Honouring Indigenous Women
"Let us celebrate that we, as Aboriginal women, have been able to live on into the next millennium,
due to the perseverance of our Grandmothers. They understood and accepted consequences, and still continued to pass on
traditions to ensure the future of our birth rights and culture."
– Catherine McCarty, Ojibway of Nipissing First Nation
due to the perseverance of our Grandmothers. They understood and accepted consequences, and still continued to pass on
traditions to ensure the future of our birth rights and culture."
– Catherine McCarty, Ojibway of Nipissing First Nation

In the systems of governance of many Indigenous nations, women are highly respected for their roles and responsibilities for the continuation of the strong cultural foundation of their nations. Like Mother Earth, they are life givers, teachers and nurturers. Since the time when their social structures and governance systems were and continue to be disrupted by colonialism - such as the Indian Residential School System & the Indian Act - violence against Indigenous women has become an epidemic that were not seen before by their Native ancestors. Colonialism comes with Racism, Sexism and Classism. Currently, it is estimated that more than 602 Aboriginal women have been missing and/or murdered in the past 40 years. The actual number can be a lot higher as many cases were not reported or due to the reluctance of the RCMP or local police to document their distinct social locations in these missing and/or murdered cases.
Inspired by the determination of Indigenous women to seek justice for their missing and/or murdered love ones, their tireless activism to heal, educate and resist the multidimensional colonial violence, and their resilience rooted in their distinct culture to improve the well-being of their people, we wanted to create a space not only to shine more light of the impacts of violence experienced by Native women and their strengths to counter that violence, but also to challenge the negative stereotypes of our Native sisters imposed and entrenched in our society.
Inspired by the determination of Indigenous women to seek justice for their missing and/or murdered love ones, their tireless activism to heal, educate and resist the multidimensional colonial violence, and their resilience rooted in their distinct culture to improve the well-being of their people, we wanted to create a space not only to shine more light of the impacts of violence experienced by Native women and their strengths to counter that violence, but also to challenge the negative stereotypes of our Native sisters imposed and entrenched in our society.

Therefore, we initiated Honouring Indigenous Women campaign, a place that centers Indigenous women’s voices while offering a complimentary space to allies and alliances. We beleive that through re-presentation of Indigenous women by Indigenous women, we can move steps forward in our process and quest for decolonization.
Under this campaign banner, we have produced 2 publications: Hearts of Nations - Vol. 1 (2011) & Vol. 2 (2012). Both are available online and in print, and can be accessed through our web site. We welcome you to download or order them, read and pass them on so as many people as possible can also learn their truth - the sound of their heart. And let it be our guide and inspiration to our collective social actions in order to transform our relationships with Native women and Mother Earth.
Under this campaign banner, we have produced 2 publications: Hearts of Nations - Vol. 1 (2011) & Vol. 2 (2012). Both are available online and in print, and can be accessed through our web site. We welcome you to download or order them, read and pass them on so as many people as possible can also learn their truth - the sound of their heart. And let it be our guide and inspiration to our collective social actions in order to transform our relationships with Native women and Mother Earth.
We will commence our work for the next volume in 2014. Stay tuned!
Right now, we are working hard to promote and fundraise for the Vol. 2 of the publication that just went for print this summer.
If you have ideas for collaboration please talk to us via [email protected].
We would love to hear from you!
Right now, we are working hard to promote and fundraise for the Vol. 2 of the publication that just went for print this summer.
If you have ideas for collaboration please talk to us via [email protected].
We would love to hear from you!
“Representation of indigenous peoples by indigenous people is about countering the dominant society’s image of indigenous peoples, their lifestyles and belief systems. It is also about proposing solutions to the real-life dilemmas that indigenous communities confront, and trying to capture the complexities of being indigenous.”
- Linda Tuhiwai Smith in Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples 2nd Edition
- Linda Tuhiwai Smith in Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples 2nd Edition