the ranked nature ofthese two nations meant that there was "always a certain potential for women to amass political and economic power. When viewed from a cross-cultural perspective, the opportunities for these native women probably far exceeded those of nineteenth-century Euro-Canadian women" (p. 45). She asserts that in Tsimshian society males "most frequently filled the highest political and ceremonial roles" and "women's positions of strength did not imply equality with men" (p. 45). However, she asserts that Tsimshian women maintained control over food production and distribution, resource management and child care in addition to important supportive roles in hunting and fishing. Cooper (1993) contends that the advent of the fur trade and mission eras appears not to have eroded women's status in these two nations perhaps as much as occurred in other nations. She argues that Tsimshian and Nishga women expanded their traditional roles into the wage economy through work as traders and cannery employees. This increased their ability to participate in potlatch celebrations and maintain their Chiefly rank. The women's blending of traditional spiritual beliefs and Christianity was another means to maintain status in the community. As Cooper (1993) explains, "Nishga and Tsimshian women of Chiefly rank were often the first to seek instruction in Christianity, rather than lower class women, who can be regarded as the most demoralized members of these cultures with the least stake in the maintenance of the traditional belief system and social structure" (p. 61). Cooper (1993) is careful to point out that prostitution and slave trading, which were also activities primarily involving Reclaiming their places 28 women and children, appears to have involved women of lesser rank and status in the community. In preparation for her expert testimony given in the 1991 Delgamuukw Supreme Com1land claims hearing, Mills (1994), a anthropologist, lived among the Witsuwit'en (or Wet'suwet'en) as a participant observer during the mid 1980s. Her work provides a venue for many female hereditary Chiefs within the matrilineal nation to explain their complex role in the traditional Witsuwit'en governance model that includes women of chiefly rank, nobles, commoners and slaves. According to Mills (1994) both male and female children are trained from an early age by Elders, parents and grandparents in the expectations and rules of the feast system which forms the cornerstone oftraditional Witsuwit'en political, social and economic life. The head Chiefs (both male and female) are expected to serve as "models of correct deportment, to which everyone, and particularly the young, can look for direction and guidance" (p. 137). Mills (1994) also notes that the Carrier feast system was in place in 1811 when the Nation was visited by Harmon, the first fur trader into Carrier territory. Fiske (1981 , 1989, 1990, 1995,1996) argues the education of the Dakelh (or Carrier) nations of north central B.C. enabled Carrier women to become involved in many vocations and professions; while traditional values encouraged their involvement in political activities. Fiske (1989) notes that some Carrier women contend that Aboriginal social organization was either "matriarchal or egalitarian" (p. 128) and asserts that the combined influence of the church and state sought to undermine their positions of power in many ways. One example is the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a French Catholic mission Order, which OJ:. ~ the Lejac Residential School on the shores of Fraser Lake Reclaiming their places 29 in north central B.C. There, Carrier people were encouraged to assimilate into the European patriarchal, self sufficient, nuclear family model. The missionaries targeted the ~ matrilineal kinship system, women' s access to trapping and fishing opportunities, practice of matriliny, access to noble titles or inheritance of Chieftainships as ways to force subjugation of First Nations women to men, the power ofthe Church and state. However, Fiske (1996) contends that the "the interlocking processes of missionization and colonization created paradoxical conditions that unintentionally offered women opportunities to subvert the aims ofthe priests" (p. 180). For example, midwife societies, church auxiliaries, community seniice groups and voluntary associations provided Church-sanctioned forums to further political development of Carrier women. These meetings, held under the gaze of the Church, meant the women could continue to meet to discuss matters of particular concern to them and maintain their collective identity as Carrier women. According to Carrier academic Erickson (2000) traditionally the Dakelh-ne (people of the deep water or people who travel by boat) organized themselves hierarchically through adoption of the balhats (potlatch) system in order to halt the dissension and warfare in their territory. The balhats was a form of governance organized around matrilineal exogamous clans. The clans were guided by the 'uza'hne (noble people), also known as the deneza' (nobleman) and ts'ek'eza' (noblewoman). These positions were passed down through the family and/or clan lineage with guidance from the old people in the clan; however, at the same time, they were achieved positions ... .In terms of authority, the 'uza' hne could not force people to take their advice; however, because the old people trained them well in their responsibilities and philosophy, people generally followed their leadership .. . Women held high status in Dakelh at the balhats. They sat in society and this was ~~ prominent positions and were part of the decision-making Reclaiming their places 30 process. Even after the assault of European patriarchal ideals, the women maintained their positions in the balhats (pp. 4-5). The Northern B.C. First Nations discussed thus far are examples of rank and band equalitarian or hunter gatherer societies. Prior to contact in Northern B.C., it appears that some First Nations women held positions of power over the control of production and distribution of food, formal and informal influence over decision making and experienced larger degrees of personal autonomy within their Nations than European women did at the same time in history (Cooper, 1993; Fiske, 1996; Mills, 1994; Erickson, 2000). This position is further supported by Bataille & Sands (1984) who argue that the positions of women in European societies led European men to "either ignore the power of women within tribal structures or undervalue or inadequately evaluate it" (p. viii). 1774 to 1876 The aboriginal past is closer in British Columbia than almost anywhere else on the continent because whites began to arrive in significant numbers only in the 1850s, and not until the 1890s did effective white control extend to the last of the major aboriginal groups (Tennant, 1990, p.3). The first recorded contact between European and First Nations cultures occurred in 1774 off the coast of what is now known as British Columbia. Haida First Nations people paddled out to the Spanish vessel, Santiago (Fisher, 1992; Duff, 1997) however, the crew did not land. From that time until the mid-nineteenth century, the majority of "newcomers" were men of European origin including traders, trappers, missionaries, gold seekers and settlers. Their societal view was male dominated and sanctioned through various legal, medical, social and Christian religious hierarchical structures. One example is the influence of Christian religion, which places a male God figure at the Reclaiming their places 31 pinnacle of importance, male priests or ministers in church leadership roles and men as "the heads of families". Other European examples at that time in history, include male domination of elected positions in government, educational or teaching institutions, business and law. Tennant (1990) estimates that pre-contact Aboriginal population in B.C. was between 300,000 and 400,000. Following contact with European colonizers, the social organization of many First Nations in Northern B.C. was weakened due to deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis, measles and small pox (Jenness, 1963). In 1866 when the colony of British Columbia was established without First Nations consent, only 63 ,000 remained (Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, 1999, p.2). Legislation directed at "protecting", "civilizing" and assimilating First Nations people in Canada has an extremely brief 150 year history. In 1850, eight years before the first gold rush miners and missionaries appeared in Northern B.C., and twenty-one years before B.C. would join Confederation, the Canadian government enacted An Act for the beller protection of the Lands and Property of the Indians in Lower Canada. This legislation intended to "protect" Indian lands from non- Indian "squatting-resistanceconflict-dispossession already evident in some parts of the maritimes" (Miller, 1989, p. 11 0). In effect, this "protective" legislation made Indian people in Lower Canada wards, rather than citizens, of the colonial government. Subsequently, the "wardship" and colonialist perspective of First !Nations people became entrenched in the new colony of British Columbia. For the first time, the ' ' ~ colonial government defined who was, and was not, an Indian person. According to ·,Miller (1989) this statutory defi;....,ition included "anyone Reclaiming their places 32 in Canada East who was reputed to have Indian blood and to be living with a band, anyone married to such a person, anyone residing with Indians either of whose parents was Indian, and anyone adopted as a child by Indians and still living with them was considered to be Indian" (p. 109). In 1857 the concept of assimilation through enfranchisement was introduced through An Act to encourage the gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in the Province and was applied to both Canada East and Canada West. This Act clarified the future objectives ofthe government to "gradually remove all legal distinctions between them [Indians] and her Majesty's other Canadian Subjects" (Miller, 1989, p. 110). Difficulties with the legislation were evident immediately, however, because it was based on the colonial government's position that Indians were non-citizens and because First Nations people rejected the idea of total assimilation and personal land ownership. In the end only one person was enfranchised through this legislation; the rest of the Indian people simply refused to comply with it (Miller, 1989). This Act was significant because it was the first time the colonial legislation determined patrilineal descent. In many cases, the legislation displaced the natural, community based and self-identification approach to determining membership- which included descent, marriage, residency, adoption and simple voluntary association with a particular group - and thus disrupted complex and interrelated social, economic and kinship structures. Patrilineal descent of the type embodied in the Gradual Civilization Act, for example, was the least common principle of descent in Aboriginal societies, but through these laws, it became predominant. (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996, Volume 4, p. 26). Reclaiming their places One year after Confederation, in 1868, the Federal government acquired responsibility to administer Acts pertaining to Indian people. The office of the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs continues to use the patrilineal model of descent to formalize the definition of who is an "Indian" for whom the Federal government retains a fiduciary duty. Three years after British Columbia became a colony, the Canadian government passed the third piece of legislation regarding Indian people. The 1869 Gradual Enfranchisement Act refused adult women voting rights in band elections and implemented a three year elective system for Chiefs and councillors on chosen bands. The limited power of elected councils extends to a list of relatively minor matters, all subject to official confirmation (Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, 1996, Volume 4, p. 99; Frideres, 1998). Perhaps more overt in its discrimination against Indian women was the legislation that pertained to Indian status upon marriage. In previous legislation, Indian women did not lose their status upon marriage - their husbands simply did not gain it. In the Gradual Enfranchisement Act, Indian women were stripped of their status when they married a non-Indian man. The same was not true for Indian men marrying non-Indian women, or for their children. Between the years of 1850 and 1869, It seems apparent that Indian women were singled out for discriminatory treatment under a policy that made their identity as Indian people increasingly dependent on the identity of their husbands. They were subject to rules that applied only to them as women and that can be summarized as follows: they could not vote in band elections; if they married an Indian man from another band, they lost membership in their home communities; if they married out by wedding a non-Indian man, they lost Indian status, membership in their home communities, and the right to Reclaiming their places 34 transmit Indian status to the children of that marriage; if they married an Indian man who became enfranchised, they lost status, membership, treaty payments and related rights and the right to inherit the enfranchised husband's lands when he died. (Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, 1996, Volume 4, p. 28). The disagreement by various Nations who voiced concerns about the fate of such First Nations women and children continued to fall on deaf government ears. 1876to1951 Through the Indian Act election system, the only kind of leaders yoy're going to get are the ones who give the people what they want so they can be elected, manipulate the system and are politically corrupt. There ' s hardly any that have really good intentions and want to do the best for the people. Most of them want to do the best for themselves and just a few family members and friends. That's what I've seen (Participant). Indian treaties, Indian reserves, Indian Acts - these are all institutions that Europeans have devised to manage Native people primarily for the convenience of the dominant society (Berger, 1991 , p. 155). The ideologies directing the previous legislation pertaining to First Nations people in Canada continued and were consolidated into the first Federal Indian Act of 1876. For the most part, this comprehensive piece of Federal legislation has remained relatively unchanged for the past 125 years. It holds reserve land in trust by the Crown and regulates most aspects of reserve life, including band politics. However, the political situation in the colony of British Columbia was significantly different than in the rest of the country due to the fact that the First Nations people were still the majority ofthe population. While that is so, they still were not Reclaiming their places 35 consulted about the provisions of this legislation. The reasons for this are succinctly stated in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People ( 1996) review: ... the bands ofthe west were excluded from many provisions (such as the elective band council system) because they were seen as insufficiently 'advanced' for these measures. They were also in the process of entering into Treaties 1 to 7 and still had sufficient military strength that it might have been unwise to attempt to subject them to federal legislation of this nature ... where a western tribe was not officially under the Indian Act (or the later Indian Advancement Act of 1884) and where a treaty had been entered into, the Indian affairs department allowed Indians to hold elections under the close supervision of the local Indian agent. In British Columbia the department often followed customary or traditional practice, while in the prairies the election practices were akin to appointments by the agent (Volume 1, pp. 279- 280). There was a significant benefit to the larger, more densely populated, rank First Nations societies in B.C. because the Agents did not consider them to be sufficiently "advanced" to benefit from an elected Chief and Council structure. It meant that they were able to continue practicing important aspects of their traditional forms of governance free of aggressive colonial challenge. For example, the potlatch system was able to be openly practiced. The potlatch is the cornerstone of some traditional governance models and supports social, spiritual, political and economic organization of rank First Nations societies. In contrast, the band equalitarian societies did not practice such specialized politics and their nomadic lifestyle may have contributed to the combined church and state attempts to "civilize" and assimilate them using other means. In 1884 additional legislation pertaining to First Nations people was introduced for the more 'advanced' Indians in Eastern Canada. In the Indian Advancement Act, the powers ofthe Superintendent general (enacted through the Indian Agent) expanded Reclaiming their places 36 considerably. The Agents had the power to enforce a one-year elective band council among the male electorate over 21 years of age to be comprised of six councillors who, in tum, elected a Chief (Boldt, 1993). While a few B.C. bands such as the Cowichan, Metlakatla, and Port Simpson agreed to this voluntarily, most bands across Canada refused to do so (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Volume 1, p. 281 ). The third clause of the 1884 Act reflects the capitalist colonial government's attempt to legislate Indian culture out of existence. The potlatch system for many B.C. Northwest Coastal Nations was at the "center oflndian government and the spiritual focal point of an Indian community ... Elaborate and complex, the potlatch, through its ritual, reinforces the value systems upon which Indian societies have defined themselves for centuries" (Mathias & Yabsley, 1991, p. 37). According to Fisher (1992) the Indian Agents and missionaries intended to eradicate the potlatch because it was "by far the most formidable of all obstacles in the way of the Indians becoming Christian, or even civilized" (pp. 206 - 207). While "the law prohibiting the potlatch proved virtually impossible to enforce" (Fisher, 1992, p. 207) it remained in effect until 1951. While some Nations continued to practice the potlatch system, those who were found guilty of the misdemeanor could be imprisoned for two to six months. Legislated band councils, implemented in the place of the traditional governance model, held no meaning for First Nations people. According to Mathias & Yabsley (1991) the "jurisdiction ofband councils was superficial. No substantive powers rested with these councils, and any decisions made were subject to the ultimate approval of the Minister oflndian Affairs" (p. 38). Reclaiming their places 37 The Treaty 8 extension into North Eastern B.C. was approved in June 1899 as a result of Beaver, Cree and Slavey demands to be compensated for land lost to settler encroachment. Treaty 8 and fourteen smaller treaties on Vancouver Island negotiated by first Governor James Douglas (1850-1854), were the only treaties in existence in B.C. at the end ofthe twentieth century. The provisions ofthe Indian Advancement Act (1884) were subsequently incorporated into the Indian Act of 1906. In B.C. First Nations children began attending government operated, church-run residential schools in the 1880s (Tennant, 1990). Church and legislative powers enforced off-reserve schooling in efforts to civilize and assimilate new generations of First Nations people. Sometimes the Christian missionaries used brutal tactics to replace First Nations children's cultural beliefs, values and languages with European values and the English language. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse, enforced isolation between family members and Nations, and the damage to language and culture severely affected the social organization of many First Nations communities (Miller, 1996). For some Nations within easy reach of government and church officials, protesting these laws meant a risk of imprisonment. However, according to two participants in this study, rugged terrain in Northern B.C. meant that not all First Nations communities were easily accessed by Indian Agents and the R.C.M.P. As a result of colonization, some First Nations people experience a significant loss of ability to direct their anger outward 1 at the injustice. According to Alfred (1999) "men bear a special guilt. Many have added to Native women's oppression by inflicting pain on their wives, daughters, mothers and I sisters ... rage is externalized, and some cowards take out their frustration on women and children rather than risk confronting the real (ar,d still dangerous) oppressor" (p. 35). Reclaiming their places 38 The despair, disruption and distortion of community functioning affected community members in many ways. The combination of diseases and population decimation, suppression of cultural values, beliefs and languages, imposition of foreign governance systems, conflict over land, social disorganization due to children' s forced attendance at remote residential schools, influence of alcohol and increasing violence overwhelmed traditional coping mechanisms and systems of governance. The fact that First Nations women were excluded from the only political process recognized within the confines of the Indian Act meant that their role as women, elders and leaders was significantly altered. According to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People (1996) '·these electoral systems have had the effect of splintering viewpoints, alienating the community from decision making, and breeding distrust of leaders and officials" (Volume 2, p. 136). Revision of the Indian Act: 1951 Largely due to international criticism of Canada' s Aboriginal policy the Indian Act was revised in 1951. Hopes that the 1951 version would rectify the injustices advanced toward First Nations women were short lived. Instead, "the provisions dealing with status, membership and enfranchisement were significantly modified in a way that further disadvantaged women and their children" (Borrows & Rotman, 1998, pp. 616617). In these years, the forced and involuntary enfranchisement of First Nations women and their children reached epic proportions when compared to those of First Nations men. Reclaiming their places 39 One positive step was taken with the right to vote in band elections and to run for public office on reserve extended to First Nations women for the first time in 1951. This followed after First Nations (as well as Chinese and Japanese) people were permitted to vote in either municipal or provincial elections in 1949. First Nations people gained the right to vote in Federal elections in 1960, although they could not exercise that right until 1962. The consequences of this exclusionary legislation meant that, until that time, no First Nations voice, male or female, could be heard in the debates of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly. They were without any means to participate as citizens in the decision making ofthe very governments that controlled all aspects of life for status First Nations people in Canada. The eleven years between 1949 - 1960 is particularly significant for First Nations women for two reasons. First, because it represents a period when First Nations women finall y received the right to vote about issues affecting the daily governance of their lives on reserve at the same time as they began to participate in the mainstream political process. Second, because 1951 was the year that many First Nations communities had their first contacts with the provincial child welfare authorities. Section 88 was added to the federal Indian Act allowing for the extension of provincial government services onto reserves. Provincial government social workers entered First Nations communities that were reeling from the effects of the residential school system and cumulative effects of poverty, social, political and spiritual disorganization. Moran (1988), a non-Aboriginal female child welfare social worker who practiced in Northern B.C. during those years, Reclaiming their places 40 details the reality for some First Nations people through her own experience and the memories of a highly respected Dakelh Elder from Stoney Creek, Mary John. The effect of child welfare social work in First Nations communities is profound. Many people will argue that the child welfare system has replaced the residential school system in assimilating First Nations children into the dominant Canadian society. It is a perspective that is based on a number of factors, not the least of which are the sheer numbers of First Nations children and families affected by child welfare legislation. In 1951 there were 29 Aboriginal children in care ofthe B.C. government, by 1964 there were 1466. In 1955, one per cent of children in care were Aboriginal children. By 1960, forty per cent of children in care were Aboriginal (British Columbia, Ministry for Children and Families, 1997, p. 31 ). In 1999, thirty per cent of children in care were Aboriginal (British Columbia, Ministry for Children and Families, 1999). Provincial government statistics prove that the over-representation of Aboriginal children in foster care, proportional to the general population, continues unabated. Hope exists because ofthe growing number of First Nations communities that have or are attempting to regain responsibility for their own child welfare programs. In B.C. there are a number ofNations and Tribal Councils that have entered or are poised to enter into child welfare Delegation Enabling Agreements with the Federal and Provincial governments. The Carrier-Sekani Family Services agency in Prince George is one example of a Northern B.C. agency that is currently struggling to make child welfare changes for people living within its eight member bands and the urban communities. As a social worker who has been personally involved in various capacities with the agency, its progress has been a fa"'cinating one to be a part of, watch and consider. Reclaiming their places 41 The White Paper: 1969 Jean Cretien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in Trudeau's Liberal federal cabinet introduced the White Paper in 1969 entitled the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy. This document proposed to repeal the Indian Act because "Canada cannot seek the just society and keep discriminatory legislation on its statute books" (Ottawa, 1969, p. 8). It was seen as proof by First Nations people of the Federal governments' desire to divest itself of constitutional responsibilities toward Indian people in Canada. According to Cardinal (1999) this was primarily because of its intent to "do away with Indian reserves, status and identity" (p. vii). This was to be accomplished through "the repeal of the Indian Act, the transfer of Indian Affairs to the provincial jurisdiction and the elimination of a separate legal status for native people" (Cardinal, 1999, pp. 119-13 7) . The White Paper was soundly condemned by First Nations people and organizations across Canada because it did not discuss the question of Indian rights that Indian people believed were entrenched in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 . The reluctance of the Federal government to honour Treaties in existence or to enter into new Treaties, ensured economic hardship and poverty would remain a fact on reserves. As the Canadian public awoke to more evidence of an "unjust" society, the mistrust between First Nations people and the Federal government grew. International embarrassment : Two Axe Early, Laval/, Bedard Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of First Nations women began to lobby on the national and international stage to amend sex discrimination in the Indian Act. First among them was Mru:· Two-Axe Early, a Mohawk woman who had Reclaiming their places 42 lost her status upon marriage to a non-Aboriginal man. In 1968, she and other women presented their cases on a national level to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. In the early 1970s two other First Nations women, Jeannette Corbiere Lavall and Yvonne Bedard argued in the Supreme Court of Canada that the Indian Act enfranchisement provisions of section 12(1 )(b) violated the equality clause in the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights. When the Supreme Court decided that the Indian Act was exempt from the Canadian Bill of Rights in 1973, "both the federal government and the National Indian Brotherhood saw the decision as a victory" (Krosenbrink-Gelissen, 1998, p. 306). A number of reasons contributed to the relief of the federal government; not the least of which was concern of financial liabilities if non-status Indian women and children were to regain status and the right to government services. On one level, the National Indian Brotherhood viewed the 1969 White Paper on Indian Policy as the federal governments attempt to absolve itself of its fudiciary duty toward, and special status of, Indian people. If Lavell and Bedard were successful in challenging the discriminatory clauses of the Indian Act, the N.I.B. feared "the federal government would be given the ultimate power to change or even repeal the Indian Act without the consent of Indian people" (Ibid, 1998, p. 305). On another level, "factionalism, favouritism and male chauvinism on reserves" (Ibid, 1998, pp. 30 1-302) and male domination of national Aboriginal organizations contributed to women' s concerns that their issues would remain