The first phase of a three-part program series designed for Indigenous women living in the Okanagan is scheduled to begin on April 8.
The free initiative aims to strengthen the participants乌鸦传媒� Syilx-woman identities, voices and their relationship to the land.
Until Sept. 9, IndigenEYEZ will host 12 乌鸦传媒淩e-Centering Women Through 13 Moons乌鸦传媒� sessions 乌鸦传媒� six online and six on the land. Each land-based session will see 10 women aged 14 and older attend, while an unlimited number of people are invited to participate in the online sessions.
乌鸦传媒淏ecause of the reality of the impacts of colonization and residential schools, the multigenerational trauma, the dislocation from our traditional roles and dislocation from land 乌鸦传媒� all those impacts have been most severe on Indigenous women,乌鸦传媒� said Kelly Terbasket, co-founder and program director at IndigenEYEZ.
Terbasket, who is facilitating the four-hour-long land-based sessions alongside Anona Kampe, said that to strengthen Indigenous women is to strengthen Indigenous capacity.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e reigniting; we乌鸦传媒檙e strengthening the relationship with all our relationships. How do you do that? You have to get away from your everyday busy lives, get on the land, be still and silent, listen and feel,乌鸦传媒� said Terbasket.
The in-person sessions will include a pictograph hike near Skaha Lake, where Kampe will share her knowledge of landmarks, plants and medicines and Terbasket will lead interactive land-based activities.
乌鸦传媒淣ot everybody knows our landmarks. We picked those ones to make sure that our own people know our landmarks, that we乌鸦传媒檙e part of protecting them and making sure that there乌鸦传媒檚 no further deterioration or disruption,乌鸦传媒� said Terbasket.
Many of the discussions out on the land, she continued, will revolve around healing, renewing and transformation. Discourse also includes exploring how colonization has impacted the traditional roles of Indigenous women.
She emphasized that the program乌鸦传媒檚 definition of women is inclusive 乌鸦传媒� those who are Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, transgender or non-binary are invited to participate.
The six online sessions each have their own target audience: there乌鸦传媒檚 an interactive workshop for youth and adults who are part of the LGBTQ2S+ community. There乌鸦传媒檚 also a session on lullabies and stories in Nsyilxcen for women with babies and toddlers and a Nsyilxcen digital art lesson for youth.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e strengthening our relationships across the ages, across the youth with the Elders,乌鸦传媒� said Terbasket. 乌鸦传媒淎 lot of those relationships have been disrupted, which is really detrimental to language and culture transfer.乌鸦传媒�
With phase two scheduled to occur on Sept. 23, she said that she hopes participants of the first phase walk away with a feeling of strengthened connection of themselves to each other and the land.
乌鸦传媒淏ecause of colonization, we have an imbalance of leadership. We乌鸦传媒檙e mostly hearing from one part of our community, which is men and certain age brackets,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淲e really need to go back to our traditional models of governance, which is inclusive of feminine, masculine, youth and Elders.乌鸦传媒�
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aaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
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