Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle

Come dance with us!

The walls of the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag were lined with about 100 boxes Monday, boxes stuffed with clothing, sports equipment, books and toys.

Leaning against them were a few wheelchairs and walkers, plus a couple of bags of sports equipment. All of it was destined for a community thousands of kilometres away.

Mishkeegogamang is a small First Nations community that’s located about 400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

Its location and isolation makes it difficult for the community’s 900 or so residents to access a lot of what southern Ontario takes for granted, explained Sheila Nabigon-Howlett, chairwoman of Natwin.

Natwin is the program that’s responsible for filling the boxes at Niijkiwendidaa offices. Nabigon-Howlett and a team of volunteers have been shipping the boxes for about 12 years now.

Each year volunteers put the word out and begin collecting items for the Christmas haul. Sometimes, Nabigon-Howlett explained, they’re looking to fill requests, like the walkers and wheelchairs donated by Ennismore Community Care.

Liz Stone, executive director at Niijkiwendidaa, pointed out that there it’s not just the community’s location that makes it difficult to get a hold of every-day items.

Cost is also a big factor. Stone said a board game that sells for $20 in southern Ontario could sell for as much as $40 or $50 after shipping costs.

Northern communities also grapple with larger overhead costs, Stone said, which makes it difficult for organizations to spend money on extras like books and hockey equipment.

Peterborough Sisters in Spirit Vigil

October 4th marks the day when people all across Canada gather together to honor the missing and murdered Aboriginal woman of Canada.  Originally started by Bridget Tolley in 2006, who was afraid that people where going to forget her mother, Gladys, who was killed in Maniwaki, Quebec, in 2001. She asked the NWAC to help her set up a vigil on the steps of Parliament Hill to honour her mother and the more than 600 Aboriginal women and girls who have gone missing or have been murdered across Canada. Sisters in Spirit vigils and marches have grown larger and larger, bringing attention to this horrendous injustice and put pressure on the Canadian government to give this issue the attention it deserves.

On October 4th, 2012, 110 cities came out to show their support of Aboriginal women and the hardships they face and Niijkiwendidaa is proud to say that the Peterborough, Ontario, vigil had an unprecedented amount of support from the community this year, with 215 attendants throughout the event. Sisters in Spirit attendants met at Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle at 4:30 and marched up George St to Confederation Park, led by the Wshkiigomang Singers, Janet McCue and Maanii Taylor, who hail from Curve Lake First Nations. Sings quoting statistics on physical and sexual violence against Aboriginal woman and girls, and quoting the UN’s demand of the Canadian government to make this issue a priority and desire to make an inquiry of their own.    

Elder Shirley Williams, Charity Keesic, Dr. Lynn Gehl, Susan Smoke and Elizabeth Stone spoke during the vigil.  These women told stories of harrowing tales of missing and murdered loved ones, the misrepresentation of Aboriginal women in Canadian media, how Non-Aboriginal peoples can stand in support of First Nations and Metis issues, and how that the over 600 missing and murdered Aboriginal women are a Canadian problem, not just an Aboriginal issue.

While the turn out, speakers, and organization of the event where amazing, not everything went according to plan. The city did not turn on power to the park which the vigil was held at, so the sound equipment was useless and our speakers had to talk over wind and car traffic. Everyone attending simply huddled in close, and were able to hear fine. The vigil was closed by the Nogojiwanong Men’s Drum and a petition was set up for attendants to sign afterwards.

Niijkiwendidaa hopes to draw in an even larger crowd for next year’s vigil and march that we will be able to close down the roads for the march and bring more attention from the Peterborough community to the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.    

The Peterborough Sisters in Spirit march and vigil was brought together by the combined efforts of Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle, Curve Lake First Nations, YWCA Peterborough, Victoria & Halibutron and Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre.

For more information on Sisters in Spirit, check out www.nwac.ca.

For statistical information of violence against Aboriginal woman and girls:    http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2011001/article/11439-eng.htm

For information on the reported missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada: http://www.missingnativewomen.org/

Information on the UN inquiry of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls:  http://www.nwac.ca/media/release/13-12-11

Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle: www.niijki.com

Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle Twitter: https://twitter.com/Niijkiwendidaa

YWCA Peterborough, Victoria & Haliburton: http://ywcapeterborough.org/

Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre: http://www.ofifc.org/centres/Nogojiwanong_Friendship_Centre.php