subordinated to the larger "Indian Rights" issue. Reclaiming their places 43 The development of National women's organizations In response to the lack of support given Aboriginal women's issues by maledominated Aboriginal organizations, the Native Women's Association of Canada and the National Committee on Indian Rights for Indian Women were established in the early 1970s. Krosenbrink-Gelissen (1998) identifies clear differences that exist between national Aboriginal organizations that are male dominated or women focused: First NW AC and the NCIRIW base their membership on self identifying criteria. Any person of Aboriginal ancestry is included in the membership. The Native Council of Canada and the NIB, however, base their membership on legal criteria. Furthermore, women's organizations deal specifically with Aboriginal women's issues, and predominantly with Indian women's grief and goals. The Native Council of Canada and the NIB politically represent all Aboriginal persons (except the Inuit) but their political agendas are nevertheless male-dominated. This is reflected in their leadership and their decision-making processes as well. And lastly, the executives ofwomen's organizations do not receive salaries. They do their job on a voluntary basis. Male dominated organizations' executive receive salaries. For them political leadership is tied to employment and career-making (pp. 309-31 0) In 1977 a group of women from the Tobique reserve in New Brunswick brought sex discrimination within the Indian Act to the international stage. The United Nations Human Rights Committee heard Sandra Lovelace's complaint against section 12(1)(b) of the Indian Act and in 1981, found Canada in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights S I ~ 1988, p. 14). The resultant glare of negative publicity ' and international condemnation of Canada's treatment of First Nations people embarrassed the Federal govembent. Pressure and lobbying efforts to force the Reclaiming their places 44 amendment of discriminatory clauses of the Indian Act relating specifically to women and children enfranchised through marriage, continued. Bill C-31 : 1985 Bill C-31 was passed by the Canadian government on June 28, 1985 and offered full reinstatement of Indian status to women and their children, who were enfranchised under former provisions of the Indian Act. However, discrimination continues against the "C-31 's" in their differing ability, than their brothers, to pass status to their children. According to Moss ( 1990, p. 281) "section 6(2) of the Indian Act still terminates Indian status for persons with fewer than two Indian grandparents. This applies to children born after, and children of women, but not men, who married out prior to 1985". Fiske (1995) argues that the need to address this is urgent given that: Some families may find, within the next two generations, that they have no status members remaining ... First Nations with few resources and little hope of economic development may, in the short term, suffer from population increases; ironically, in the long term, they may face a serious decline in a population for whom the government has a constitutional responsibility (p. 17). In addition to these concerns Frideres (1998) argues that the projected reinstatement of status to approximately 105, 675 First Nations people by 2001, has contributed to a factionalization within the Aboriginal community regarding already lacking and over burdened reserve resources. "The return of urban Indians to the reserves has brought about bitterness, jealousy, and factions within the reserve community. In many areas, such as in educational institutions, a great deal of animosity exists between "traditional" Indians and "Bill C-31" Indians" (Frideres, 1998, p. 33). At the center of the Bill C-31 amendment controversy exists yet another social and political rift ~ by Reclaiming their places 45 the lack of economic resources and Federal political will to adequately meet the needs of the reinstated. Cardinal (1999) bluntly states "for ordinary folk, the changes to date have been nothing more than smoke and mirrors .. .the result is a legal hocus pocus in which recovering "status" has little or no meaning" (p. xiii). Constitutional Talks : 1992. Discrimination within legislation that pits brother against sister and makes Indian women dependent on men (first their fathers, then their husbands) for their identity, is part of a Federal "divide and conquer strategy" that is well known to First Nations people (Cardinal, 1999). The 1995 Supreme Court decision against the Native Women' s Association of Canada and their request to be equally funded and present as a separate entity from the male-dominated national Aboriginal organizations (Assemby of First Nations, Native Council of Canada, Metis National Council and the Innuit Tapirsat of Canada) at the 1992 Charlottetown Accord (Constitutional talks), is an example of how firn1l y entrenched this strategy has become among Aboriginal people. According to Adams (1995) "unless Aboriginal women exert pressure, these out-dated organizations will persist, especially considering the fact that the state supports and funds them . .. Attempting to mask our internal conflicts from the media only promotes further inequality, injustice and male domination" (p. 150). Recognition of the strategy shocked one Northern B.C. woman Chief into action. Well, I guess for me one of the things that stands out is the Charlottetown Accord in 1992 or 1993 when the First Nations sort of political body in Canada decided that they wanted to get into the Constitution, regardless, and they had agreed that they would enter into Canada's Confederation. First Nations women wouldn't be allowed Reclaiming their places 46 equality rights under the provisions of the Charter [of Human Rights and Freedoms] and I think for me, it was a watershed in Canadian politics. It was an agreement of all the men, white and Indian included, that they could agree to this without any women present at the table. And with the opposition from the N.W.A.C.- the Native Women's Association of Canada, opposed it and with their little voice they were able to, I believe they had a real say, or a real influence, on the "NO" vote that ended up happening in Canada ... And for me, I guess the heartbreaker as a First Nations woman is to see that we had reached a white level of assimilation that we had never seen before in our history. Where women were treated as second class citizens at that level and being a [First Nations] woman I'd never seen or felt that before, to that degree, or to see it so publicly displayed (Participant). It appears that many First Nations Chiefs in Northern B.C. understand the magnitude of discrimination and divisions confronting women and are intent on taking action and speak out about the injustice. For example, one woman Chief spoke about her recent experience at a political meeting in her Northern B.C. Nation. I was told I wasn't allowed to speak [at the meeting].That's another value that was absolute bullshit that was adopted by our men leaders. Women are not allowed to speak! I see my grandmother doing it all the time, asserting her right and she's allowed to. I'd like to do it too. Just because I'm younger, that doesn't mean I don't know anything (Participant). Discrimination based on gender, economic crises and community factionalsim are constant realities requiring specific and comprehensive redress strategies. The talent, effort and alliance building efforts of many First Nations and non-First Nations people must continue. According to Cardinal (1999) in First Nations communities "three basic, fundamental factors hold the answer : development of strong Indian leadership, implementation of the total spectrum of education and the ..::reation of a strong economic Reclaiming their places 47 base" (p. 56). Based on my interviews with the women Chiefs, the development of strong and inclusive Indian leadership is exactly what the participants are interested in working toward. Conclusion This chapter has described how European political, social and economic influences of the past 225 years have distorted traditional First Nations forms of governance in Northern B.C. It discusses how discriminatory clauses of the Indian Act, influence of Christian religion, suppression of traditional culture and languages have devalued women's roles in the governance of First Nations. It provides examples of ways First Nations women have begun to organize around women's issues. Only two of the seven women Chiefs in Northern B.C. involved in this research were born by 1951 when First Nations women gained the right to vote in band elections. All seven women grew into adulthood within the historical and contemporary context described in this chapter. As elected or hereditary Chiefs, their hope for spiritual, emotional, physical and mental renewal in First Nations communities is influenced by women who have successfully blended traditional cultural values and beliefs with European systems and expectations to bring about positive change. Resilience, flexibility, organization and determination are keys that help these seven women Chiefs transition toward positions of strength in the next century. The Indian Act election system is one of the systems at their disposal, as are Aboriginal organizations and the traditional models of governance. In the new millennium, no one system can stand alone in offering everything to all people. The need to blend what was, with what is, into what can be is the part of the circle that continues to e·.olve. Reclaiming their places 48 The next chapter will discuss the methodology and research methods used to explore the unique influences that contribute toward the decision of the seven women Chiefs to become politically active. Reclaiming their places 49 CHAPTER3 Methodology The word itself, 'research', is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world's vocabulary ... The ways in which scientific research is implicated in the worst excesses of colonialism remains a powerful remembered history for many of the world' s colonized peoples (Smith, 1999, p.1 ). Methodology is important because it frames the questions being asked, determines the set of instruments and methods to be employed and shapes the analyses ... Indigenous methodolo·gies are often a mix of existing methodological approaches and indigenous practices. (Smith, 1999, p. 143). Deciding on an analytic frame As a qualitative researcher, I openly acknowledge that my biases affect the research questions I posed. My biases are a product of my social and cultural environment, my experiences, values, feminist beliefs and social work education. I continue to believe that part ofthe goal ofthis thesis is to create knowledge that is grounded in women's experiences because of the balance that is needed to counteract the overwhelming amount of "knowledge" that has been produced grounded in men's experiences, power and privilege. This is very significant because male bias in knowledge creation has represented itself for many years as the "official voice" for all people while remaining blind to its role in the oppression of women, children, elders and First Nations people (among others) in Canadian society. My belief is that the voices and perspectives of all people deserve to be heard and considered in decision making. This thesis is my effort to ensure that the voices of seven First Nations women Chiefs and my own, will be heard. Reclaiming their places 50 From the beginning of my interest in this particular topic, something else was pulling at me, something for which I had no framework. Then, during a planning meeting for a small child in the provincial government child welfare system, a Lakota Elder taught us about a sacred circle or medicine wheel concept that introduced a First Nations world view about balance and interconnection in life. He drew a circle to represent all things and then drew a large "X" through it. (See Figure 1). In the four sections he wrote the four directions; east, south, west and north. Next, using the same sections he wrote yellow, black, red and white to represent the four races of people. Beside the colors the Elder wrote stages of development, for example childhood, adolescence, adult and elder. Next he wrote the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter and the four elements of water, earth, wind and fire. Still using the same sections he wrote spiritual, emotional, physical and mental to represent elements that are required to ensure balance and harmony, whether that be in a person, family, community or Nation. The Elder explained that the parts of the medicine wheel naturally flowed into one another, were continually evolving, were not rigid or absolute and could be seen differently by individual people. He explained that when one of these sections was not given proper attention, problems and imbalance would result in the other areas. The Elder helped the members of the child' s planning team to understand the connection between .., I the theoretical application of ~ medicine wheel and a practical application when he used his own residential school experience to explain the effect on his spiritual, emotional, physical and mental self. PatieJtly, he explained the healing process that he began many Reclaiming their places 51 years ago and how his culture, language and traditional teachings are helping him to return to a place of peace and balance. It was a powerful lesson for many other reasons. After the Elder completed the explanation of the medicine wheel, we began a planning meeting for the child using a "talking circle" format. All participants were included in the process. The child was present and listened to twelve adults talk about what each of them thought were in his best interests. The child had an opportunity to say what he thought should happen in his own life. Only one person was able to speak at a time and the effect of this was that some people voiced the opinion that it was the first time they had ever had an opportunity to tell others how they felt and be assured that they had been heard. The child heard his own traditional language spoken for the first time in his life when the Elder invited the child's grandmother to close the session in a prayer in their own traditional language. The child saw the respect accorded to his grandmother by the other people in the room. He understood, at the end of the day, as we all did, what needed to happen next and why it needed to happen. We all knew, because we had all participated and agreed on the next steps. As a social worker, my practice was forever changed because of the safe, respectful and productive environment that was created that day between social workers, First Nations women leaders, many extended family members, foster parents, daycare people, administrators and one Lakota Elder. Flowing from that experience, the idea of using a traditional First Nations method for analyzing the interviews from my thesis project began to emerge. Other First Nations and non-First Nations academics have integrated the concept of a medicine wheel into analyses within other academic disciplines such as social work (Absolon & Herbert, Reclaiming their places 52 1997; Dyck, 1996; Jules, 1990). For example, Jules (1990) analyzed her thesis data from seven women elders using the medicine wheel concept described by Bopp, Bopp, Brown and Lane (1985) which details gifts and teachings of the four directions (East, South, West and North). In addition, Dyck (1996) used the medicine wheel concept ofthe Plains Indians to analyze western, feminist and Aboriginal science while Pepper & Henry ( 1991) used the medicine wheel to illustrate four interrelated aspects of self esteem. B.C. First Nations academic Calliou (1998) draws on the four directions of the medicine wheel to discuss "identity politics" regarding First Nations people and (1995) as a model for peacekeeping. The message is that qualitative researchers can find ways to represent indigenous practices that integrate spiritual, emotional, physical and cognitive dimensions in data analysis. This thesis is well suited to such analysis and has the potential to encourage other academics to utilize the medicine wheel concept as a viable research analysis tool. While there is agreement that the medicine wheel or circle was not used historically as a tool by all First Nations in Northern B.C., all of the women Chiefs understood the concept and are familiar with its symbolism as an indigenous method for understanding the need for balance and a holistic perspective among all living things. Still, I continued to have some concerns about using a First Nations concept given that criticism has been levelled at "new agers" who exploit First Nations spirituality without taking the time to learn and integrate the concepts. Smith (1994) argues that: the New Age movement completely trivializes the oppression we as Indian women face: Indian women are suddenly no longer the women who are forcibly sterilized and tested with unsafe drugs such as Depo Provera; we are no longer the women who have a life expectancy of 4 7 years; and we are no longer the women who generally live Reclaiming their places 53 below the poverty level and face a 75 percent unemployment rate ... we are not obligated to teach anyone about our spirituality. It is our choice if we want to share with people who we think will be respectful (p. 71). At the same time as I was considering Smith' s (1994) position, I discovered an article by Kowalsky, Thurston, Verhoef & Rutherford (1996) describing the importance of adhering to culturally sensitive guidelines when researching issues involving First Nations people: be prepared for the uncertainty in the process, be honest about your motives, be prepared for the unexpected, allow for time, recognize and respect the spiritual component, respect confidence and guard against taking sides, follow the lines of authority and show respect for it, be aware of general etiquette expectations (pp. 273-279). Consequently, I spoke with the women Chiefs and others about analyzing my thesis data using the medicine wheel or circle concept and have been directed in several ways. First, the people underscored the need to be honest regarding the origins of my knowledge of the medicine wheel concept or theory and the context for it. Second, they cautioned me to be respectful and to take the time necessary to fully understand the concepts as they relate to myself and to this work. Third, to use the medicine wheel method of analysis only with either agreement or approval of the women Chiefs. These pre-requisites have been met and represent another way researchers can strive to be culturally sensitive toward First Nations people. Most importantly, this method brings the information together in a holistic and balanced way that makes sense for this particular thesis research. Reclaiming their places 54 Throughout the interviews, the concepts of spirituality, emotions, physical and mental influences overlapped, ebbed and flowed into one another. Focussing on any one of the individual aspects can give an exaggerated or minimal perception of the people's experiences and ways of living in the world. The concept only makes sense once it is viewed as the integration of a holistic view. With that caution in mind, next I will discuss an Aboriginal model of social work practice and research. Praxis : An Aboriginal model of social work practice and research This social work thesis uses a exploratory, qualitative research strategy to study influences that encourage the political activism of seven First Nations women Chiefs in Northern B.C. Critical components in the development in this thesis include Aboriginal social work practice theories and decolonizing methodologies proposed by indigenous academics. First, I will discuss a tentative framework for an Aboriginal model of social work practice proposed by Canadian social work academics Morrissette, McKenzie & Morrissette (1993) who advocate for recognition of a distinct Aboriginal world view; the development of Aboriginal consciousness about the impact of colonization; cultural acknowledgment and traditions as an active component of reclaiming Aboriginal identity and collective consciousness; and finally empowerment as a method of practice (pp. 91-92). All elements in their Aboriginal model of social work practice are relevant for this study because the effects of colonization were readily apparent in the experiences of all seven women Chiefs. The specific issues will be described and discussed in the next chapter. However, the importance of researcher' s sensitivity and knJwledge ofthe elements required in an Aboriginal model of social work practice and true commitment to Reclaiming their places 55 the model can not be underestimated. This commitment is essential if non-Aboriginal social workers want to be recognized as allies by Aboriginal people who are working toward becoming, once again self-determining peoples. Ways to address the legacy of colonization in this research process happened when I explained the research questions, process and ethical considerations. I asked for guidance from a number of First Nations people about the respectful way to acknowledge cultural expectations and traditions as a means to appropriately prepare myself for entry into First Nations communities. They explained the importance of providing small handmade gifts or tobacco as a sign of respect and gratitude for the women who agreed to share their story. The explanation included instruction in the proper way to present the gifts and what I should say directly to the women. The underlying message was to be respectful at all times and to recognize the incredible gift I was being given in return; a true education. Throughout the interviewing, analyzing and writing I tried to respond to suggestions or questions that were intended to broaden my perspective or to challenge what was prepared. Sometimes that meant reading articles suggested by the women Chiefs; other times it meant the interviews became focused in ways directed by the participants. I made every effort to ensure the women Chiefs knew the process was voluntary and they could withdraw from the process at any point. As this research project neared completion, I had follow-up discussions with four of the participants about various ways to formally and informally present the study findings and recommendations to Aboriginal community people, social workers, organizations and policy makers, The final piece of this research process will culminate with a thesis defense. My hope is that all of the women Chiefs who participated in the thesis research will be able to attend the defense Reclaiming their places 56 and will be open to meet one another as co-participants and colleagues. Next, I will discuss factors contributing toward my choice of a interpretive or qualitative research methodology. Qualitative research methodology Several fundamental and philosophical factors contribute toward my choice of a exploratory, qualitative research methodology rather than a quantitative research methodology. First, according to Neuman (1997) iflittle has been written about a topic, such as contemporary First Nations women leaders in Northern B.C., "exploratory research may be the first stage in a sequence of studies" (p. 19). He notes that generally descriptive and explanatory research flow from exploratory research. The goals of exploratory research include: 1) becoming familiar with the basic facts, people and concerns involved, 2) developing a well-grounded mental picture of what is occurring, 3) generating many ideas and developing tentative theories and conjectures, 4) determining the feasibility of doing additional research, 5) formulating questions and refine issues for more systematic inquiry, 6) develop techniques and a sense of direction for future research (Neuman, 1997, p. 20). Second, in order for this study to be respectful and useful from a First Nations perspective, the seven women's stories and views need to be based on the reality of their experiences and communicated through their words. The rationale for this is two fold. First because it is important ~ women to voice their own perspective rather than have it I originate from a male-dominated perspective and second, because of race, career, education and training, acknow}edgement that the women's world views will be different from mine. Reclaiming their places 57 I chose a qualitative or interpretative social science rather than a quantitative or positivist social science research strategy for a number of reasons. First, my ontological position or perspective of the social world reflects that the women Chiefs ' knowledge, views and experiences are meaningful ways to better understand how and what influenced them to become politically active. Secondly, my epistemological position or theory about how knowledge can be demonstrated, suggests that the best way to gather knowledge consistent with my ontological position is to interact, talk and listen to the women Chiefs. My particular view of the social world is further influenced by beliefs, values, traditions, practice wisdom, responsibilities, trust, emotions, life stories and a desire to gradually develop relationships over time. According to Neuman (1997) interpretive social science, of which qualitative research is one variety, was founded by two nineteenth-century German men; sociologist Max Weber and philosopher Wilhem Dilthey. Mason (1996) identifies qualitative research as one that is "grounded in a philosophical position which is broadly "interpretivist" in the sense that it does not assume a neutral stance; is concerned with how the social world is interpreted, understood, experienced or produced; based on methods of data generation which are flexible and sensitive to the social context in which data are produced; and based on methods of analysis and explanation building which involve understandings of complexity, detail and context" (p. 4). In contrast, Neuman (1997) notes that positivistic social science arose from the work of nineteenth-century French sociologists Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim as well as British philosopher John Stuart Mill. Researchers using its "positivistic" or quantitative methods "prefer precise quantitati"e data and often use experiments, surveys Reclaiming their places 58 and statistics. They seek rigorous, exact measures and 'objective' research" (Neuman, 1997, p. 63). Qualitative research appears to be closer to what indigenous academic Smith (1999) identifies as being important in indigenous social science research which is to demystify and decolonize knowledge creation. The power of life stories and experiences of many people, told in their own way, using their own words, expressing their own feelings builds a shared history that all people in a community or group have a part in creating. This stands in sharp contrast to positivist research that sees "science free of personal, political or religious values. It operates independently of the social and cultural forces affecting other human activity." (Neuman, 1997, p. 67). It is the requirement that positivist research isolate the person from their context that led me to conclude that a qualitative research strategy is the best research choice for this study. My choice was further influenced by increasing numbers of indigenous academics and writers that advocate for wider acknowledgement and respect for indigenous knowledge and indigenous knowledge creation. This is critical because it is occurring from the perspective of people who are "celebrating their survival of colonialism by retaining spiritual and cultural values and authenticity ... and because ... it displays resistances at an ordinary human level that affirm the identities of indigenous women and men" (Smith, 1999, p. 145). Another factor influencing my decision to choose a qualitative rather than quantitative research methodology was the assertion by Conger (1998) that qualitative research Although intense and complex ... can be the richest of studies, often illuminating in radically new ways phenomena as complex as leadership. They ...re responsible for paradigm shifts, insights into the role of context, and Reclaiming their places 59 longitudinal perspectives that other methods often fail to capture ... despite these advantages, the contribution of qualitative methods to leadership in research remains remarkably limited (p. 1). Qualitative research methods dovetails well with my social work background and training which has taught me, among other things, how to be a good listener, observe nonverbal communication and understand that relationships based in mutual respect and trust need to be built over time. Over the years I have learned how to interview people, record and summarize data. Additional skill building has occurred with the need to recognize, overcome or at least be honest about my own biases. The challenge of this experience and my key concern is my ability to learn about, be aware of and understand the influences in the women Chiefs' lives from their perspective, rather than my own. According to Merriman (1998) this is "sometimes referred to as the ernie, or insider's perspective, versus the etic or outsider's view" (p. 6). I admit to some dissonance in that while I am clearly in the outsider' s position I have the responsibility of collecting and analyzing the data. This dissonance is even more evident when I realized, during the course of some of the interviews, that I clearly misunderstood actions or events. Fortunately, that was rectified when I asked questions to clarify my understanding or read something that better explained the situation. I began