This text is part of the special section Indigenous Development
For millennia, indigenous women have been bearers of knowledge and guardians of the territory. Around 150 of them, from different nations, generations and professions, gathered to discuss and define their future actions, during the Grand Summit organized as part of the 50th anniversary of Native Women of Quebec (FAQ), in the month last May. The organization defends the rights of indigenous women and promotes non-violence, justice, equality and health for all.
“It seemed important to us to come back to our action during the Grand Summit,” says the president of Native Women of Quebec, Marjolaine Étienne. There was a real need to revisit the past while becoming aware of today’s realities in order to determine our action for the future. » This space for listening, exchange and learning made it possible to identify FAQ’s four main priority areas of intervention. These are leadership and governance, culture and identity, territory and climate change as well as socio-economic development.
President since 2021, Mme Étienne firmly believes in the empowerment of indigenous women. She co-created a program specifically dedicated to leadership, with the School of First Nations Leaders at HEC Montréal. “There is still a lot of work to improve the living conditions of indigenous women and highlight their involvement in communities,” she adds. FAQ is an essential player for this, thanks to the wealth of its expertise. »
Marjolaine Étienne is delighted with the growing presence of allies in Quebec society. The discovery of children’s remains around the former Kamloops residential school marked a turning point. “It was very difficult,” she says, “without finding the exact words to describe the emotion she felt. It triggered individual and collective awareness and opened discussion on other issues related to indigenous women. » Today it seems important to promote the successes and achievements of communities. Particularly women, who need role models to dare to take their place.
Environmental struggles
Melissa Mollen Dupuis, Innu author, director, radio host and Indigenous rights activist, is an excellent example. She is known for her involvement in the Idle No More movement, deployed in reaction to the Harper government’s omnibus law C-45, adopted in 2012, and which threatened the protection of water in the territory . “It was the spark that ignited the powder,” she remembers. This triggered my reflection on environmental racism, projects developed on indigenous territories without their free and informed consent. » Idle No More was also led mainly by indigenous women, because protecting water has been one of their responsibilities for millennia.
“At home, when things are going very badly, it’s the mothers and grandmothers who mobilize,” continues Melissa Mollen Dupuis. Historically, women — and particularly grandmothers among the Innu — were central to village cohesion. Their botanical and medicinal knowledge was, moreover, essential. Among the Iroquoians, the oldest and most experienced women—the clan mothers—chose the men who formed the government. Colonial laws made this role disappear, notably transforming the way leaders were selected.
“By getting involved, Indigenous women are taking back a position of leadership that has nothing to do with power or glory, but with the well-being of communities,” adds Melissa Mollen Dupuis. Colonization, racism and sexism have excluded and devalued them for too long. » On May 28, she also participated in a discussion with Abenaki anthropologist Nicole O’Bomsawin, moderated by Widia Larivière, director and co-founder of Mikana, an organization that promotes dialogue between non-Natives and Indigenous people.
Decolonizing minds and science
Before colonization, indigenous communities lived in circularity and harmony with the territory. “Our traditional model understands that the planet has finite resources and the responsibility that this implies, that is to say that we do not have neighbors on Mars to help us out with a cup of sugar,” illustrates Melissa Mollen Dupuis with humor. Re-indigenizing knowledge would benefit everyone, unlike colonialism which favors a specific group. »
This ancestral knowledge must be considered as sciences in its own right, resulting from precise and shared observations. The work of indigenous researchers and knowledge from communities in general tends to be increasingly integrated into Western sciences. The United Nations (UN), in a scientific report, recognized the benefits of indigenous management of protected areas to promote biodiversity and forest health.
Melissa Mollen Dupuis considers it essential to find ways to reconcile knowledge and rethink pyramidal power structures. Through the education of young people and public awareness, she has made it her mission to equip future generations so that her children — and all others — can continue to inhabit “Turtle Island”.
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