to understand why qualitative researchers need a tolerance for complexity when I was ethically obligated, following one interview with a participant, to identify myself as a child welfare social worker with past legal delegation to remove children from families. I felt particularly uncomfortable when one of the women Chiefs identified herself as representing a First Nations community from which I had personally removed children and briefly placed in government foster care. Thankfully, her response to my Reclaiming their places 60 disclosure was positive and the opportunity proved to be a healing experience for both of us; one that in hindsight was completely unexpected but absolutely critical for me. In this particular example, sharing information not only helped to build knowledge but also provided an opportunity to establish a significantly deeper relationship and empathic connection between myself as a researcher and the woman Chief participant. It is an excellent example of how power relationships permeate all spheres of social life and how in varying social contexts between the same two individuals, it can oppress, transform, build or heal relationships. Typically much of the research literature developed regarding First Nations reserve communities has been and is written by "outsiders" who were not born into those communities and as such has been created from "other' s eyes". This can create difficulties with credibility and a "shortage of research that is useful from Indian points of view'· (Hampton as cited in Gilchrist, 1997, p.70). This was not my experience during the course of this research. In fact, the opposite was true; I was repeatedly told by the women Chiefs that contributing to this knowledge was seen as an honour and that it was long overdue. A positivist approach suggests that "social facts are like objects. They exist separate from values or theories. The interpretive approach sees the social world as made up of created meaning, with people creating and negotiating meanings" (Neuman, 1997, p. 78). Within the context of this particular research, the "subjectivity", or created meaning, of the interpretive or qualitative approach became a major strength. Observing people interacting with others, looking at pictures or seeing people become emotional added important and subjective dimensions to the tape-recorded data. Subjectivity wa:. . Reclaiming their places 61 evident in my written or tape-recorded field notes following the interviews. These provided many valuable opportunities for personal reflection and deeper analysis of situations and experiences. An example ofthis occurred following a tape-recorded interview, when one woman Chief invited me to view her family album. In addition to verbal explanations of the pictures, her non-verbal actions such as looking at some pictures at great length or turning pages quickly conveyed more about her feelings than her words were able to. She gave me permission to include one of the pictures of her as a young child in this thesis (See appendix "A"). It was taken shortly after she was forced to leave her home, family and community to live in a residential school. I could not forget the pain in that child' s eyes and the absolute grief evident in her face. My reaction stems from knowledge of how deeply that childhood experience continues to emotionally affect her as an adult. Gubrium & Holstein (1997) recognize this is common in qualitative research and argue that "emotionalism should take its practioner' s heart away; anything less would be methodologically remiss" (p. 70). Research methods According to Harding (1987) a research method is a technique for (or way of proceeding in) gathering evidence (p. 2-3). What follows is a step by step review of the of this thesis research process. Design I defined the area ofNorthem B.C. to include the land mass from Williams Lake north to the Yukon, Northwest Territories provincial border, west to the Pacific Ocean Reclaiming their places 62 including the various islands of Haida Gwaii and east to the Alberta border, roughly replicating the area served by regional offices of the University ofNorthem B.C. Initially, I reviewed the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs handbook, a Guide to Aboriginal organizations and services in British Columbia (1998) and the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs web-site for updated information regarding the currently elected band and tribal council Chiefs in that geographic area. Next, I made a list of provincial Aboriginal organizations such as the United Native Nations, Aboriginal newspapers and radio stations. I sent e-mails and telephoned people I already knew to ask if they knew any politically active women who might be interested in being interviewed. Many people suggested specific women, provided phone numbers and addresses and offered introductions. As a result, I sent a total of 39 letters to various band and tribal councils, Aboriginal organizations and individuals explaining the research, asking if they were willing to participate, and whether they knew of anyone who might be (see Appendix B). Enclosed with the introductory letters sent directly to the currently elected and hereditary women Chiefs was a copy of the research questions (one for elected Chiefs, a different one for hereditary Chiefs) (see Appendix C), an agreement of participation (see Appendix D) and a letter to band Chief or First Nations organization (see Appendix E). I sent each of those letters marked "personal and confidential". 1 As a result, I received 11 ~ of interest from women who either met the ' ' criteria of being currently elected band or tribal council Chiefs, band councillors or hereditary Chiefs or knew of with seven of ~ ~ eleven women. ' I who did. Interviews were eventually conducted While the other four women were interested in Reclaiming their places 63 participating, conflicting schedules and competing interests and responsibilities prevented that from occurring. The evolving process. Throughout the research and interview process I continued to research computer data bases, books, videos and microfilm materials at the University ofNorthem B.C., the Prince George Public Library, and numerous libraries at the University of British Columbia including the First Nations House of Learning Xwi7xwa Library, Law and Kroener Libraries. In addition I attended two workshops in Prince George between February and May 1999 focused on media skills and oral history techniques. As a result of the media skills workshop I wrote a short article regarding my research into my own Aboriginal family history and work with First Nations children and families which was subsequently published in the Cultures West magazine issue of September 1999. During the initial contact with the seven potential participants, we discussed my introductory letter and consents, scope of the research, research questions, the need to establish free and informed consent and the fact they could discontinue from the research at any time. I explained the ethical approval process required by the University of Northern B.C. of any student undertaking research. Next, I offered phone numbers and contact names of University staffthat could verify my ethical research approval. The wisdom, ethical conduct and good practice for this was reinforced when one of the women Chiefs asked "Do all researchers need to do this? I know others who don't do that." We discussed one researcher known to the participant who collected information through informal conversatious with First Nations people at community gatherings. It Reclaiming their places 64 was clear that this particular research method was not acceptable to this participant except "if all you want is gossip". Following this, I reviewed the issues of privacy and confidentiality, possible conflicts of interest, research involving First Nations people and my willingness to share data, working papers and a completed copy of the thesis with each of the women Chiefs. Following the initial contact, I scheduled a time to meet and interview each of the women in a setting comfortable for them. At no time did I receive funding, grants or awards to conduct this research. The tape-recorded interview conversations began on June 9, 1999 and were completed on July 19, 1999. In total I traveled to six separate communities in Northern B.C. and logged 3, 507 kilometers in order to complete the interviews. The length of interviews varied between two and six hours. The physical settings included two interviews with participants in their homes on reserve communities, three interviews in band or tribal offices, one interview at an educational setting and one interview in a hotel room. In three of the seven interviews, the participants chose to have another person or persons accompany them. Attending were a Chief's granddaughter, a female summer assistant to the Chief, and another Chief's daughter-in-law and infant grandchild. In some of the discussions, we followed the open ended guideline that loosely followed the key concepts in a traditional First Nations medicine wheel or circle (Dyck, 1996) that include spiritual, emotional, physical and mental elements. In a few instances the conversations seemed to take on a life of their own and grew broader than the guideline. Immediately following the interviews I made a copy of each of the original audiocassettes. In addition I completed field notes and/or recorded my personal thoughts on audiocassette to record some of my imr.1ediate feelings and emotions. Reclaiming their places 65 Once home, I locked the original audiocassette in my filing cabinet and personally transcribed the copied audiocassette. On the cassettes I noted the date and coded the interview using the numbers 1-7. One of the interviews had to be repeated due to a recording malfunction and was coded with a lower case letter following the number. After one copy of each transcribed computer disc was made, I printed three hard copies of the completed interviews. Next, I mailed or hand delivered a transcribed hard copy to the appropriate participant (see Appendix Gas an example) together with a letter requesting a review of the transcript. The second copy I placed in a file folder in my home office together with both computer discs and copies of the various letters sent to and consents signed by the women participants. The third hard copy I hole punched and placed together with the other completed interviews in a three ring binder. This compilation of interviews was also kept in a locked file cabinet. Five of the women responded that they agreed with the transcripts as completed. Of these, three of the women requested that grammatical errors in their language be corrected prior to the presentation of the data in a completed thesis form. As a matter of continuity, I corrected minor grammatical errors in all quotes. For the two women who did not respond that they agreed with the transcripts, a decision was made with my thesis committee to try contacting them by telephone twice more, bringing the attempts to six. Once that proved unsuccessful for one woman Chief, I faxed a letter to her dated October 4, 1999 stating that if I did not hear from her by October 30, 1999 I would assume she was in agreement with the transcriptions (see example Appendix H). Reclaiming their places 66 In three instances, I met with the women personally and, in three instances I was notified by telephone that they approved of the transcripts. After approval of the transcriptions, I gave each woman a picture painted by a local Aboriginal artist depicting a First Nations woman and particular animal, bird or crest. In five pictures, the animal represented their own particular clan. In two instances the animal or bird did not represent a clan totem because the women did not practice within the clan system. I gave these gifts to express my gratitude for their willingness to share their perspective about what interested me, for what each had helped me understand and for their contribution to my education. In four instances, I met with the women personally to deliver the gifts. In two instances, I delivered the gifts to the band office as the Chief was not available. In the final instance, because of the distance involved, I asked a family member traveling to the community to deliver the gift to the office. On October 13, 1999 I received a phone call from one of the women to whom I had originally sent a letter requesting her participation at the end of May 1999. I discussed whether or not to proceed with the interview with the supervisor of my committee and decided that I would proceed. However, the interview was to occur over the telephone and to be recorded in short hand, rather than audio taped and transcribed as with the other women participants. On November 11, 1999 I spoke again with this elected woman Chief. After I explained the research to her, she informed me that she would speak with her council and leave her participation up to them to decide. As of this date (May 26, 2000) I have not heard back from her. Following approval of the transcripts by the women Chiefs, I began to consider how to identify them in my formal thesis document. Merriam (1998) argues that the term Reclaiming their places 67 "participants" is a "carefully chosen identifier, with connotations of inclusion and willing cooperation. This single word captures a number of attitudes about research from the qualitative paradigm. It also serves as a litmus test concerning ethics" (p. 132). I have used the term "participant" to denote a direct quote from one of the seven women Chiefs in the body of the thesis. However, I struggled using the term exclusively because it is their position as currently elected or hereditary First Nations women Chiefs that most clearly defines this sample of "participants". To reflect that reality, I have identified them as "women Chiefs" or a "woman Chief' as well. There was one other First Nations woman with whom I met in July 1999 and spoke with informally for approximately two hours. Although she was not an elected or hereditary Chief, her name was given to me as a leader ofHaida ancestry. This particular woman agreed to meet with me to share some of her stories about being a woman carver, known provincially and internationally. She brought samples and pictures of her work and shared how her decision to pursue carving developed. However, one piece of our conversation stands out. When I told her that her name was given to me because she was the first Haida women carver, I could sense a change in her demeanor. She told me that the description was not necessarily true and cautioned me to remember that the first anthropologists through the Haida territory had been men and as such, had written from their male-dominated, Victorian perspective, excluding the existence of female carvers. Certainly she did not believe she was the first Haida woman carver. It was a gentle and thoughtful caution, and a good reminder of a basic principle of who has the power to write and have their version read. Reclaiming their places 68 Data Analvsis The audio-taped interviews with the seven women Chiefs resulted in two hundred and ten pages of single-spaced transcription. I filed one copy of each interview, together with my field notes relating to their particular interview, in a three ring binder. Next, I spent three weeks at a lakefront cabin, without telephones or electric light, repeatedly reading the data. Toward the end of the three weeks, when I felt comfortable with the volume of data, I began to section each interview by color coding the participant's response to each question. For example, the women Chiefs response to my first interview question "Can you tell me what you remember about the way women and children were treated in your family and community?" was color coded in the margin with a pink felt marker. The next response to a question was coded in a blue felt marker. That system continued until all the transcript responses were color coded and corresponded to a chart or legend on the inside cover of the binder. Next, I cut each like-colored section out of each interview and placed it in separately grouped piles. These pieces of interviews were then placed in large file envelopes. The parts of interviews that did not fit were placed in a separate envelope. Once I read through each compilation of responses, I made separate notes regarding issues and actions each Chiefs identified in each question. Then I made separate notes regarding issues each Chief identified as sources of support in their political endeavors and barriers to support. Next, I made 1 ~ notes regarding issues the participants identified as being criticized by Aboriginal community members, government organizations or nonAboriginal people. Then, I about issues they criticized. ~ the participants responses and made separate notes Reclaiming their places 69 As a result of this first part of organizing the data, I ended up with 54 pages of handwritten notes. It was at this point I began to feel overwhelmed, anxious and as though I had definitely attempted a completely unmanagable task. Talking with my committee members, and my supervisor in particular, about the sheer volume helped to refocus my efforts. Validation that my feelings are a normal part ofthe qualitative research process and to be expected proved to be helpful in reducing my personal tension and anxiety. From the 54 pages of data notes, I began to look for words in each section that were repeated or had similar meanings. The first theme began to emerge when I noticed I had filled two pages with words and examples such as : creation, givers of life, reincarnation, smudges, residential schools, praying, sweatlodges, and legends. The second theme began to emerge when two more pages filled with words such as : respect, humble, honesty, ethics, compassion, sexism, laughter, crying, anger, care, pain, stereotypes, protection, honor, criticizing, fear and humiliation. The third theme emerged when three pages were filled with words such as : Indian Act, Department of Indian Affairs, family, language, Constitution, Delgamuukw, Corbiere, elections, economic development, role models, poverty, health issues, babysitting and money. The final theme emerged when I noticed I had written the words, "healing, hope and vision" repeatedly on the same piece of paper. At that point, I was so involved with the analysis that I could not see what the themes were, even though I recognized there were themes. Further, I did not know how to proceed. In absolute frustration, I locked the data and material away for a short period of time. Reclaiming their places 70 Some weeks later I was at a planning meeting for another youth in the child welfare system. As part of the process, the same Lakota Elder who was discussed previously, began to explain the Medicine Wheel teachings to the people gathered together. He explained that given the youth' s place in the circle of life, she already knew many things based on her particular experiences but still needed help and guidance to learn about other issues, like healing and forgiveness. The Elder explained how the yout? would learn about the importance of that with time and maturity. When he began to explain the significance of the four sections ofthe Medicine Wheel (spiritual, emotional, physical and mental), I immediately recognized my thesis themes. Later in the day, I returned to eight pages of notes and saw that the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental themes were clearly recognizable. I made the decision to organize the themes in the order they first appeared using as many of the words of the participants as possible to illustrate the various supports and challenges they encounter as women leaders. The simultaneous process. Throughout the interviews strange coincidences occurred. I do not understand why these things happened as they did; however I will write the facts in this section and discuss the significance in the concluding chapter. The first woman Chiefto respond to my request for an interview did so from a First Nations community closest to the community into which I was born and in which I grew up. The simple fact of a connection to "home" gave me a positive feeling about beginning the thesis research. We were strangers, so I offered to come to wherever she felt most comfortable on a day of her choosing. - Reclaiming their places 71 The first participant invited me to her home at 10 a.m. on June 9, 1999. She had no way of knowing that my father was born on June 9 at 10 a.m. and that that day would hold a very special and personal significance for me. This day in 1999, my father turned 65 years old, a day in Euro Canadian culture that arbitrarily designates his status as a senior citizen. She had no way of knowing that my paternal grandmother's heritage and experiences as a child helped to shape my interest in this topic. Perhaps to some, the personal significance ofthese "coincidental occurrences" could be explained or dismissed. However, I believe, that, if there was ever a personal or spiritual indication that this was the right choice to pursue as a thesis, this confirmed my decision. On the morning of the interview, I traveled alone to her reserve community and had another "first" kind of experience. Driving toward the west, miles from anywhere and anyone, I met a grizzly bear on the road. What transpired in that private and spiritual meeting, has profoundly affected my understanding of the connection of First Nations people to animals and the teachings sought from animal spirits. Initially, I was reluctant to share this story with many people for fear that they would misunderstand my experience. In addition I did not have the language to tell it in a way that could be easily understood by others. It is a part of a process that continues to unfold. Other instances throughout the research process left me with a feeling of affirmation that we are all connected on some level; however to some people more than to others. I have come to intuitively trust that these connections will become clear in the future and for now, will simply describe one as it happened. During the course of one interview with a woman Chief, she mentioned that she was given a nickname as a small child by her family members because of her personality traits which remai 1 evident to Reclaiming their places 72 this day. The nickname is of a small animal that has a very specific purpose in life; one that is described in legends and stories both inside and outside Aboriginal communities. I felt a physical shock course through my body when I realized the name given to this woman Chief is the same nickname I gave to my own daughter at the moment of her birth and continue to use when referring to her or speaking to her, to this day. Most of the time, the nickname for my daughter is the name I will use rather than her .Christian name. Once, I inadvertently called another child by my daughter' s nickname. She quickly pointed out the fact that she was the only one who could properly be called by the . name and her manner left no doubt in my mind that I should take care not to make the same mistake again. I could not help but wonder at what the chances would be to have such a personal affirmation happen in any other small sample of seven women. Other connections happened with different women Chiefs in many different ways although they were not as startling as what I have described above. For example, one of the women Chiefs involved in the research is someone I had met on one previous occasion in the course of the work I did as a guardianship social worker. She talked about how the work touched her because of the children, families and spiritual Elder who were involved. Another woman talked about how the situation my grandmother faced as a child of a non-First Nations man and a Cree mother was like her own situation. My connection to social work and her early life as a child coming into and leaving foster care was a basis from which we could begin discussions. Another woman Chief told me that the first day we spoke about the research was the day she was considering resigning her elected position. This is what she had to say about community division and how difficult it is to withstand. Reclaiming their places 73 You know, it's really hard to be shunned by your own people ... You're focused out because you are the Chief and councillor' s. You're called down, right in front of everybody. But that day you called me, I was seriously thinking of resigning cause of all the pain inflicted by your own people. [After] I said to myself ifi resign now, what will happen? This band will be back to where it was three years ago. Nothing happening for our youth, nothing happening for our children (Participant). This participant clarified some reasons that contribute to her feelings of isolation in leadership. It profoundly reinforced that we continually influence one another and may never know how something we say or do, will affect or support another person. One thing that has been repeatedly reinforced throughout this research process is the importance of commenting on things that help to make connections between people. The women about whom you will read have profoundly influenced my view as a woman, student, teacher, social worker, feminist, activist and mother in ways of which they may never be aware. My hope is that their words will create a connection or re-connection to what other women intuitively know, feel or express but have never seen in a written form. Perhaps their words can be used to form part of a whole that can help guide and heal the many broken connections between all people. Reclaiming their places 74 Chapter 4 Introduction to seven women Chiefs of Northern B.C. I didn't know anything about the politics, the issues, but I always had strong opinions on what was fair and what was right and what was justice. Because I had so much injustice in my life, I knew the difference between injustice and justice according to my own experience (Participant). Women were respected, whatever they said, goes as law. They had the final word in my great grandma's day. But when the priest came, she said she was converted afterwards. They beat people for not going to church. They took..the values of our people and they put white values in the place of ours, in women's roles (Participant). Up until contact, we weren't treated like second class citizens. It's all the brainwashing of the missionaries and the governments. Women are entitled to land, trap line holdings and governments come along and say "Well, she's a woman, you know, she doesn't have any business in making decisions on land or anything". That would break your power as a woman ... and totally, totally distorted our system. And it's coming back now. Women hold a lot of key positions, even Hereditary Chiefs ... we went from equality to the other way, where the male dominated and now its getting back (Participant). In this chapter I will do two things. First I will describe the different backgrounds of the women I interviewed, and second, I will offer an observation about one significant issue that appears to be the catalyst in their decision to become politically active. The First Nations women who ~ shaped their decision to ~ political leaders in their respective communities are to share their understanding of the influences that ' relatively young. In the summr of 1999, they ranged in age from their late thirties to late ' forties. Of the seven women, only two were born by 1951 when First Nations women I were eligible to vote in Band elections. Reclaiming their places 75 Their stories and experiences reveal the extreme influence of the church and state in directing and controlling their lives. That influence is acutely reflected in the consequences of their involvement with laws, policies and direct services relating to the church, educational and residential institutions, Indian Act legislation, and provincial child welfare authorities. All of them agree with the positions taken by LaRoque ( 1994) Van Kirk (1987) Fiske (1996) and Cooper (1993) that prior to colonization, Aboriginal women enjoyed comparative honour, equality and even political power in a way European women did not at the same time in history. Initially I thought the backgrounds ofthe women Chiefs would be largely homogeneous given that they were women who lived and worked in Northern B.C. However, I was completely wrong. There is nothing ' in common' about these seven women Chiefs except that they are identified as political leaders of some Northern B.C. First Nations bands and tribal councils. Unfortunately, according to First Nations academics (Monture-Angus, 1995; Adams, 1995; Absolon & Herbert, 1997; LaRocque, 1993) there is significantly more recognized effort directed at keeping First Nations women silenced both inside and outside their communities It is true that the childhoods of these women Chiefs were distinct, diverse and disrupted by political, economic and social forces beyond control of their families and communities. Their honesty and directness about their experiences left no doubt they are women who see no point in pretending, denying or minimizing the reality of their lives, however painful the memories may be. As an example, one participant raised on reserve by her great grandmother and grandparents until she was eight years old says of that time: In those eight years I've seen horrible things. I saw my grandfather coming back from War. [My grandparents] Reclaiming their places 76 had eight kids, [and] the death of a couple of them [happened] during his absence. Having alcohol running rampant in the community, having sexual abuse in the community, violence. So all of those things I saw by the time I was eight, and experienced by the time I was eight (Participant). Her mother then returned and took her to live in a large urban center. At eight years old, her first language was not English. Of this transfer to a non-First Nations community she says I didn't fit ... The teacher not being sensitive to different people, I ended up in a classroom and being asked to come up and ~ out the ABC's which I've never seen in my life. You know, it was mortifying and humiliating and for years I couldn't speak in public (Participant). After four years she returned to her reserve community. Of that return she says "I didn't fit again". A second woman was raised in tum by her older siblings when her parents were no longer able to safely care for her. Of her now-deceased parents she speaks very candidly and honestly having reached a place of peace with what she experienced as a child. My mom and dad were hard working. My father was in politics ... I have some fond memories of my dad and he impacted how I grew up a lot. He was such a strong man and he was very idealistic in many ways, unfortunately he was also an alcoholic. I have some very good memories of him, but there's some very hard memories as well. I remember him beating my mother. .. I actually remember him taking out a gun and attempting to shoot each and every one of us ... him just standing us out in a line (Participant). A third woman was raised in a residential school separate from her parents, siblings and community from the age of five until sh.! was fourteen years old. She returned to her Reclaiming their places 77 home community and parents briefly for summer holidays and at Christmas break. The pain and brutality of that separation is felt by her to this day, some forty-five years later. When my younger siblings .. . turned of age, I really dreaded that because when I first went there, at nights, that was the hardest. If we were caught crying for our parents, a frigging nun would come out and sort of hit you or something and say ' What are you crying for?' And you know, I wasn' t the only one that was crying, I could hear that. The dorm that I was put in, there was over 100 other juniors that were there, same age as me. I could hear others crying at night. And when it was my sibling's turn that was the hardest because we were separated from the boys. We weren't allowed to see our brothers. There was girls on one side and bDys on the other. I seen my little brother there (participant crying). And I never seen anybody so sad. He just stood there, to the side by himself, and I just wanted to go over there and hug, give him a hug or something, but I couldn't because we were punished for going on the boys side (Participant). A fourth woman was raised alternately by her mother off reserve, her grandmother on reserve, and within child welfare foster homes. Reflecting on her life after the breakup of her parent' s marriage, she speaks about what life was like because her father was non-Aboriginal. Because of the marriage, her mother involuntarily lost Indian status benefits through enfranchisement provisions of the Indian Act. I think she just gave up. She tried to raise us five and it was social assistance, very little money. She couldn't get jobs and all sorts of things ... She wasn't allowed to stay at the reserve community. The Indian Agent would not allow her and us to stay there. When we stayed with our grandmother, it was for brief periods oftimes, like a couple of months, three months until the Indian Agent would get rid of us out of there. Then we'd have to live in town. That was her source, that's the community she knew. That' s why she kept returning. Because she could live there. She understood the rules there. Her! it was hard to understand the rules, there was so many (Participant). Reclaiming their places 78 Another woman was raised very traditionally by her parents and attended a day school on the reserve. She talks about the expectations of herself and her sisters by her parents: ... We were treated sort oflike men, my sisters and I. We went out trapping, hunting, fishing, we did everything ourselves. There's four of my older sisters. The (sister) before me, her and I used to go trapping right behind our house, carrying a 22 and a 30-30. We went looking for either rabbits, deer or moose ... in the summer time my mom used to make us go fishing ... put up nets and stuff like that. My dad went along with us and we had to set the traps. So we learned how to do that and after we got a beaver or something, my mom taught us how to skin it. .. we did everything men were supposed to do (Participant). A sixth woman was raised during a period of forced relocation from her community' s traditional territories. When she was ten years old, her entire First Nations community was moved onto a small parcel of land close to a town. As Chief of her community now, she reflects on the reasons her community was moved: The Department was going to purchase some land and make that reserve land for us that lived there. Because we were living there for many years already. And I guess they went through a whole slew of amalgamations of different First Nations for a couple of reasons. One was the Indian Agent lived in town here. It would save him the trip of traveling 27 miles by logging road. And there was discussions between logging companies at the time. They bought out that land ... and forced us off, to move back to somewhere else. We ended up living, or moving here. This is not our traditional territory (Participant). The seventh woman was raised by both her parents off reserve when her mother lost Indian Act status through marriage to a non-status Aboriginal man. As a non-status child, .~ was not allowed to attend the same residential school as her eousins and Reclaiming their places 79 friends. She remembers the effect on other families who were forced to send their children which sometimes resulted in alcohol use as a method of coping. Memories of watching authority figures act against some First Nations people who had home breweries and the resultant effect on her family members stay with her to this day: They all moved in to the village after they put their kids on the school buses to the residential school. The local priest and the local mayor torched that village. They just burned it right to the ground. I remember the fire in the sky. They burned all their houses down with all their belongings, personal stuff inside of the houses. All my grandmother' s potlatch stuff from years before and all her everything was ~ And she was just sobbing and crying .... So on over the night of the fire, I thought they should have come and got me I could've told the priest "These are their houses and all their stuff is still in it and you can't bum it down". Just in case they didn't understand. I thought it was because the priest didn't understand the language and that was why he did it. If I could just only talk for all our elders, they wouldn't have burned it on them. I guess it was that day I just thought, I would have to speak for them, I would have to talk for them, cause ifl don't do that then that's what happens. They get their village burned down. (Long silence) (Participant). All seven of the women Chiefs are mothers and three of the seven are grandmothers. One of these women is a hereditary Chief, the other six are elected Chiefs under the provisions of the Indian Act band council or tribal councils whose political terms are in effect through the year 2000. Collectively they represent nineteen Nations in Northern B.C. At the time of our discussions, the women Chiefs ranged in experience from Band councillor and Chief councillor for 12 years, to the newest Chief who had experience on band council for four months. Educationally, they ranged in having some high school education to having graduate degrees; two are or have been teachers at elementary and university levels. All are status Indian women defined as such by the Reclaiming their places 80 Indian Act and, more importantly, defined in that way by themselves. Of the seven, only two are living off reserve at this time. Three of the women are oldest children in their famil y of origin, three are middle children and one is the youngest child in her family. As a group of women, it is clear that they have all long ago come to a place of consensus about the damage that will continue to happen if they remain silent when an opportunity to speak the truth or act responsibly is available. I do not believe they have decided to do this with the view to harming reputations or splintering communities. Rather, I believe they do this with a view to guide and help communities to heal and become whole. They do this by risking their privacy and by speaking of their experiences, however raw and harsh they may have been. These women understand that healing has to come from within the communities and that, in their leadership roles, the expectations to model this rest squarely on their shoulders. One of the participants spoke about her experience being the first woman on her reserve to report sexual abuse of a child to the child welfare authorities and to lay a complaint of assault against her husband: There is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse. And nobody had done anything about that, and also the sexual abuse. That' s something really, really hard to deal with you know ... especially in a community where everybody is so close, we're all family. My sister and I a few years back, we were the first ones that ever reported sexual abuse ... we were hated for a long time because of it. We were told that we shouldn't have got involved in it. But for the longest ~ that's what everybody did. They turned the other eye to all this:abuse, this sexual abuse that was going on. Nobody did ~ but turned the other eye because of the consequences (Participant). I was the first womJn on this reserve to ever lay a charge against my husband for being physically abused ... ever since then .. .I think the men are ~ to see that nobody deserves to be beat up. And they're starting to do something about it (Participant). Reclaiming their places 81 The women Chiefs indicated many ways that risks to their personal safety, ostracism and criticism by others both inside and outside their communities are factors in their decisions. For each of the women, the time has passed for there to be a turning back to silence, even in the face of lack of support and lack of on-reserve resources such as women's shelters or timely or responsive police protection. They are beginning to address the silence in society in general, and the lack of acknowledgement by national male-dominated Aboriginal organizations, regarding the extreme level of oppression and violence toward First Nations women. One woman Chief described how the level of threats and intimidation by men in one Aboriginal organization affected her: [they] worked morning, noon and night to get me out ofthe position. It took a year and a half. The job was hell on wheels ... I had nightmares ofthis guy bludgeoning me to death with a baseball bat, a recurring nightmare (Participant). Although progress is uneven and happening one person at a time, actions to protect children and adults in some communities are being led by these women Chiefs. The lines are being drawn and the participants are holding their ground, daring to speak out against violence, beginning to name their victimizers and holding them accountable for their actions. The courage and determination of these women Chiefs is unmistakable. Their bold resistance and opposition to continued victimization is indicative of true leadership. Catalyst in the decision to become political activists In this section I will address the complexity of the women Chiefs' backgrounds, experiences and forces that shaped their initial decisions to become involved politically. Reclaiming their places 82 As First Nations women from Northern B.C., they are rich in knowledge of their unique family and community history. They are also survivors who have been witness, as small children, to gross violations and numerous aggressive assaults of mind, spirit and body. There is something about these women that has kept them intact, resolved and resilient in spite of the trauma, hardship and brutal disrespect inflicted on them as young children, women and First Nations people. They have survived and fought back with a detern1ination and inner strength that overshadows pain and suffering. Continuously, I found myself wondering at what cost and choices the survival has come and what helps it to continue? Through this study, the costs will become obvious. What helps it to continue is the fact that the women see no other reasonable choice. While these women may not know one another well and may be from different Nations across the Northern part of this province, they share a determination and courage that is born out of many things, primary among them being first hand experience with gross injustice on many levels. Their initial interest in politics, in many ways, came from determination and resolve to change conditions so others would not have to experience things they have had to endure. While none of them believe they will be leaders forever, they fervently believe that the kind of leadership they envision in the future depends on their efforts today. These women Chiefs understand that leadership needs to happen on many fronts, in many ways, and over time. They have each separately articulated in a clear and blunt manner what their role in that change will be and stated they recognize their contribution to be part of an evolving process. One woman Chief spoke about it being time for the women to take "the bull by the horns" and to look to themselves to find and develop Reclaiming their places 83 answers to address the many issues facing First Nations communities today. When asked what non-First Nations people could do to help, she answered in this way: Quit coming in and being the "savior". Everybody flies in and says "we'll save the day for you". And it's known that the healing needs to come from within. And these fancy contracts or Band-Aid solutions just hasn't worked and it's never going to work until we start taking our matters into our own hands. We have to start looking after us. We can't always depend on the government, we can't always depend on consultants. For too many years, First Nations have been an industry. You know, people wanting to take care ofus and treating us like we're Indians [wards]. Well, we are Indians, and we can start taking care of our own now. We think we're getting to that point where we could be doing that. There's a separation, a divide and conquer tactic that has been used for many, many years. And we have to overcome that and start the healing from within (Participant). In this chapter I have introduced the women Chiefs involved in this thesis project. I have also discussed their individual experiences of gross injustice that appear to be the major catalyst in their decisions to become involved in First Nations politics. Next, I will introduce the ways they choose to position themselves and work toward addressing those injustices and helping their communities to heal from within. Reclaiming their places 84 Chapter 5 Findings Politics was created for people. Somewhere along the line it got tied up in so much bureaucracy the people forgot why they were created (Participant) . . . . politics should be the woman who sees true justice. O'Connor, Monture & O'Connor (1989, p. 39). The medicine wheel perspective : A circle connecting the past and future. B.C. and Ontario First Nations feminist academics Absolon & Herbert (1997) draw on the Anishnabe Nation' s Medicine Wheel philosophy as one theory to explain various perspectives of community action. Dyck (1996) explains that in the medicine wheel concept "everything is considered to have four aspects: spiritual, emotional, physical and mental" (p. 93). My understanding of the Medicine Wheel, learned from a Lakota Elder and discussed in the methodology chapter, is that balance within each of these aspects supports healthy functioning of an adult, family, community or nation. When this is not the case, attention and effort must be directed at the aspects that will enable balance to be restored. The seven Northern B.C. women Chief participants are in agreement with my basic understanding of the medicine wheel concept or circle. In this chapter I will review the four aspects or themes (spiritual, emotional, physical and mental) that emerged from my interviews with the women Chiefs, and examine how each of the concepts relate as 1) a strength and 2) as a challenge or barrier. Because these are the women's experiences, I will try to use as many of their words as possible to describe the four aspects, beginning with the spiritual influences of the East. Reclaiming their places 85 Spiritual support and challenges: Gifts of the East As an Indian person, you have something very special that makes you different (Participant). The spiritual traditions of many tribes include a female divine spirit. Euroamericans pressured tribes to convert to Christianity that included the acceptance of only the male God, thus reinforcing the superiority of males (Mihesuah, 1996, p. 20). Creator puts people in places for whatever reason. To learn or to achieve or to grow (Participant). One of the teachings ofthe medicine wheel is the importance ofthe spiritual element in the healthy functioning and balance of an individual, family or Nation. When that element is missing, all the other elements are also out of balance. The Lakota Elder told me to imagine a well balanced, hanging, decorative mobile and asked what would happen to the whole if a piece of it were removed. The spiritual element begins this Medicine Wheel analysis because the East is the place of new beginnings and the dawn of a new day. It is the direction in which the sun first appears. It also signifies the Creator's greatest gift; entry of a newborn child into the circle oflife. One of the most obvious themes in the discussions with the majority of the participants is the role of spirituality or faith in their lives. A large part of their identity comes from their personal relationship with the Creator, God or spiritual figure. The role of the church and organized religion has a different place for one woman Chief who was raised in a residential school. This is not surprising given the disruptive, abusive and assimilationist role the various Churches have historically played in the lives of First Reclaiming their places 86 Nations people across Canada and in B.C. (Miller, 1997; Haig-Brown, 1988; Keirn, 1998) and her abusive and isolating experience in particular. For the majority of the women Chiefs spirituality is also a creative, visionary, and flexible state of being. Two women spoke about spirituality being a primary part of their belief system that supports their search toward finding solutions to conflict in a reflective, contemplative and intuitive way. This meant they could trust in the wisdom .of events unfolding as they should. Many of the women Chiefs spoke about their spiritual connection to the Earth or nature and one woman Chief described why she believed that not having a spiritual foundation limited other Chiefs' leadership abilities. She said : What I seen is they were almost like stuck, stuck in this time warp. They didn't want to decide, they were afraid to decide ... it was like a selective awareness ... because I couldn't get through to some of them. They were just set. That was it. What held them back, what I seen was a number of things. It was fear, the non-exposure to things. The no belief in who they are. The no foundation of the spirituality. They had traded in things and didn't realize what they'd traded in and there was nothing in its place (Participant). Givers of life : A gift from the Creator The majority ofthe women Chiefs, all of whom are mothers, addressed the connection between their ability to give birth or being a "giver of life" in the same way that the Earth is a "giver of life" and a sustainer of life to all people. They made comments about the fact that erring for their bodies and being proud of its unique functions such as I ~ or lactation are also gifts given only to women by the Creator. One thing that was i1mediately apparent was three women, the hereditary Chief I and two elected Chiefs, spoke at length and more often abnut their spiritual connection to I the Creator and to the land than did the other four women. The hereditary Chief spent Reclaiming their places 87 significantly more time during the interview, than others did, to explain concepts, belief systems and values that are inherent in understanding the spiritual connections and importance to her particular family, clan, community and traditional governance model. The gift of dreams and reincarnation beliefs Two of the women talked about being "given the gift of dreams" as small children from an older family member, such as a great grandmother. These women are able to discuss and recognize this gift in others. They explained that to have the gift of dreams is seen as an important power or ability among women of their community and is regarded as sacred and special. This gift from the Creator is not given to all in the community, and those who accept it have the responsibility that comes with it as well. Sometimes this can happen in foretelling an event or as a warning to be careful. At other times, the dreams are not clear to the person until something has occurred. One woman explains the interconnection and the importance of keeping the dreams alive. Speaking about her great grandmother, she says: Her [great grandmother] stories always tell me to look out for these things ... she gives me the language and the information so that I can open my eyes ... she said it was a very spiritual world in the beginning oftime, where all animals and creation would hear you when you're out [side]. These are teachings hunters and gatherers got about animal relationships. And its part of the spirituality, is keeping this dream alive. lfl don't practice it, it will die. If our beliefs die then our custom and our culture dies and I don' t want that.. .(Participant). One of the women talked about reincarnation as a belief shared by many people in her comrr.•1.mity. She believes that one of her granddaughters is her grandmother returned Reclaiming their places 88 because of information the child had at a young age regarding a community she had not visited previously. This belief system has been documented among nations of Northern B.C. by Mills (1994, 1988). For one participant, the openness to spirituality of different First Nations has proven to be difficult as well as a door to the past and future in her community. The repercussions of her attempts to bring a different type of spirituality to the community have been swift and hurtful because some community people chose not to participate or take the time to understand a different First Nations spiritual ceremony. She attributed their response generally to the generations of influence by the Christian missionaries who viewed traditional First Nations spirituality as worthless superstition inspired by the Christian devil, Satan. Of that experience, she says I was all jazzed up. I put up posters and told people about it and set a date and everything else. I turned out and nobody except for my family, my grandmother' s and the Elders came to the ceremony from this community. They said I was a witch, I was practicing witchcraft, they said I was a lesbian. A lot of other people came from all over except this community (Participant). Smudges, pipes, tobacco, legends and sweat lodges On the ride home following the ceremony, this participant's grandmother was looking out the window at the water. Suddenly, she remembered watching her mother pray prior to the influence of the missionaries. She said : "when I was a little girl she was sitting beside the river. She had smoke ... I don't know what they used and she had a pipe. She was praying to the Creator and she was pounding the ground and her body began to shake". And then she remembered the sweats, how her dad used to go off and do his own private sweat. And see, this memory was lost, it was lost. It's an example of how a community has been devastated by outside influences (Participant). Reclaiming their places 89 The use of smoke or tobacco as a sacred substance is also used differently in the various nations ofNorthern B.C. One of the women Chiefs talked about a purifying or cleansing ritual she performed after praying with her grandchildren. It is called a "smudge" and involves the burning of tobacco and sweetgrass among other things, and using a feather to gently waft the purifying smoke over one's body. She also shared a legend taught by her parents to ensure children would stay close to the family home at night. It concerns the crying and begging spirit of a woman banished from the community for adultery committed during her lifetime. The moral tone of the legend made me wonder how deep rooted Christian influences have become in other legends or whether this legend has remained unchanged since prior to contact. For another woman Chief, the struggle to reconcile the religious dogma she learned as a child with the spiritual teachings she is discovering as an adult have begun to contribute to what she describes as a realization of what made her a "round peg in a square hole". She describes the critical role she believes traditional spirituality will play in personal and community renewal across all Nations and why she continues to seek and offer support to other people trying to understand what its loss has meant in their own lives. It was just because inside I was different ... You know, as an Indian person, you have something very special that makes you different. And I don't understand why and I don't understand how it works, or where it comes from. I just know that throughout my whole life, I was forced, I was taught, I was made to think a certain way but I still wasn't happy. I still didn't feel complete. I was still struggling. And I couldn't understand why but that's because what was inside of me, my spirit, my Indian spirit you know, knew ... .Ijust could never be what I'm not. And that's what's really neat. T~. no matter how little Indian blood you have, you have Indian spirit in you and you can't get Reclaiming their places 90 rid of it. You can't squash it, you can't change it, it'll always be there and no one will ever kill it. No one. No matter how much they try and shove the religion down your throat, or the rules or the acceptable things in society, it'll never die. It'll always be alive as long as there's an Indian person living ... we have a role and because God gave us what he had given us, a gift, we have to go through these things for whatever reason. So it's like an analogy to my own life. I had to go through all of those things in my life until I could start healing and growing in the way that God is determining. Not man, not myself. I had to stop struggling and fighting and accept it and you know, I see that as a whole over all of our Indian nations (Participant). When I asked another woman Chief how she would like to use her influence to create change, her answer echoed the hope for spiritual renewal. She identified the need to unlearn lessons taught by church-operated residential schools that replaced First Nations spirituality with European religious principles and shame. She was told by an Elder that: I pray at night for all of you children so that you're not ashamed of who you are. We were taught to be ashamed of ourselves in residential school and now I just pray at night to God that you're not ashamed of who you are (Participant). For many of the women Chiefs, First Nations spirituality is a deeply personal aspect of a belief system and worldview that is profoundly different from religious choice that may require a specific designation, denomination or continuous place of worship. Many of the women have found ways to integrate both systems into their lives. Three of the women regard spirituality as something fluid and breathing, not rigid or predetermined in texts or expectations of a far removed hierarchical order with a male God figure at the pinnacle of importance. Reclaiming their places 91 One of the participants spoke about the resurgence and return to a vision of spirituality for First Nations people that has led to the lobbying of federal and provincial penal institutions to allow the entry of Elders to perform pipe ceremonies, sweet-grass and sweatlodge ceremonies (Ross, 1992). Another woman Chief spoke about her role in drafting a proposal that would encompass spirituality as a part of an Aboriginal justice strategy for people in conflict with the law in B.C. The combined understanding and practices of various spiritual rituals and beliefs form an important component of the women Chiefs "commonality of differences" as explained by Mihesuah (1996) who argues that "there was and is no such thing as a monolithic, essential Indian woman ... Even within a single tribe (and sometimes within the same family), females possess a range of degrees of Indian blood, skin and hair colors, and opinions about what it means to be Indian" (p. 15). This statement mirrors the spiritual beliefs of each participant in that it continues to evolve and influence their individual leadership style. Without exception, each of the participants spoke about the need for restoration of indigenous beliefs, values and ceremonies that have been suppressed by the dominant structures in society; namely the church and government. Connection to all of Creation The destruction and suppression of First Nations people's spirituality through the residential school system is well documented (Miller, 1996; Denis, 1997; Haig-Brown, 1988; Keirn, 1998). "Pagan" and "heathenish" are words that were used by the missionaries and others to describe the highly spiritual world of First Nations people. For example, North American First Nations healer, Lake-Thorn ~ 7) writes Reclaiming their places 92 When the first Europeans came to this country, they saw our Native American people praying to the Sun, Moon, Stars, Rivers and Lakes; to the Trees and Plants; to the Wind, Lightening, and Thunder; and even to the Birds, Animals, Fish, Snakes and Rocks. They called us pagans, heathens, and savages. For some strange reason they developed the idea that we did not believe in God, although in many different tribal languages there were references to a Great Spirit, the Great Creator, the Maker, the Great Mystery, or the Great Invisible One. The truth is that not only did the American Indians worship God, but they also respected and communicated with that which God had created (p. 7). The majority of these seven women Chiefs continue to fill an important role in the spirituality of First Nations people, both under the elected system of governance and the hereditary system of governance, through their actions and support of traditional ceremonies and practices. Mills (1994), writing about the hereditary or traditional system of governance of the Witsuwit'en people ofNorthern B.C. explains that "truly peaceful relations must exist not only among people but between people and the animals, the birds and the fish. The Chiefs are responsible for seeing that the relations between all these beings are in balance. The power of the Chiefs rests on their recognition of, and participation in, the spirit world" (p.38). Contact between humans and the spirit world are enacted in the feasts, songs and dances of the potlatch which have survived to this day in some communities despite being banned by the Indian Act in B.C. until 1951. It is also reflected in a traditional longhouse form of governance through the matrilineal Clan system evident in some I ' ~ ofNorthern B.C. These matrilineal clans include the bear, frog, cariboo, fireweed, beaver, wolf, killer whale and eagle, among others, and are all known and understood by ~ majority of the women Chiefs with whom I spoke. Only two of the women came ftom nations who are not currently practicing .:1e clan Reclaiming their places 93 system in a recognized community way, however, they are aware of the systems in place in other communities. The assimilationist and civilizing policies of the Indian Act (and previous legislation), together with the many influences of missionaries, settlers, and diseases, combine to undermine Indigenous values about the special, sacred and spiritual role of women in traditional First Nations life. Through patriarchal structures that subjugated women to men and to a higher God the confusion and misunderstandings about spirituality and women' s roles continue to be evident. One of the women Chiefs comments on this: We 've been given many gifts as women. And a lot of men who are leaders in politics, in the last 20 years, are not respectful to women. Do not see the role, do not understand their own beliefs and spirituality of women's role. Are actually very threatened by women, because we tend to make decisions based on seven generations ahead of time because we know what it's like to have a child and to bear a child and to raise a child. We have a different role with our children and so we must think ahead. You know, that's our nature, that' s how we are and that's why as a role model in leadership we make the best leaders (Participant). Summary That's the miracle of spirituality. It's not like the religion in the non-Native worlds. It's so different, it's not demanding, it's not rules, it's not pressures, it's so different that it took a long time for me to be comfortable in it because I needed the rules (Participant). All seven women Chiefs recognize widespread First Nations community devastation wrought by historical church and government policies. The years of combined effort to suppress and destroy traditional First Nations spirituality, beliefs and practices has resulted in many challenges to these participant' s efforts to support a Reclaiming their places 94 spiritual renewal. Responses by some First Nations individuals such as ignorance, disrespect, fear and derision have been directed toward women Chiefs who encourage spiritual practices. However, some women Chiefs have integrated their spiritual beliefs into proposals advocating for Aboriginal justice initiatives, discussions regarding child protection work and community healing projects. The majority of the participants spoke about the lack of respect given to women as something taught to First Nations people by the actions and policies ofthe church and imposed government. The women Chiefs gave multiple examples about how the suppression of spiritual . beliefs and either the imposition of other religious beliefs or no beliefs at all, manifest in threats, violence and abuse against vulnerable people, poverty and exploitation of others. The hereditary Chief spoke at length about her community' s traditional systems of governance and the grounding in spiritual values that honour balance and interdependence between men and women. There is no question she seeks to incorporate spiritual beliefs in a vision to reclaim a place of honour and dignity for women in First Nations communities. With simplicity and clarity she states: I would change it so that women could have respect. Not the expectations and then respect, but respect just because they' re women (Participant). The spiritual history of her own First Nations community may offer just such a grounding, support or balance in her journey. What these seven women have done is raise their heads and make sure that the feminine side of their spirituality is becoming known. Emerging from this aspect of the medicine wheel is a distinctly feminine and spiritual worldview that stretches back to Creation, even though at present, traditional spiritual Reclaiming their places 95 practices are misunderstood, varied, meaning different things to different people and able to be taught by too few. Emotional support and challenges : Gifts of the South The importance of respect There's so much racism, so many unsaid messages to people. You can feel it when you have brown skin. If people have any problems with Indian people you can feel it across the room ... I looked at myself for many years as a lost person (Participant). You were considered white when you married a white man. Women were. But Indian men who married white women, they were allowed to stay there and they became Indians. So it kept telling you that in order to be acceptable, you needed to be white. Even our own people did that (Participant). The emotional elements of the Medicine Wheel are placed on the south part of the Medicine Wheel because according to Bopp, Bopp, Brown & Lane (1984) the south is "symbolically a time of preparing for the future, of getting ready for days ahead" (p. 48) and the "most difficult and valuable gift to be sought in the South of the medicine wheel is the capacity to express feelings openly and freely in ways that do not hurt other beings" (p. 50). The south also corresponds to the place on the Medicine Wheel where youth and young adults can be found in the circle of life and represent a time that feelings are being identified, sorted through and may be experienced for the first time. The examples above identify two issues, racism and internalized racism, that the women Chiefs identify as significant barriers to leadership, personal and community healing. Initially I th Jught that because of my work within the child welfare system, seeing abuse of every kind inflicted on children, I would not have any difficulty coping with Reclaiming their places 96 what I would hear from adult women. I was wrong. These seven women Chiefs helped me to better understand the extreme level of injustice and indignity endured by some First Nations women and children and why the injustice is so much more difficult to deal with when it is inflicted by members of their own community, family or kinship networks. Understanding the incredible power that racism and internalized racism wield in keeping people silenced, both inside and outside communities was a humbling lesson about why some people lose hope, choose to deaden their feelings and emotions with alcohol and drugs, or commit suicide. For many of the women Chiefs, the actions of various family members has caused intense emotional pain. At other times, family members and extended kin have offered exemplary parenting and guidance that enables the participants to feel capable and confident in their decision making and choices. Two of the women Chiefs shared that: In my community what I remember is there was a lot more fairness .. . We weren't disciplined harshly. There was no such thing as spanking or anything like that. It was more to learn from your mistakes. If you were headed in the wrong direction, somebody was there, mostly my dad was there. He didn' t point it out, and even in my later years he would tell me a story. Maybe something he did, or something he knew of in the community. And then he'd let me figure it out for myself. It was an upbringing of a lot of respect and care (Participant). We were always taught by our parents to be proud of who we are. Throughout our lifetime, our father always said to us "We came from good people ... with good people ... and don' t ever let anybody take that away from you." And that' s the very thing that the Canadian government and the provinces strive for through the years is to teach us that we' re bad and we're no good, we're not desirable in this society ... and we're not welcome here in the country that we call our own. And so I guess for my children and grandchildren and my great grandchildren I just want them to understand that we came from good people and we don't Reclaiming their places 97 have to be ashamed of anything. That we were always proud and we did the best we could here. To me, its that simple. That we have a place in this country on our own terms and we're going to be at that place, no matter what. We're going into the new millennium and its time that we're here to stay. We're not going to be exterminated and we're not going to die out and we're not the vanishing race ... we're here for good (Participant). In some ways, their decisions to become political can be traced back to very early ages. I talked a lot and my mom used to be very short with me about always talking because among our people the way we learn is toJisten .. .I remember her trying to shush me and one of my grandfathers was there and he told my mom in (First Nations language), he said "No, let her talk ... she talks well. Someday when she grows up, maybe she'll speak for all of us and she'll be our leader". I remember listening and I was glad he talked for me, like he stuck up for me, cause my mom was really impatient (Participant). In addition to the family members who influenced their lives, the women Chiefs spoke about others who were important in shaping their decisions to become politically involved. Many ofthe women Chiefs described the role of Elders in the community and their encouragement for the women to use their individual and special gifts. This support contributed to their dawning awareness that to stand up for their beliefs, values and communities in a political way is valued and needed to support hope for positive change. For many of the participants, the encouragement happened repeatedly over time, despite other thoughts or actions of their parents. The confidence and support that others showed in recognizing their talents at an early age left huge impressions and lasting gratitude. For another woman Chief, the "encouragement" came in the form of a challenge, although its lasting impression guides her actirns as a leader and parent to this day. Her decision to become involved in politics is influenced by a desire to prove she is capable, Reclaiming their places 98 can demonstrate personal worth and is determined to be a positive reflection of her parents before they became dependent on alcohol. After dad couldn't work anymore, we were really poor and at that point my parents started drinking a lot and people used to look down at us. We were labeled as "You' re going to be just like your parents, you' re never going to amount to anything". I'm going to prove these people wrong. Just keeping that at the back of my mind, thinking I'm going to make something ofmyselfand I'm not going to drink cause I don' t want my kids to go through what I went through (Participant). Criticizing emotions : Different perspectives Two of the women Chiefs spoke about criticism they received when they became emotional in public. They spoke about a "tenseness" that occurs among their colleagues wh.en this happens and about hearing themselves described as "weak" because of it. The I 1ajority of the women Chiefs are also aware that they continue to be publicly and privately measured against the past I 00 years of male dominated leadership, that has come to be seen as the norm. Speaking about her sense of incongruity and the gulf between reality and political presence one woman Chief said: We 've basically been told from day one that we can't be who we are ... that our hunting and gathering way oflife is not respected and not good, we have to let it go and become civilized .. .and it's really effective, the way Canada had of dealing with First Nations in assimilating them is something the world has yet to hear about. Exterminate a way of life without killing, without using guns. That's basically what ~ about in a speech to the province and the feds. S~ the criticism from the men was that they were worried because she cries when she' s talking with the other side. We might be viewed as weak. So it's not good to talk about ~ cleansing and cry at the same time, I guess (ParticipaJ1t). Reclaiming their places 99 While this criticism reflects on women, it is interesting to note that the same criticisms are not evident for high profile Aboriginal men who show emotion. For example DeMont (1998, p. 2) reports that: a few sentences into his historic speech in Ottawa in January, Phil Fontaine's eyes began to well with tears. The silver-haired grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the coalition of Canada' s native peoples, tried to carry on. But as his voice faltered, it was apparent that the longawaited apology for the brutal treatment of native children in residential schools - delivered moments earlier by Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart- had awakened painful personal memories. Interestingly, while many of the women Chiefs told me that tears are openly criticized in women leaders; they believe anger and aggression have come to be accepted in some male leaders. Here are some examples of male leadership styles they describe: It' s very dictatorial and he ' s just silencing everybody, especially the women every way he possibly could in every forum. And it's really public and very Catholic in style. "Well, what right do you have in making that opinion? Why are you out?" . .. It's very, very brutal in nature when you get silenced in a General Assembly by one of those guys, its devastating. Cause you have to realize how hard it is for people to speak up, what their thoughts are, and it probably takes them an hour to get up the nerve to get to the mike and then they get verbally attacked and violated, in front of everybody and its like they just never want to come back (Participant) . . . . behaved as a dictator and was really top down leadership ... a lot of gossip mongering ... a lot of ridicule and public admonishing .. .it was really guilt and shame based like residential school. And it wasn't a comfortable place to be even as an observer (Participant). The majority of the women Chiefs are determined in their resolve to introduce and model a different leadership style which is respectful, responsive and conpassionate. They understand the need to provide a safe council environment that will encourage Reclaiming their places 100 people to bring concerns forward . Their challenge is to provide safety in a community atmosphere of anger, frustration, depression and desperation resulting from colonization, oppression, abuse and poverty. All of the women Chiefs acknowledge that showing this kind of compassion has led to mixed reactions both inside and outside their communities. For example, One of the criticisms from some of the men is that I have cried publicly. For me, in terms of valid criticism, I think that our whole history is worth grieving. I don't have any qualms at all about crying about things that have happened to us or what we' ve had to live through. I think that if we talk with passion or compassion rather than anger then we have an a6ility to change or the ability to move. It causes people to move emotionally off a position that they're not even aware of (Participant). For three of the women, their decision to oppose the dictatorial style of some male Aboriginal leaders is part of a personal strategy to decolonize First Nations politics. Four of the women Chiefs have told me that their choices result from their understanding of oppression both within and outside their communities and their unwillingness to maintain the status quo. They believe Catholic, dictatorial styles were taught by European colonizers and do not reflect their traditional First Nations teachings. It is also a result of their own experiences in risk taking as a young child or young adult, only to have their viewpoint silenced, unacknowledged, denigrated or ignored by men or women with more power. Finally, it is a result of the fact that they have knowledge about how women have been and continue to be treated like "second class citizens" and their absolute conviction that they will do everything in their power to equalize the position of women, children and Elders to "first class citizens". Reclaiming their places 101 Kane & Maracle (1989) are two Ontario First Nations women who bluntly describe the reasons they believe women should be running for positions on elected councils. These academics believe that political action requires guidance and balance offered from a woman's perspective . . . . not because I think [the band council system] is a good one that should be perpetuated, and not because I think there should be ' equal' representation of women to men. Rather I believe that women have a responsibility to make sure that we don't lose any more, that we don't do any more damage, while we work on getting our original government system back in good working order" (p.14 ). The emotional strain of working under a quadruple tension is evident in their roles as women, First Nations, a visible minority, and from largely poor and underemployed communities where the standard of living may be more reflective of a third world country than Canada. Previous research (Miller, 1992, 1994) regarding First Nations political women leaders in the western United States has noted that the kinship and matrilineal systems provide many supports to women leaders which seems to be consistent in the experience of the women Chiefs in Northern B.C. Each of the women Chiefs identified family connections to siblings, cousins, aunts, mothers, friends, children and uncles that are sought and secured in times of need for emotional and other kinds of physical supports. One woman Chief commented on the changes occurring in First Nations communities with regard to even more pressure being placed on kinship systems and women, while some men struggle with determining their role in family life. She uses examples relating to the responsibility for children and fear of further disintegration of family functioning as a result of EuroCanadian influences . .. .among our own wor. ·_en I see a lot of women with children on welfare and men really taking up the Canadian Reclaiming their places 102 role of deserting and abandoning their duties as fathers and caregivers. With my mom and dad, my father always cooked, he would take us kids and share the responsibility of children with my mom in ways that I understand Canadians don' t do. We were always taught that (historically) it was ok that they had more than one wife. You had to make sure that you took care of your children. And if you didn't take care of all those children then you were shunned in the community. The power of having all those children was that you had to be a good man cause you could support all of them. So the respect was given to men who supported all their children. Which is the opposite of the Canadian way. You're sort of a hero if you can escape all the child support ... I see our people starting to adopt that backwards approach of children and wives and we stand to lcrse a lot, especially our children stand to lose (Participant). Honesty and ethics Family ties in a small community can also act as a mixed blessing as noted by two of the women Chiefs. One explained it by saying "You get it from both sides, people say you favor your family and your family thinks you should favor them but you don't. So you get it from all angles." The issue of patronage is documented by Boldt (1993) who distinguishes between band/tribal council bureaucrats and band/tribal council members: Band/tribal bureaucrats have indispensable 'connections,' experience, and skills in dealing with the federal bureaucracy from which essential funds and power flow. Moreover, their 'office' accords them considerable authority over the distribution of government grants and services, as well as over band/tribal assets, and any revenues. Band/tribal councillors must come to them for the favours they need to distribute to key kin groups in order to curry continued political support (p. 129). All of the elected women Chiefs commented on the need for, and the emotional cost of running, an honest and ethical campaign - having a platform of issues, accountability and transparency of the process. Four of the women Chiefs discussed their Reclaiming their places 103 feelings that this type of run for political office has the ability to replace something that is sorely lacking in both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal politics: honesty, integrity and an ethical process. Fear of dismantling the established political order by primarily male Chiefs who have benefited from it in the past is a common theme described by the women Chiefs. Fear on the women Chiefs' part that the male-dominated, established order will prevail longer than they would like to see is the opposite side of the coin. For example, two of the participants described how fear about losing political power manifests itself in the campaign tactics or negotiations with government officials employed by some previous and current male Chiefs/leaders. He ' s corrupt.. . .it's been said that he takes money from the province and the fed ' s basically to sell us out. (Participant). (woman Chief speaking about a male candidate who lost the election to her) I guess he was just drunk after. .. cause he thought he had it... because he'd been going around buying people drinks in the bar, you know the old story of buying votes ... (Participant). He felt threatened by me because of my schooling and my abilities, so he immediately isolated me from the family. Yeah, (he) made my struggle all that much more hard (Participant). I went to that meeting and I said "What is the province doing, sitting there negotiating? Negotiations have to be done between Nations. Are we a Nation or not?" ... but my point was, tell them where they can sit, it's because they 're in your house, you know, have some balls ... (Participant). In response to these tactics, two of the women Chiefs ran their campaigns differently and had different results. I didn't tum in my acceptance til it was the last day, it was accepted at 4 o'clock and I went over there at ten to four and turned in my forms saying that I accept. And :hen we only had about two weeks until election day. So we just Reclaiming their places 104 blitzed with pamphlets and ... put up posters ... everybody was just shocked to see me. They said "you're the first Chief that ever came out and did this when the campaign was on" and I said "what do you mean?'' and they said "no one ever, no Chief ever came out before and said vote for me." And I said "so, nobody ever ran a campaign?" and they said "no. This is good because you should go out and talk to the people and say what you can do for them". They said "yeah, we ' ll vote for you". Well that was all I did was drove out ... and said "vote for me" (Participant). We [husband and Chief] talked about it and talked about it and talked about it and finally after about a month he came up with a decision that "yes, if you want to run for Chief then you can go ahead and do it". So I committed myself to doing that and I spent about a month, two months walking door to door spending two or three hours with the residents in each home and finding out a little bit more about them, what were their concerns, what do they see for change, what are the big issues for them, what are the pains, what are the hurts, what do you think I can do about it, you know, those kinds of things, and I feel like I received a real mandate for change (Participant). Once elected, some of the participants experienced shock when initially confronted by hostility from people outside the community such as government and forestry personnel, who feel threatened by First Nations people and women in particular. However, all have come to understand, that usually these are the same people who benefit most from prevailing racist and sexist ideologies in Canadian society and who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. I'd never run up against that kind of attitude before. I made them very uncomfortable in there yet the forestry is not my expertise. They!have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. They' ve all got more technology, more experience, everything than I do. But I have honesty and integrity on my side and I have a lot of people who want to go to work ... I was ~ only [woman] and the only First Nations person [in the room]. It was a little like walking into the Ku Klux Klan (Participant). I Reclaiming their places 1OS In other instances the women Chiefs describe how fear divides people. Based on her experience, one woman Chief offers some advice about the value of questioning as a way to counteract barriers. She says you should never be held back by invisible barriers. You should never be held back by people's opinions on how the world should be, and how it should be defined ... when we take on that role of building [barriers] ourselves according to our beliefs and our experiences and our life, some of them are sick and dysfunctional. You know we don't question enough. We don't. We accept this blindly ... And the only reason they're there is because there's fear there (Participant). The participants' understanding of the role of emotions in leadership discussed thus far are illuminating and point to a particular style they are working to implement. In many of their campaigns they sought to be honest and open about their search for and development of integrity in the political process, belief that grief can be turned into a force for change, the value of taking the time to understand the issues of the people by spending time talking with them and listening to their perspective, traveling and asking people to vote for them based on a platform of issues identified by the electorate. Next, I will examine how emotion plays a role in the participants' unique leadership styles. Compassion and inclusion : Modelling a different style It is important to draw a distinction between Indian leaders, on the one hand, and the colonial structures and norms within which Indian leaders carry out their functions on the other ... it is important to emphasize that Indian leaders did not create these colonial structures and norms of leadership. These were imposed by the Canadian government (Boldt, 1993,pp.117-118). My platform was that it was going to be inclusive, it was going to be community-based ... we need to have Reclaiming their places 106 transparency. Trying to get there was a job and a half in itself because people were so resistant to change ... they didn't look at the bigger picture ... I didn't know this until I came in, they didn't recognize the governing body to be the governing body ... .to me, ifl'm going to put my name to something, I want to make sure they're accountable (Participant). Traditionally, Indian leadership was influenced by the social organization of kinship groups, a dialectic consensus approach, and the oral tradition of Elders who identified qualities ofleadership (Boldt, 1993). With the imposition of the elected band council system, many of those influences decreased due to the authority of government officials. Two of the most common themes to emerge in the leadership style ofthe women Chiefs were first, their commitment to respect and second, inclusion in decision making. They will not tolerate disrespect, ridicule and silencing as leadership qualities in their Nations. The ways in which this happens are many: What I've done is just made a vow not to gossip ... and just have every respect for them [the Chiefs] and work with them as a team (Participant). If I have a staff member who has said something that has hurt someone else I ask the two of them to come together in the same room and resolve it with me ... if you don't have any tolerance for that and it doesn't happen it creates a lot more of a happy environment (Participant). They just said "When you came, then we were allowed to make our decisions without having to pick sides and without having to pick camps, nobody got mad about it". I guess the neutrality of that office has finally come to light, something that's been sorely needed (Participant). Cause I didn't play the game of hiding things under the rug anymore. I didn't believe in that. If someone had a problem with another Chief, I just felt we should all talk about it, get it over with cause I knew it would just be a nesting for other things. I had to overcome the old things within the communities of Indian men always being Chief. Reclaiming their places I 07 I wanted to push interdependency rather than independent or dependent (Participant). I just think that in a lot of ways the politics of today, what we' ve learned to do to our leaders, is to trash and abuse them publicly and in the media if we get the chance. We' ve taken on that really Canadian perspective or attitude about abuse and really started voicing hatred against leaders and contempt. I think we would be better off if we didn' t as First Nations adopt that kind of hatred and abuse toward leaders that we see so often in the media (Participant). Most of the participants advocate for mutual accountability and demonstrate compassion for people involved in the change process. In their own way, they are talking about two sides of the same coin, compassion and determination in leading in a different way. They recognize the importance of having people take responsibility for their individual and collective actions and also recognize that there needs to be a place to "move to" in the future rather than remaining stuck in a blaming or accusing stance. Having compassion is the first step along the way. One participant explained it this way: It ' s up to that person to own up to that, why they do that instead of using it as an excuse to keep on doing it. Well, . their parents treated them that way and I guess they think it' s ok to treat another person that way .. .ifl hate everybody that has done me wrong, I would be back drinking and hurting them the way they hurt me. I have a lot of compassion and then I try to understand why they' re doing that (Participant). One woman Chief spoke about how fear and resentment can manifest in situations and how she considered wearing a "bulletproof vest" to work because her decisions are different from that of the previous administration. Two of the women Chiefs described how some systems historically maintained control in the community and why they work to change it. Reclaiming their places 108 I basically never worked all through the years that I was a student, for any organization cause there was just no place and women students weren' t encouraged to be participants in politics or anything ... It was just the good old boys and the white guys that they hired for $100,000 dollars a year. All the women that went to university during our years were never hired in any form or any way by my band or band council (Participant). I finally got through their little boy's club but I still battle it. I always will, I know that. I know what I'm up against. I know all women are when they're going into politics. I think women really need to start taking their role seriously and preparing themselves if they're thinking of going into leadership or politics. They really need to prepare themselves. They need to know that there' s a lot of wolves in sheep' s. clothing out there. And as women, we need to intuitively listen in here and be aware of our own weaknesses. Because these are the things that those people will see (snaps her fingers) like this and they don't hesitate. Sometimes I want to give up but I don't cause I just can't do that. That' s the stubborn part in me (Participant). Because all of the women Chiefs have found the political system to be arduous, challenging and emotionally draining from time to time, each one recognizes the importance of having support systems and people they can count on to provide safe, confidential places to vent, speak and listen. In some situations that important person is a partner, a friend, a family member, a group of friends or a contact with another band Chief. Every participant has sought out those who are able to understand the frustrations evident in being the focal point for personal attacks and high levels of stress. Humor is used by all of the Chiefs as an emotional outlet for dealing with massive stresses in communities where much work needs to be done and seems to be done by the same few individuals. All seven of the participants laughed, teased or joked at times throughout the interviews. Two of the women Chiefs have a dry sense of humor that is extremely well developed and very engaging. At times they use humor to cope with or Reclaiming their places 109 deflect ridiculous or difficult situations, other times, it is augmented by a quick wit and a sensitivity or desire to put people at ease. The value of women : Learned sexism And in our language, you don't make the difference between boys and girls, you say "children" or use their name. A lot of times, especially older people when they talk, they use the pronouns wrong .. .like they say "he" for "she" (Participant). The majority of the seven women Chiefs take opportunities to educate people about the historical and contemporary role of women in First Nations society. None of the . participants has much patience with sexist, stereotypical and uninformed thinking and because they occupy political positions, they will work to change it. Their conviction comes from experience like the one detailed by this woman Chief who says What I remember as a child living in the community with my grandmother who's always lived there, especially as a girl , we were made almost into slaves. While boys were out playing and doing different things, we were out there hauling water, cleaning, doing laundry, we weren't allowed to play .. . I felt that the way I was treated it meant that I was worth nothing. My role in life would always be to be worth nothing. I wasn't important, boys were important (Participant). Minor flashes of exasperation, annoyance or sadness were evident in five participants voices and manner when they recalled personal experiences with sexism. One participant spoke of her vow to ensure that childhood role expectations are different for her daughters and of her efforts to clarify the harmful effect of attitudes that assume a superiority of one sex over another. She gave an example about how education, a direct history lesson and humor assisted her response to a sexist remark made by a male colleague: Reclaiming their places I I0 Today a lot of Indian men, in particular in politics, have a real resentment towards women in politics. But they don't even know why. They have no idea. Women should be at home cooking, cleaning, and having children. And you know when I come up against people who are like that, I just tell them "Well, since when?" "You know, [they say] there's never been a woman Chief in my area." I said "Since when? Since the elections of the Indian Act?" (Laughs) (Participant). Summary The distinctive gifts of the south are evident in the way the women Chiefs bring emotions and emotional influences from their past to their political positions. Each participant has developed various emotional mechanisms to respond to the realities of discrimination, sexism, poverty and abuse in Aboriginal communities and in Canadian society in general. Being respectful, having compassion for the struggles of others, and encouraging participation in a safe environment are some of the ways the women Chiefs are determined to lead. Women Chiefs struggle with the fact that public expressions of grief and some emotions are viewed as undesirable leadership traits within their Nations. This fact is juxtaposed against other emotions, such as anger and public humiliation, which are tolerated in some male Chiefs. Public acknowledgement and valuation of attributes such as honesty, compassion and courage causes shifts in thinking about leadership qualities needed in a political system. No change will occur until there is a shared J1 acknowledgement on the part of those who benefit from the current power structure that I I this is another form of oppression. The time has come to validate these emotions in political life not just for the ~ and media, but in a way that is meaningful, Reclaiming their places Ill respectful and shared by both sexes. Next I will discuss the physical influences, supports and challenges to the women Chiefs leadership styles. Phvsical support and challenges : Gifts of the West The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. (Lorde cited in Smith, 1999, p. 19). We wish to tell all the women to use all of the senses that you have, to keep your eyes open, your ears open, and to not be afraid to touch things in a good way and to embrace new ideas, as well as people who are in need of help. Don' t be afraid to speak what you have to say and to speak from the heart. Use this physical vessel that we were given to really do the work ofthe people (Kane & Maracle, 1989, p.19). The physical element of the Medicine Wheel occurs in the West. It signals a time in the circle of life that is indicative of mature adulthood. According to Bopp, Bopp, Brown & Lane ( 1984) "because thunder and lightening often come from the West, it is also the direction, symbolically of power. Power to heal. Power to protect and defend. Power to see and to know" (p. 53). Dyck (1996) states that the aspects of the medicine wheel in the physical realm are "written or published material, use of the physical senses (hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and speaking), tools, pieces of equipment" (p.94). This section of the medicine wheel will focus on only four issues as analytic themes. Those are kinship, legislation and organizations pertaining to women's involvement, language and culture and financial resources. Included in this section is a summary of unique physical aspects and strategies that the participants bring to their leadership role as well as a discussion about the effect on their leadership style. Reclaiming their places 112 Kinship Based on my interviews, it appears that many supports are available to the participants through their kinship ties with other women and family members. Grandmothers, mothers, aunts, daughters, cousins and close friends offer direction and share their physical resources such as food, homes, and child care with the women Chiefs. Encouragement to return to school or to pursue jobs also comes fron:t these kinship networks. In one participant's experience, it came from an aunt who sternly encouraged her with "listen girl, quit being depressed about yourself and you go off to school." Sometimes these same kinship support systems are the first to recognize changes within the participants which arise from complex layers of political, personal and family responsibilities. Compounding this is the personal dissonance of the women Chiefs who understand the imposed Chief and council system casts them in the role of manger of their bands required to demonstrate accountability to the Department oflndian Affairs and Northern Development in order to maintain their elected positions rather than in a "traditional role as a servant of their people" (Boldt, 1993, p. 120). As an example, one woman Chief explained that: Sometimes it's difficult for them. They think what I do is just perfect for me because I'm bossy (laughter of both women). And I'll fight like a wolverine (laughs). And so they think "wow, this was the perfect job for you and you actually got paid to do that!" (laughter of both women). You got paid to do what you do. naturally (laughter of both women). And I just don't know ifthat's an insult or a compliment. It's really funny and they see changes in me but they don't understand it (Participant). The laughter in this interview partly reflects an unspoken understanding regarding the role expectations of being the eldest female child in a family. The particular way in Reclaiming their places 113 which younger siblings or parents view capabilities and personality traits that develop as a result of that role and their resultant teasing or honest disbelief that we could be any other way in any other setting is unspoken, intuitive knowledge we share. Additionally, the laughter was a result of the participant's honest acknowledgement that "bossiness" and responding energetically to conflict or injustice is evident in both her personality and leadership style. In discussing her childhood and young adult years, I came to understand that her survival and her siblings ability to remain physically protected required her to behave in these particular ways. It was her reflection about these experiences that helped shape her leadership style and contribute to her understanding of the positive aspects of difficult life experiences that have aided her development as a woman, politician and individual. Of her early life spent in provincial foster care, this woman Chief says It was almost like destroying who you were and rebuilding you into something that you could never fit. So we have a lot of children who ' ve gone into that system and come out very mixed up. And then going back [to your reserve community] and finding that you don' t have a home there either, so it's like you' re in between two worlds all the time ... (Participant). Gender implications In this section, I will review the most obvious physical feature of the women's experience as it emerged through the interviews, and show the effect of their gender in their political position as it relates to their family and other commitments. In some communities in Northern B.C., hereditary women Chiefs are not a new phenomenon while in others the reverse appears to be true for female elected leaders. Of the six elected representatives of either tribal or band c :uncils with whom I spoke, three (or fifty per Reclaiming their places 114 cent) are the first elected women in the history of their nations. That raises considerable issues regarding how their leadership style is viewed or will come to be assessed, modeled or further developed. Because these three participants are first time women Chiefs in their respective communities, the response at their individual band and council tables has provided a mix of challenge and relief in their election as Chief councillor. For all of them, the experience has also signaled the beginning of an unbelievable learning curve and opportunity to influence the electoral system. The transition for one first time woman Chief between the time of the election results and the day she took office was one day. One day was also the length oftime the outgoing Chief spent orienting her to the issues on council. Of her experience thus far she states: This is the first female Chief that this reserve has seen. The A.F.N. (Assembly of First Nations) that's having their meetings down in Vancouver have stated in their agenda that they' re going to honour female Chiefs. And I'm thinking (laughing) are we such a backward society that the few little female Chiefs, that we need to uplift? It' s a bit of a double edged sword, because although it ' s nice to be recognized, I think there should definitely be more of us. It shouldn' t be a special thing. We should be everywhere ... (Women) tend to view society as a whole, not in segments. Men look at fisheries, they look at forestry, they look at wildlife and hunting. You get pretty focused on any one of these things and you look at our government. It's pocketed all over the place, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. What happened to the holistic view? What makes the whole thing run? You know, I think it's important that we get back to teaching our children some values and things like that and helping people to understand how to do that (Participant, July 1999). All seven participants spoke about the need for support on council and about the importance for more women to become involved in the political process. A review of the number of women councillors on the four currently elected band councils of the women Reclaiming their places 115 Chiefs revealed that of the 32 positions, including the Chief councillor position, 14 are held by women (or 44 per cent) and 18 are held by men (or 56 per cent). In the two tribal councils composed of 14 positions, 5 of the positions (or 36 per cent) including tribal Chief are held by women while 9 of the positions (or 64 per cent ) are held by men. This small sample shows that within two levels ofhierarchy in these Northern B.C. First Nations elected organizations, the numbers of women involved at the higher level decreases. It is a situation the elected women Chiefs hope to change for many reasons, not the least of which is ~ and needing to continually work to build coalitions and support networks. One of the women Chiefs identified hopes she had for making change in her community upon winning the election. Shortly after, there was a significant change in the councillors and her supportive member was targeted, as she was, by the losing incumbents. Currently, she is the only female member on her council: When I got elected, they ran but they didn 't win. So they lost and they were really sore about it. There was another councillor who got in with me. You wouldn't believe the things they did to him. They drove him away and he had to resign. But I stuck. I took a lot .. . a lot from them (Participant). At other times, multiple roles, conflicting family obligations and concerns by spouses that their needs and importance may be secondary to the Chiefs ' duties have been weighty considerations for women in contemplating the length of their appointment. For example in discussing the role of her spouse, one woman Chief says: He presents to me some of my greatest pleasures as well as some of my greatest challenges, in the sense that every step forward that I take in my career is one step away from my family. And that is a difficult challenge for a wor.tan to keep. Our children are extremely important to us but every Reclaiming their places 116 minute that I stay away from my family is counted in his register somewhere. And it makes it very difficult sometimes, when I give an extra half hour or an hour to my community (Participant). Female role models Many of the participants cited the strong female role models among their family members and from within their communities as reasons for why they continue. Most of these women were respected for their outspoken positions concerning their families and communities, personal abilities, strengths, leadership and talents. Feeling connections to these powerful women ana memories seem to be a source of strength that was evident in both the tone and animation of women's voices and posture changes. The following is an indication ofthe kinds of role models the participants spoke about: A woman in my community, my Nation at least, had a lot of influence in leadership, whether it was done quietly or .. . when the government came in and tried to enforce, force people to take down their (fishing) nets. It was the women who stood on the front lines and took on the fish wardens. And this was in 1906. Six men went to jail even though they had no part in it. The women just took things into their own. Just about drowned the fish warden that came to destroy the barricades .. .(Participant). They (women and children) were treated with reverence. I remember when our grandmothers blew a fuse. I mean there was hell to pay. Everybody was scurrying, running around trying to fix whatever it was that had to be fixed. There was no doubt about the power that they had in the communities. They were just somebody you looked up to and listen to regardless. I don't ever remember men standing up and putting things in their place and them being sort of the authority or anything like that. I just remember the women standing there (Participant). I Reclaiming their places 117 Male role models While mothers and female family members played an incredibly influential role in these participants' lives, there exists an equally powerful role for fathers, brothers, uncles and male role models. The importance of strong male role models is evident in many vivid memories ofthe majority of participants. However, three spoke oftheir fathers in ways that suggested their involvement in their daughter's lives was minimal. ·For example, memories of their fathers were limited to the kind of work they did or the fact they were absent from thejr lives for large parts of their childhoods. For three of the women, male family members were past Chiefs oftheir respective communities. Ofthe seven women Chiefs, six had close family members who had been either past elected or Hereditary Chiefs, councillors, or actively involved in Aboriginal political organizations. According to one participant, unexpected opportunities to influence change can appear when women become conscious of oppression across races, based on gender. I notice though in the last few years, that more men are getting [Hereditary] names, than women ... Where men are only allowed into positions of power. I think that whole Charlottetown Accord kind of kickstarted our whole matrilineal traditions in a way that haven't been before cause I noticed that there's a lot more women now running for Chief positions ... and generally getting more involved and having a say at the political level (Participant). Indian Act Legislation, Treaties and the Department of Indian Affairs "Draconian" and "oppressive" are words two of the women Chiefs have used to describe the Indian Act and the bureaucracy that governs the day-to-day life of registered or status First Nations people in B.C. and across Canada. The Indian Act also governs the band or tribal councils on which these women participate. It does not allow Chiefs or councils to make decisions independent of the framework under which their councils Reclaiming their places 118 have been established. While it is obvious that change is possible if the political will is present, currently the Indian Act ensures that decisions of the band are largely conducted under the administrative gaze of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (D.I.A.N.D.). Two of the participants spoke about recent attempts to either disband or implement another composition of local governance on their reserves- a result ofD.I.A.N.D. ' s questioning of financial practices of the bands. In both instances, steps were taken by the band and council representatives to rectify the financial situations and to address the questions posed. The maze of procedures, independent practices of various arms ofthe D.I.A.N.D., lack of clear guidelines and direction, and complex and differing communications make the administration of the reserve business a daunting and difficult task. One woman Chief summed it up this way saying there' s no accountability from anybody. Just the way I look at it, the government has a fiduciary responsibility to look out for the best interests of Indian people, and they haven't... I can go into the Department and if there' s something wrong with capital, each project has different rules. I say I want something in writing, what do I have to follow, what am I not doing right? They just call it off the seat of their pants as you question them. And meanwhile I've been trying to address that the best way I know how. That's to join forces with other Chiefs with other First Nations. As an individual band they can try and knock over you ... some of them, I'm not in their favourite books but well, I don't care. I'm not here on a popularity contest (Participant). And nobody really knew what a Chief should or should not do. There was never, ever a job description or even policies or guidelines to follow. You get thrown into this position and ok, you're supposed to manage the affairs of I ,800 odd people (Participant). Reclaiming their places 119 In addition, one of the women Chiefs spoke about the challenging myriad of systems and organizational structures that result in the low level of band funds being made directly available to band members and her frustration with the injustice inherent in the system: Most of the money that is in the Federal budget is for the bureaucracy to uphold. We do the same work as Indian Affairs. We deliver their programs that they used to deliver here. We have never had an increase in funding since the time we took it over in 1981. But the cost of living has gone up ... We ' ve never gotten an increase, never. But Indian Affairs people out of Vancouver, their cost of living went up, their wages increased ... not us. It' s just unbelievable. And I look at these things and go no wonder the everyday person out there has the colored opinions that they have. They' re fed information ... they don't thoroughly understand the system we have ... It' s just a huge campaign that the government puts onto the Canadian people. They lie and it just amazes me that they can still get away with it (Laughs). (Participant). The work to expose the injustice is a delicate balancing act because the people must still live within the Indian Act and within the framework set for them by the federal and provincial governments. The overwhelming lack of access to resources, fair share in the revenue of the resources arising out of their traditional territories, and feelings about bad faith in Treaty negotiations with the Federal and Provincial governments has a significant impact on the ability of the community to be physically well. Treaty Issues One of the most challenging, frustrating, poorly communicated and emotive issues affecting First Nations and non-First Nations people living in Northern B.C. is the treaty process. According to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs (1999) there are 42 First Nations involved in tile British Columbia Treaty Consultation Process, representing about Reclaiming their places 120 two-thirds of the 197 bands in B.C. Currently in Northern B.C., Treaty 8 is the only forn1al treaty agreement in existence, although at the time of the thesis interviews, the Nisga' a Treaty was close to implementation. Six of the seven participants in this study represent bands that are involved at some stage of the negotiation process. Treaty negotiations are a subject that all participants have definite and strong opinions about. The following are some examples. This kind of bad faith negotiation has to be brought to the world stage and people have to know at an international level that we ' re being screwed in these Treaty talks no matter what way we do it. We' ve always been conciliatory, we've always put our best foot forward and this is the treatment that we still receive at the hands of our oppressors (Participant). I thought it was better off to have a treaty than not to have one .. .I also felt that as long as the process was going, we had an opportunity to fix it. If there was no process there would be nothing there to fix. It would be very difficult to get back into any kind of treaty process. So it was stressful in the sense that my husband didn't agree with anything that was going on at the Treaty table (Participant). They' re all going along with it. Who are these people that can negotiate on our behalf? Are they trained negotiators? No. Is the province and the federal government trained? Do they have trained negotiators? You bet they do, just by the fact of their profession as lawyers ... So there was this imbalance all over the place and I'm still kind of waving my arms "wait a minute, there's imbalance in these negotiations." I said "What are we going to do because we know this buffalo jump has happened with the province and this Treaty negotiation" (Participant). These treaties are about people. You have to talk about how it is your people relate to the land, that's what makes us special. How do your people relate to the forest? To the wildlife and to the fisheries and the culture? That's what makes us special. . .J.t' s human resources that's the greatest resource this world has ... And I think I bring that view into Reclaiming their places 121 this position. Whereas most male Chiefs here, I don't feel they' ve brought that (Participant). It is obvious that most of the women Chiefs have decided they will be active and vocal participants in the Treaty process either through pointing out structural inequities, asking public questions, getting involved in the process, forming coalitions or requesting international scrutiny in order to expose what they perceive to be continuing inequality within Canada' s Aboriginal policies. These are women who have been educated and trained within various educational institutions through law and media disciplines, who have witnessed the effect that international embarrassment has had on influencing change in Canadian Aboriginal policies of the past. These women Chiefs are no strangers to conflict and are resolved to influence the Treaty process with the hope that it will result in a fair and just resolution for their Nations. Many believe the health and renewal of their Nations depends on it. Community health issues The problems are plentiful: single people struggle to survive on $175 month social · assistance benefits; communities still have asbestos water lines; housing for the elderly and youth is inadequate; suicide, unemployment and school drop-out rates remain higher than for other segments of the Canadian population; young people continue to be incarcerated; and children are removed from their communities into provincial child welfare care. While the women are expected to lead their communities into a brighter future under these circumstances, they are also cognizant that their ability to make real change within the confines of the Act is limited and that they will need other ways to either help or force change to occur. Reclaiming their places 122 It is clear that the participants recognize that there are battles to be fought at all levels despite the fact that one woman Chief noted that the thing she likes least about leadership is "fighting with people". It is equally evident the women Chiefs have made decisions to continue to "fight" on their own terms by redefining the "rules of engagement". Some participants choose to join forces in forming tribal councils or other types of organizations in which they share a common vision or belief. In one ofthe communities, one woman Chief joined with other band Chiefs, the local Friendship Centre and the Metis Association regarding the common issue of children. While this action may not work in all communities it is definitely indicative of some participants' willingness to develop creative and new ways of dealing with outside pressures that "can knock over you" if one small nation stands alone. Due to the recent coalition formed between a number of Northern B.C. First Nations communities and urban agencies, there can be no doubt that more will be established with women at the forefront of development. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The need for economic development is a matter of grave concern for a number of reasons. Disagreement and mistrust of Treaty negotiations, changing demographics, high incarceration and unemployment rates, and factions between traditional and elected systems of governance are examples of issues challenging First Nations leaders. One Northern B.C. woman Chief is paying close attention to the importance of economic development, the Treaty process and creating alliances between traditional and elected systems of governance. Her message is the importance of uniting and strengthening families and forms of governance for Lhe greater good of First Nations. In Reclaiming their places 123 1999 during her first term in office, Mavis Erickson, current Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging human rights violations against the Carrier Sekani Nations. The effect this petition will have in the future economic wellbeing of Carrier Sekani people is difficult to determine at this time. However, The Commission ... has taken the dramatic and historic step of asking the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia to respond to a petition by a Canadian indigenous nation challenging their attempts to reallocate all of the timber rights within an aboriginally claimed arid occupied traditional territory to large corporate companies without respect to aboriginal rights and title and without aboriginal consent (Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, Press statement, March 8, 2000). Erickson, a graduate of Harvard Law School, led the press conference with the support of Carrier Hereditary ChiefTs'oh Daih (Pete Erickson), Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs President Stewart Phillip ofthe Penticton Indian Band and Grand Chief Edward John of the First Nations Summit. In addition to being her brother, Corporal Erickson is a nineteen year veteran of the R.C.M.P. Brother and sister stood together as Dakelh (or Carrier) representatives of both the Hereditary and elected system of governance, while Mavis Erickson announced "we're tired of watching our lands being destroyed right before our eyes and we don't have a remedy. We are tired of going to Canada and asking Canada to investigate itself, and to British Columbia and they investigate themselves and they find nothing wrong with what is happening in our territory; so we have moved to the international communities" (Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, News Conference, March 7, 2000). Reclaiming their places 124 It appears that Tribal Chief Erickson, Hereditary ChiefErickson, B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs President Phillip and Summit Grand Chief John share a determination to act in a symbolic manner that will be clearly understood by local, national and international communities. Their message to the Federal and Provincial government is two fold. First, that their families, communities and organizations reject "divide and conquer tactics" and second, that all forms of organizations and governance between their Nations will unite to challenge the strategy. Next, I will discuss the implications of language and culture as iQfluences affecting the way the participants lead in their communities. Language and culture A culture cannot survive without its language. The language is an expression of the culture - it is the backbone, the identity ofthe people. When the language is lost, the culture is crippled . .. today, it is estimated that fifty of Canada' s fifty-three native languages are in danger of extinction (York, 1990, p. 36). Changing demographics in the First Nations populations in B.C. (and across the country) will pose new challenges for the survival of traditional languages in the communities. According to the most recent statistics available, thirty-five per cent of Aboriginal people in B.C. are under 15 years of age. A total of fifty-seven per cent are under age 24 while only seven per cent are over age 55 (B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, 1996). All of the women Chiefs recognize the critical role of language as the primary mode of transmission of culture, understand that its survival depends in part on their actions and that time is short to ensure its transmission to the younger generations. Six of the seven women Chiefs can either speak their traditional language or understand it. The Reclaiming their places 125 majority of those women have taught the language to others, either in their families or in a variety of roles as teachers in and outside their community. One of the women Chiefs is now the official translator for her community. Her father taught her why knowing both languages is important and why retaining it is critical for their nations' continued cultural identity. He told her: I think education is very important, but the kind of education I want you to get is to learn the white mans ways, but never, ever leave your own behind. And when you go talk to the government we want you to carry our words. Speak to them with what we give you. And when you come back'; you tell us in our own words what they' ve said (Participant). All ofthe women Chiefs are involved in and supportive of many traditional ceremonies including feasts (transferring names, placing headstones) spiritual ceremonies (sweat lodges), food gathering or preserving (using smoke houses), potlatch celebrations traditional dancing (pow-wows) and being present when the oral history of the community is communicated. Some of the women are bringing these language and cultural traditions into their leadership domains as a matter of course. One participant · incorporates language into her leadership style: I chaired the annual general assembly this last week ... where there's Elders in any function you do business in a duallanguage ... Now I'm encouraging other leaders in other First Nations communities to do that, so they can strengthen their language (Participant). These seven women Chiefs understand, first hand, the havoc in communities created by alcohol and drug addictions. They recognize the need to re-introduce and strengthen traditional cultural practices as a way to combat the despair evident in the communities. A critical component is the need to focus programs and prevention Reclaiming their places 126 strategies in a holistic manner that include young people, Elders and adults. Preventative and holistic education, treatment and restitution (rather than punitive measures as a means of dealing with minor illegal activities that see First Nations people readily incarcerated) are seen as other tools to help people to "crawl out of oppression" (Participant). Many of the participants addressed the need to ensure that all people in leadership positions, especially on council, are "sober, clean and dry" so they can function as healthy role models in the community and the difficulties that can arise when this is not + the case. The absolute necessity for follow up, employment and an ability to contribute to the community are seen as critical to healthy personal and community functioning. The majority of the women Chiefs believe opportunities to contribute toward strengthening language and cultural practices, and to personal and community health, exist as a part of the same process. One woman Chief is a living example of this kind of opportunity. She says: There are people that are forced to go to treatment, you know, like a court order or something. But they' re not ready, so it doesn' t work for them, so they try again and you know it wouldn' t work until they' re ready. When I went, I knew I was ready. I knew. My spouse tried to discourage me from going. It was hard for me to do because he went right to the bus stop with me and he stood there until I got on. He was trying to tell me not to go, but I went anyway (Participant). 1 When I asked what helped her to stay sober in the absence of many community ' and personal supports she said "all the rotten things that I did and what I put my kids I through." Further discussion also revealed that, once she returned to the community, a job teaching her traditional language in the community supported her ability to remain Reclaiming their places 127 alcohol free. It was also something that helped her eventually break free from an abusive marrtage. In many instances, the woman Chiefs can point to community interest in relearning how their Nations historically included all band members in a political process. Still they acknowledge that progress is slow, uneven and in some communities, able to be taught by too few. Teaching traditional languages and renewing cultural practices in some of the Nations are but a part of the process. In the next section, I will review another integral part of the process; financial and educational opportunities. Economic development and educational opportunities To be born poor, an Indian, and a female is to be a member of the most disadvantaged minority in Canada today, a citizen minus (Jamieson, 1978, p. 92). In reserve communities where most members are on social assistance and destitute, it doesn't take much income or wealth for 'elite' status (Boldt, 1993, p. 124). In many First Nations communities in Northern B.C., the unemployment rate is at astronomical levels and, according to the seven women Chiefs, at 68 per cent and higher. All of the participants understand and acknowledge the kind of elevated financial position they experience, since being Chief councillor is one of the few paid positions available to people in the community. In some ofthe participants' families the standard of living is increased further by the income generated from their partner's or husband's work. Three of the six elected Chiefs have other income-generating jobs or businesses in addition to their political duties. Having financial resources available to them has increased their ability to make changes, attempt changes or to influence a broad range of Reclaiming their places 128 issues in the community. Many ofthe women Chiefs gave examples of ways they have fought against "doing the best for themselves and just a few family members or friends" by refusing to comply with these unwritten expectations and taking public steps to quash any thoughts of silent complicity. This is demonstrated by the decisive action taken by one woman Chief who has taken a number of unpopular stands. For example she ensured that money generated from bingo revenue on the reserve stayed on the reserve for the benefit of the people. It was an action that resulted in a community petition and demonstration targeting her dismissal as Chief. Her leadership has survived two more petitions for her dismissal which were in response to her decision to discontinue Band Council Resolutions for loans to staff members and calling for a forensic audit of band accounting practices. She maintains that these decisions were absolutely necessary to demonstrate open financial accountability and integrity. She indicates that that her husband supports her decisions while making jokes that "she is a sucker for punishment". The experience of the hereditary Chief participant is decidedly different. While she is able to have influence in making changes, her financial resources do not come from her position as a leader. This appears to be a significant difference between the two positions and styles of governance. She has held positions of considerable importance in non-First Nations communities, however, upon returning to her reserve community, she experiences considerable difficulty obtaining well paying employment. Interestingly, while she built a beautiful home on the reserve, it was not hooked up to the community water system for an extended period of time and the reason for delay was not clear. Reclaiming their places 129 One of the women Chiefs described other job choices she is able to consider because of her education and training. She gave an example of one of the moral dilemmas and challenges she faces as Chief that make her thankful for having choices: And I said well that's all right. I'm not here for the pension plan. There are other jobs I can get. This is not my life. This is not the only job I can get. And I was really glad that I had experienced an education outside of the community. I was thankful. Cause ifl was dependent on this as my income because I could not do anything else, because I didn't have the education or the experience, I would be doing, maybe the things that they're doing. And it's like everyone wants the one or two jobs that's there, and what comes along with it. The money, the self importance, the influence, the power, the attention. And it's like a pit that feeds it and feeds it and anyone that comes in there to change that, you know is isolated and cast away and made to feel you can't withstand. They can isolate you really well, I'll tell you. They can make your life a living hell. So a lot of people will comply at the reserve level, the community level (Participant). Another woman Chief described the difference that training and education made for her: It changed my life, before I took the courses, I was working for six dollars an hour as a data entry clerk. I started my own business. I made about $30,000 dollars the first year and about $55-60,000 dollars the second year (Participant). Summary : Change starts with resistance. In the section regarding the physical gifts of the women Chiefs, I have discussed four analytic themes: kinship, legislation and organizations, language and culture, financial and educational opportunities. All are interdependent pieces the women Chiefs identify as instrumental in their decision to beco·,ne, and remain, involved in politics. The majority of the women Chiefs are cognizant that their involvement in leadership is Reclaiming their places 130 based on different issues than concern some male Chiefs. They understand their role as mothers and grandmothers means they will shoulder different levels of childcare responsibilities, and that political success is dependent on the support of others to address that imbalance. In some instances the participants experiences of living in foster care or as an assaulted partner means they have a personal investment to influence change in those systems. There is evidence to suggest that they are building coalitions and encouraging other women to become politically involved. This appears to be based on a vision to influence inclusiveness, safety and respect for the role of women in governance of Nations. The women Chiefs encourage and support the use of traditional languages and cultural practices, as important ways to address the lack of hope, despair, alcoholism and drug use among band members. They model and discuss the importance of formal education to augment scarce economic opportunities currently on reserve. Through their decision to become involved in this research, they have signaled a desire and willingness to expose the public and private realities of their experiences in First Nations leadership and their hope that change will continue as a result. It is an avenue to both encourage other women to become activists and to become mentors for others, thereby affecting even more change and working toward balance in the currently male biased political arena. The women Chiefs are ambitious women who are aware that at some point their political leadership role may change, or become something different, and they are taking steps to ensure that women who will lead after them will not have to address the same Reclaiming their places 131 level of oppression. In the next section, I will discuss how this unfolds within the mental aspects of the medicine wheel. Mental Support and challenges : Gifts of the North Dyck (1996) states that in addition to the understandings of the mental aspect of science offered by feminist and Western methods, the mental aspect of the medicine wheel can be seen as a: wisdom stage, acquired with experience. Learning by integration of knowledge acquired from all aspects of the wheel, including the spiritual aspect. Balanced learning, seeing that all things are connected, to imagine, to interpret, to see the connections, to use intuition (hunches, insight) consciously. The vision is a broad perspective, detached from personal opinion and informed by spiritual insight. The thinking aspect is viewed as an active integration of intuition and reason (p. 96) Typically the Northern part of the Medicine Wheel is viewed as a time in the circle oflife that can be equated with the status of an Elder or older person; someone who has experienced all of the previous stages, is wise and able to draw on considerable life experience. As with the other stages of development, many life experiences can affect this life stage. Not all who reach this stage are healthy in mind, spirit or body. In some communities the role of Elder is questioned for good reason which may be related to unfinished healing of past hurts or injustices inflicted on others. The North is also home to the seven women Chiefs involved in this project. Community healing The need for community healing is encompassed in the definition of the mental aspect of the .nedicine wheel. Three of the women Chiefs spoke about this needing to Reclaiming their places 132 come from within the communities and at the same time, needing to come from within themselves. All of them spoke about the need for the solutions and healing to begin based in reality of the Northern B.C. experience and in their history as First Nations women. A quote from one of the women Chiefs stands alone in offering a clear understanding of her forgiveness for past wrongs, acceptance of what is, and a glimpse at what the future can promise when people join together. It is offered as an analogy to personal, community and +Nation healing across many barriers: I ended up in foster homes cause my mom was drinking. I blamed the Indian people for taking her out. I believed it. I went through the school system. I went through the foster system. I believed it. I lived it and I threw my own heritage away. And then one day when my brother was nineteen and he came out of the foster system, we only had him with us for a year, he was killed and that was the day that changed everything. And I went to the church where the service was, and I turned around and you know the only people I saw there? Indians, that was it. And it was at that time that I understood. I knew I was wrong. I saw a part of my own people and myself that I could never deny. And I saw them in a totally different light after that. And when I came in here, I saw the truth for myself and I understood I was wrong in feeling the way I did. I was just hurt. I was hurt because they didn't take me when they should have. They didn't accept me when they should have. But I understood that they were sick too. And that they truly did care. Its just that they didn't know how to. But that had been taken away from them and not by their choice (Participant). ! In a way that can leave no doubt as to their "commonality of differences" each of I the women has a different, separate and distinct vision of healing; however, their collective vision is holistic. Its 'simplicity, eloquence and relevance speak volumes about Reclaiming their places 133 a First Nations world view that balances all aspects of their vision of a future that includes true self governance based on respect, inclusion and justice. More specifically, it is a vision born out of unique experiences developed within a social, economic and political context that is replete with disrespect and injustice on all levels, focused squarely and explicitly at beating them into resignation and submission. This continues through legislation and through overt and covert complicity between federal and provincial authorities and large Aboriginal male dominated organizations. The lesser status as women continues to result in the minimization and denigration of their accomplishments by some; their struggles to change systems that will improve the situations of people who are more vulnerable are met with stony resistance. Their bodies and minds continue to wear the effect of long hours, little recognition for their efforts, barriers, threats, violence and outright attack from people. At the same time, they strive to ensure the status quo will not remain unchallenged, unchecked or unchanged. They do this because they can remember and know about a time when women held a more equal kind of status with regard to men in their families, communities and governance models. A time that women, children and Elders also shared in decision making in their communities. A time that each person had a place and a voice that could be heard in the collective consciousness. It was a time of many leaders and that meant that no one voice spoke for all people or for all perspectives. Instead of resignation and despair, these women continue to use their education, individual gifts, experiences, grit and determination to find ways to build toward a new kind of power, one that rejects those based on discrimination, shame or ridicule. They choose, instead, to find it by building cc..1litions with people who value the same kind of Reclaiming their places 134 future and by speaking out about the reality of their experiences in plain language that leaves no doubt that they will work toward zero tolerance of violence and subjugation in any form. From where they lead, the future will be based on elements of a healing circle that will continue to evolve. A vision of hope One of the questions that I asked each of the women Chiefs in the individual interviews, was how they.hoped politics would be conducted in the future, both in First Nations and non- First Nations politics. Each of the women answered in a different way. When I compiled their individual responses, I was astonished to see that their hopes for the future combine in a holistic vision that encompasses the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental influences in the Medicine Wheel. This vision is unique to the seven women Chiefs who participated in the development of this thesis project and could not be replicated in the same way by any other group. Their vision is unique to Northern B.C. and to this time and place in our shared history. What follows are the words of the seven women Chiefs ofNorthern B.C. This is their vision of hope for the future for the people they lead and for all of us that live in Northern B.C. Glorify the Creator of all things on this Earth. Treat one another with respect, honesty and compassion. Provide a safe environment for all. Understand the talents of all people stand on their own only as part of a whole. Know and use the language and traditions of your culture. Educate people. Together develop ways to avoid conflicts between distinct political structures. Help young people to know about choices. Ask questions and make your government accountable to you. Expect role models to be alcohol and drug free. Understand that you can't change other people. Everyone has free will. Reclaiming their places 135 It is in the re-awakening of the elements of their holistic indigenous beliefs, culture and languages that these women Chiefs are beginning to reclaim their places in leadership and will help First Nations people become, once again, self determining. These female role models understand the art of negotiation, action, respect and the fact that change will happen one person at a time, over time. Further, they understand the importance of building bridges across cultures, learning from one another and how supporting vulnerable people will strengthen whole Nations. Intuitively they understand that bridges are also walked on from both ways, in their instance, by both Aboriginal and + non- Aboriginal members of society. Finally, they understand that the very thing that has been most violently attacked, their identity and dignity as First Nations women, is the very gift and strength that will help balance and provide leadership for all Northern B.C. First Nations out of the dark ages. Conclusion This chapter uses a medicine wheel philosophy to explore the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental influences in the lives of seven women Chiefs of Northern B.C. What emerges is a First Nations world view of seven women who strive to decolonize the political process. Through their own stories, experiences and words, the participants educate people about the impact of colonization. They explain how church, state and various pieces of legislation influenced and distorted their own traditional systems of governance and undermined their spiritual beliefs. Finally, they offer hope and belief in a future that will provide safety, respect, and honour for all members of communities, particularly women, children and Elders. Reclaiming their places 136 In the final chapter, I will offer some concluding thoughts and suggestions for social work practice and research with First Nations women. Reclaiming their places 137 Chapter 6 Conclusion : Very few people can do it People look for leadership even within leadership. They want a leader, they want a true leader, and the dysfunction and fragmentation that we have at all levels of the government and politics, is due to the fact that there isn't one. And to take on that role, it requires so much energy and commitment and belief and a good grounding. Very few people can do it (Participant). A review of the literature, together with the personal stories of the First Nations women Chiefs provides much important information. Specific influences affect First Nations women Chiefs to marginalize, isolate and silence them both within and outside the reserve community. At the same time the participants are also seen to be the courage and strength inside and outside their community. "It has been said that being born Indian is being born into politics" (Alfred, 1995, p. 1) and for these seven women Chiefs, no more true statement could be made. These women leaders live and work within the confines of an extremely political reality mandated and directed by the legislation and policies of the Indian Act. The elected women Chiefs have important differences shared by women working in traditional or hereditary systems of governance. Their individual First Nations identity sets them apart but collectively they need, and rely on, the strength and gifts of one another. On different levels they understand that remaining separate and divided from one another means their collective struggle as First Nations women will be more difficult. The best way to understand the struggle of the seven women Chiefs is to see them in the context of a war. They have experienced outright attack from the residential school system, child welfare system, racist and sexist oppression, poverty and abuse of every Reclaiming their places 138 kind that has sought to devalue their role as caregivers of children, identity and dignity as First Nations women. In this project, the women Chiefs have begun to speak about that experience in a collective sense. They speak about it as women who must now return to the battlefield to collect and help heal the wounded, honour the contributions of the people who resisted the assaults, bury the dead, grieve with families and find ways to help their Nations move forward from this time in history. They are intent to find ways to reclaim their rightful places of honour as women and leaders in First Nations families and communities. They ~ seven women who are blazing a path that will contribute toward change for all women at war with injustice and silence. Reclaiming their places These seven women Chiefs are personally motivated by a keen sense of fairness and injustice developed through harsh personal experiences of violence and abuse, sexism, criticism, threats and intimidation, humiliation, racism, poverty, grief and loss, layers of oppression and a history of colonizing social policies. In response, they have developed a direct, "no-nonsense" and inclusive approach in their leadership style that includes compassion and a passionate conviction in the pursuit of social justice and fairness for all. It is this combination that encourages people to tum to them to get things done and to trust in them to be able to withstand the difficult times. The women Chiefs "1 are committed to modeling a different leadership approach that will no longer tolerate I ' shame-based personal attacks,' bullying threats, intimidation, violence, sexist and racist comments or actions. They udderstand in their very being how continuing to allow those I kinds of behaviors can only ~ I in further silence, oppression and loss of hope. Reclaiming their places 139 While their individual leadership styles are continuing to develop, the women Chiefs are candid about their own need to heal and work through past injustices within the context of community healing. They speak about this in a way that reflects their personal resistance, collective resolve and political commitment to work toward change. Their commitment and effort continues to be met with barriers and outright challenge from all sides; knowledge that not all people are ready to heal and embrace their traditions, language or culture and time is needed to help prepare and educate community members. Continuously and without exception, they all demonstrate the courage and commitment needed to address abusive and neglectful situations facing women, children and Elders. They face overwhelming obstacles that are compounded by a serious lack of access to financial and economic resources, political and emotional support, community divisions, addictions, violence, poverty, and a definite political male bias. Further complicating their ability to create change is a two year election system that maintains community uncertainty and an unstable political environment. Equally ~ is their unequivocal and unrelenting determination and belief in a vision of a better day. These women Chiefs are living proof they can influence change by helping communities come to understand how their traditional systems of governance were disrupted by European colonizers and how they have come to be devalued as women. More importantly, through their actions, they can help people understand how that can be changed for the benefit of current and future generations. The importance of having other people on council that are committed to the same kind of futuristic vision helps them in a task that may otherwise be completely impossible. Through sharing their Reclaiming their places 140 stories and experiences, they are helping to prepare other Aboriginal women who may consider becoming political activists now or in the future. The women Chiefs take seriously their responsibility to educate, support, and guide the renewal of their communities, not only for themselves but also for the people who will inherit and build on the consequences of their current decisions. They know the time to influence leadership in a key way is now and they have no choice but to begin reclaiming what Lindberg (1997), a First Nations woman lawyer, insists is the truth: Women have always had a separate and equal position in politics, labour, and familial tasks. Equality as an ideal has different meanings for Aboriginal people. Aboriginal women are an essential and important part of the circle, the continuity of life ... and we need to reclaim our place (p. 316). Many people understand that the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental renewal in First Nations communities cannot happen without the assistance, guidance, support and leadership of women. Those who understand this simple fact are watching the women Chiefs' development with renewed hope that their grief can be turned into a force for change. I will not offer any recommendations for the women Chiefs involved in this project. The simple truth is that these seven women leaders are my teachers and are already doing repair and development work that needs to be done in First Nations communities. For many years, people and consultants from outside the communities have told First Nations people how to "fix things". From my perspective, that has not proven to be any benefit to the people who are ultimately in charge of their own healing and renewal. Reclaiming their places 141 Instead, based on this experience of doing research for the first time and my experience as a child welfare social worker, I will offer some practice suggestions for social workers working with children and youth in the child welfare system and those doing research with First Nations women. Social work exists to serve people in need Social work exists to serve people in need. If it serves other classes who have other purposes, it becomes too dishonest to be capable of either theoretical or practical development (Capen Reynolds [as cited in Howse & Stalwick, 1990], p. 79). Women need to respect that there are many paths and we do not need to agonize over them, we do not have to be identical ... Race makes us separate, but not always in ways we expect. It can create oppression and alliances (Brown, Jamieson & Kovach,l995, p. 76). The following social work practice suggestions are based on two principles. The first principle is that social workers share an individual and collective responsibility to ensure that we do not perpetuate oppression. For each of us, that must begin with a conscious decision to understand our own role in its maintenance. I understood my own role in oppression when a six year old First Nations child in foster care asked me why her mother said social workers "steal kids". No other social work experience has humbled me as much as that simple question asked by an innocent child. No other experience has offered a better opportunity to articulate different perspectives on the history between social workers and First Nations people. The word "steal" exposes the "two worlds" that separate the experience of First Nations people within the child welfare system and the social workers who work within it. The current Child, Family and Community Service Act ~ directs the action of "removing Reclaiming their places 142 children" based on child welfare risk criteria. The actions of social workers are subject to assessment by supervisors, managers and ultimate sanction by the court system. The legitimization perspective of the child welfare process is not always shared by others involved in the system. Some First Nations people speak about having children "stolen" or "taken" in ways that imply theft and crimes committed against First Nations families and communities. In my experience, some youth exiting the child welfare system from their legal position as "continuing custody wards" speak about being "let out" or "set free" in ways that imply release at the end of a term of imprisonment or incarceration. + Unsettling parallels exist between the experience of many First Nations people within the residential school and child welfare systems. Many First Nations people continue use the same kind of language to express their feelings about both systems. The historical treatment of First Nations people in Canada reflects a brutality that is intensely uncomfortable for those who have benefited from the emotional, physical, spiritual and mental violence. I continue to experience feelings of shame, shock and incredulity at the many examples of injustice shared by the seven women Chiefs. I wish I had asked myself more questions like "Who stands to gain from the current child welfare system? Who stands to lose?" I wish more options, resources and supports could exist for all people involved in the child welfare system. With interest and hope, I contemplate the development of Aboriginal child welfare agencies in B.C. The second principle to remember is that the greatest gift a social worker has to offer is the number of connections we can make or support between people and resources. Never underestimate the positive results that can come from personally in viling many people with different kinds of skills, talents and aailities to one place Reclaiming their places 143 around a common issue or common goal. Do what you can to make that place safe and inclusive with room for all voices to be heard and acknowledged by others. Once there is a process and safety in place, step back from your organizing role and participate as one of the people in the room who has special talents and gifts, just as the others do. Remember that people may forget exactly what was said, but they will never forget how they felt about their contribution to the process. Through sharing your own story and hearing the stories of others you will become a different kind of social worker. It will change you and it will influence the way you practice social work. My hope is that this small project will contribute toward the healing that is required between social workers and First Nations communities. Seven considerations for social workers My sixteen years of social work experience inside the child welfare system, social work education and experience as a social work researcher entering a number of First Nations communities in Northern B.C. has provided me with some important information. These seven considerations are offered to other social workers simply as my contribution toward the development of social work education and practice knowledge. First, be respectful, take the time to consider your actions and the implications and proceed when you are invited. There is a whole history in B.C. of social work services being thrust on First Nations people, without their consent, desire or willingness to accept outside services. I suggest that prior to your entry into a particular community, you learn how that history is experienced by the First Nations people in the community. If that is not possible, take time and care to find respectful ways to ask the people about their experiences with social workers and governments. Pay particular attention to the Reclaiming their places 144 things they disagree with and thought were helpful. Do not rush in to "fix things". Ask about the kind of help they think would be useful. Do the same thing with children and youth in the foster care system. Ask them what they think they need, what they think is important, what kind of career they want, what their hopes and dreams are. Then, together, look for other people and opportunities that can help to make those dreams a reality. Second, once inside a First Nations community or family home know that much of what has been taught qpd understood on the outside does not necessarily mean the same from a First Nations perspective. Continuously I heard about solutions that have been developed outside the communities and then "transplanted" inside the communities. They did not work because the very people who were inside the communities did not have any meaningful input into the creation of the "solutions". Many people have good ideas and have pieces of what they believe will work. I learned of very few instances where social workers have asked First Nations people what it is that they know. I learned of even fewer instances where people help to develop a process based on suggestions offered by First Nations people. I did learn about the tremendous numbers of ways that First Nations people are blamed when suggestions of people from outside the communities do not work. I learned about the ways the unspoken messages combine to erase hope for people and stunts their belief in their own self-worth. ! I People I spoke with ~ examples of times that social workers have asked one or two people in the community tbout a particular issue of concern. The perspective of ' those two people did not reflect other perspectives. My caution is that there is no one or I two solutions to any problem. Social workers need to find ways to ensure that all voices Reclaiming their places 145 have a part in the decision making process. The process may be slower, however it will be one that all have had input into creating and some collective ownership in resolving. Social workers working with Aboriginal children, youth and families involved in the child welfare system need to understand the same thing. It is a humbling experience. Third, know that you are witness to sickness and fragmentation which are the direct effects of an imposed structure and foreign ideology; the communities are struggling, as we all are, to come to terms with what was, what is and what will be. All of the women Chiefs that I spoke with believe that decision making in their historical communities was more equally shared between men and women than it was for European men and women at the same time in history. They believe that First Nations people have been taught to think a different way about the role and value of women and children as a result of a imposed European ideology that says women and children are subordinate to men. They disagree that the voice of men (Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal) should be heard as the only official voice of all First Nations people. The women have voices and ideas that is different from the voices and perspectives of youth and Elders. Their individual voices are different from one another also; there is no such thing as one voice, one nation or one kind of woman Chief. They are developing leadership styles that seek to find ways to respectfully include the voices of all people about issues of particular concern to all community members. Social workers need to support that kind of collective vision in every way possible. Our history in the oppression of First Nations people and communities through child welfare legislation means that we cannot afford to practice in any other way. The fact that child welfare workers in First Nations comrnuni.ies are known as "body snatchers, baby Reclaiming their places 146 snatchers and child stealers" serves as notice that there is a lot of healing to do between communities and social workers. Healing that is long overdue and begins with social worker acknowledgements, apologies and thankfulness in opportunities to begin new relationships. Fourth, it is important to understand that the only way out of oppression for all of us is through a wide open door. The "door" needs to be wide open so that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people can walk through it together, side by side, one not leading or following the other. At ~ time in our shared history, in early 2000, no one is there yet. We do not have the answers, however we are starting to ask a lot of questions and people are becoming more aware and educated about the issues that separate us. People are beginning to speak in open ways about injustices they have experienced and have inflicted on others through ignorance and silence. Be honest about the lack of clear cut and decisive answers. We are all struggling to come to terms with decisions made centuries ago that continue to influence relationships between Aboriginal and nonAboriginal people. Now, we are the ones making decisions that will influence the lives of future generations. The magnitude of that responsibility for all of us is cause for calm deliberation, introspection and joint action. We need to remember to act with compassion for those who have further to go along the path, for those who are dying or killing themselves out of despair and desperation. This is not a foot-race to see who will be at the finish line first. This is a process and we are all involved in it. Fifth, social workers need to look for and connect with people who are healing and seek to make alliances based in respect, honesty and compassion. Repeatedly, the women Chiefs told me in many different ways that the most difficult issue they deal with Reclaiming their places 147 is the combination of poverty, disrespect, sexism and racism of people within their own communities, large male dominated Aboriginal organizations, business, federal and provincial governments. The silence between women in Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal communities about those issues is deafening. The silence needs to be broken by women who are willing to expose the gulf between the public and private reality of their experiences. Perhaps this project is a small contribution toward helping that happen in Northern B.C. One experience toward the end of this project helped to explain why silence exists + and is so pervasive. I invited one male leader of an Aboriginal organization to participate in a particular event. He was very supportive and expressed pleasure at the opportunity to participate. One of his questions about this project was about the kind of recommendations I would make to the women Chiefs. I asked him to tell me what happened the last time he told his wife do something. He laughed and said "Yeah, well, I see your point. Even ifl did, she wouldn't listen to me. She' d probably tell me to do it myself'. This is exactly my point. Toward the end of our conversation he asked if he was to be the only man at the event. I found myself reassuring him that no, my husband, father and many other men would be present along with many women, children, youth and Elders from both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities across the province. It was at that point that I understood his discomfort. I have felt the same kind of fear when I am the only woman in a room full of men. My fear is based in the potential to have my point of view disrespected, denigrated, trivialized or silenced. Reclaiming their places 148 This is the very situation the seven women Chiefs encounter daily in their duties. It happens in meetings with Federal and Provincial government bureaucrats or representatives, business or industry leaders, lawyers and Aboriginal leaders. These institutional representatives continue to speak from their perspective; one that supports and seeks to further entrench their position of male power and privilege. The gender imbalance is tremendous and overwhelming. Imbalance considerations increase when factors such as race, education, specialized training and class are added. Sixth, I think it is important for social workers to find ways to demonstrate and speak about our willingness to be taught and to share what we know in the spirit of nation to nation diplomacy and basic common decency. Throughout this research process and in learning about the perspective of the seven women Chiefs, I have come to understand that there is a lot of knowledge in the Aboriginal community that is oral and cannot be found in text books. The most significant change or shift in my thinking occurred through sharing stories and experiences with women about common issues and different concerns. Seventh, I will encourage social workers to trust their intuition and feelings; to honour these emotions in the same way that society honours reason and fact. When you know the injustice against a person or group of people to be true and can see its affects on the people, do not hesitate to become an ally and help contribute what you can to make positive changes happen. The way forward for all of us is one contribution at a time. Somewhere in that process it is critical that social workers educate themselves, decide whom they will serve and with whom they will create alliances. Reclaiming their places 149 The connection of "children", "community" and "leadership" For these seven women Chiefs, 'children', 'community' and 'leadership' are interconnected issues for many reasons. They understand the ideologies behind the historical church and government policies that viewed children as the most effective way to assimilate, "civilize" and colonize First Nations people. They understand, at the most basic level of their feminine identity, that the loss of children means the loss of hope and culminates in the true conquering ofNations. With that knowledge, the women Chiefs are fighting to decolonize and educate their children and Nations using the values, + beliefs, languages and land that shapes their identity. In addition, by sharing their individual efforts, the women Chiefs can further the work being done by Aboriginal organizations and leaders to regain control of their own child welfare and education systems. The stories of these seven women Chiefs from Northern B.C. have already begun to influence child welfare social workers and educational institutions. On March 8, 2000 I resigned from the provincial child welfare system. The reasons for my decision are personal, political, varied and complex . It is not my intention to advocate that all people working in the child welfare system resign from it. It was the right decision for me. The terms of employment demanded my silence in ways that I could not reconcile. Working for the provincial government inside the child welfare system was what I chose to leave; not the children or families. Now I look for ways to influence change from outside the child welfare system to make differences for young women inside the system. Reclaiming their places !50 Making a difference for young women This research project began in part because of the female Aboriginal youth I came to know in my capacity as a guardianship social worker. I saw leadership potential in many of the young women and wondered how I could better support their goals and dreams. What I have learned from the seven women Chiefs, my own social work practice, experiences and education may help to develop leadership potential ·in future women leaders. It is the spirit of hope that guides the following suggestions for social workers working with feJilale Aboriginal youth. Look for strengths in the young women and do what you can to support and build on them. You will not be able to be there for all youth, so find other people to help. Try to find ways to help reconnect them to healthy people in their families and communities. Young women need role models that are positive, have vision and hope. They need male and female role models that believe in their unique talents and gifts. Find ways to be physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually present for young women. Comment directly about special gifts and unique strengths that you can see in them. Tell other people about their talents in ways that are respectful and in situations that the children or youth can overhear. Remember that you may be the first person to comment on their talents. Do not rush in to "fix things". Ask about the kind of help they think they need or that you can offer. The answers may surprise you. I ' Remember that the ch(ldren and youth may see you as a role model so act like ' one. Praise their efforts that Jorked and support their efforts that were not successful. When you feel concern about their decisions and choices, tell them why you are concerned and that you care aoout them. Help them to see other options. If they succeed, Reclaiming their places 151 congratulate and celebrate their efforts. If their efforts are unsuccessful, be there to support them and help them learn from their experience. Tell them you have faith in their ability to grow through difficult times. Express your hope and excitement about the kind of person they are and will grow to be. Laugh with young women and model positive ways to show your own emotions. Look for opportunities to help them express their feelings and work through their problems. Support their efforts to make c01mections with other people and consider what they can offer in any gathering of people. Help them to see their potential, use their voice to ask questions and act about things that concern them. Treat the young women with respect and expect it in return. Help them to know about their rights and responsibilities. Help them to know the history of First Nations women in B.C. and Canada. Tell them about the vision of hope of the seven women Chiefs. Help them to keep a focus on their future goals and support their potential to be future leaders in whatever way they think they can be. My way ahead At this point I am teaching part time in a college-level social service worker program in Northern B.C. The first social policy I introduced to the second year class was the Indian Act, the second was the Child, Family and Community Service Act. In the education system I am coming to understand that I can make valuable contributions to the social work education of other students. My own experience, education, social work practice, life experience as a woman at this time in Canadian history and relationships with other people make it so. Perhaps some social work students will better understand Reclaiming their places 152 some of the difficulties inherent in working in systems where people become "cases" and the official story that is recorded is full of problems and weaknesses of people instead of their strengths. My hope is that this project will help to shift thinking for social workers and people in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities who share a common concern for the future of young people. In many ways, this project completion feels like the end of some things and the beginning of others. If it has helped to contribute toward a better understanding of the past and how that is connected to the present and future, then it is positive and necessary. Friere (1970) and Bishop (1994) advocate for a growing body of knowledge created by allies. This thesis is my beginning contribution and my hope that as colleges and universities in the North continue to develop sensitivity to the unique needs of First Nations students, the number of Aboriginal students writing from their own perspective will increase. Through different kinds of collaboration and cooperation, I hope the way forward will continue based on discussion, education, exposure and action to end oppression of one gender over another, one race over another, the rich over the poor and one segment of the population claiming the right to speak for all people. An Elder's prayer In closing, I offer a prayer I have often heard from a First Nations Elder for whom I have tremendous respect because of his honesty about his own healing and commitment to help others. In many ways and for many reasons he helps me to understand why it is that men and women need the gifts and contributions of each other to help communities Reclaiming their places 153 heal. No one gender can do it alone. No one segment of any population can do it alone. No one leader can do it alone. The way forward will be full of people who can offer many skills, talents, gifts and abilities. Quietly, he reminds me that from where he sees things, the struggle out of oppression for his people is far from over and that while there are gains, people are still taking their own lives daily, numbing themselves to escape the pain, and hurting many others in the process. Alden, thank you. You honour me with your permission to repeat it here. Great Spirit, Creator of all good things, we thank you for this time together and I ask that you will continue to support and help us as we all go our separate ways. Please continue to take care of our children who are our future generation, our families, our homes, our communities, our languages and our elders. Especially take care of all the ones who are still suffering out there, the ones in the hospitals and institutions, that maybe one day they will be able to find the Good Road. Thank you for the good life that we have in spite of all the things that have come into our lives. Thank you for our vision, our ability to speak, the ability to listen, all our senses. Thank you for all these things Creator and the most precious gift that you have given us this day, an ability to see your Creation and to live to see another day. All my relations. Reclaiming their places 154 References Absolon, K., Herbert, E. & MacDonald, K. (1996). Aboriginal women & treaties project. Victoria : Ministry for Women's Equality. Absolon, K. & Herbert, E. (1997). Community organizing : Canadian experiences. In B. Wharf & M. Clague (Eds.), Community action as a practice of freedom: A First Nations perspective (pp. 205-227). Toronto : Oxford University Press. Adams, H. (1995). 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Canadian Social Work Review, 14 Cl), 83-97 . ..-; ' I Reclaiming their places 163 Figure 1 Mental Spiritual Physical Emotional The medicine wheel teaches us that we have four aspects to our nature: the physical, the mental, the emotional, and the spiritual. Each of these aspects must be equally developed in a healthy, well-balanced individual through the development and use of volition (i.e. will) (Bopp, Bopp, Brown & Lane, 1984, p. 12). Reclaiming their places Appendix "A" 164 . . ~ lllt:!ll ~ I VJ Appendix ·'B" 1999 June 01 Cfiief 'Band .!ilaaress City ·Posta! Code f)) ear Cfiief; I am writing to in traduce myself and to invite !JOlLr fiefp in some research I am wrrendy concfucting at tfie 1Jniversit!J of!J{prtfiem 'BC in Prince (ieorge. I am agraiuate student in tfie !Jr[aster ofSocia! 'Jttlor(program. I am interested in [earning a5out tfie inj{uen ces tfiat sfiape .1/.rst IJ{p.tions women's cfecisions to 6ecorne in.vo[vecf in efectecf 6ana pofitics. I am a&o interestecf in [earning a5out fiow tfiose e;'(periences migfit aiffer from tfie e:rperiences of women wfi.o are hereditary cfiiefs. I tfiin(your story i.s important for many reasons. :First of a{( it is important for otfier wom.c.n to k._now fiow a woman [eaaer is macfe. Sewn£ it is important for cfiiMren to k..now tfie {Jnas of commitmmts tfieir famify mern6ers are maf;Jng in communities. % ire( it is important for parents to k_now wfiat f:.jncf.s of inf[uences enconrage tfieir cfii[c[ren to 6ecome [eaders. J1.naf[y it is important 6ecause :first 'J..{_ation.s women on{y 6ecam.e efigi6fe to vote in tfieir own communities in 1951 . Less tfian 50 years [ater, yorL are [eacfing !JO!!r commrwity into tfi.e ne{_t cenhLr!J and are a part offi.istory maf;Jng . I want to taf(to women invo[ved in. po[itics 6ecause of my family ana 5ecause of my work._V!itf youtfi . !Jv[y grandmo ther u.1as raised in a n:.sidenti:/ scfioo[for .'Jl.5origina[ cfii[drcn. Jfer motfzer W£1..1 r: :1. _q6origina[ woman ana fi.e.r father