2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...

Testimony has revealed the strong determination of Aboriginal women to be fully
involved in the negotiation and development of self-government in their communities and
nations. Only if this happens can they ensure that their families are healthy and secure,
living in an environment where the primary values are inclusiveness, fairness and respect:
We believe that, because it has to be a community-upward process to develop selfgovernment,
we have to make sure that the elders, our grandmothers and our
grandfathers, the women, the young people in the community, are brought in to
talk….They have to come and talk about what they feel their future is in the framework
of self-government….I want to get rid of the division and the derision in the communities
and start opening up those lines of communication right at the community level.
Marlene Pierre
Ontario Native Women's Association
Thunder Bay, Ontario, 27 October 1992
We must have faith in the ability of our nations to control our destiny. An Aboriginal
government must be responsible. Every form of government is judged on how its people
are treated. Assuming control of a band's membership is the first step toward political
autonomy. To become a people who govern themselves, we must co-operate in
developing institutions in our communities, with the participation of all our members. We
must not repeat the injustices suffered by many of our members under the Indian Act. We
must be a model of a more equitable system. [translation]
Mèrilda St. Onge
Women of the Montagnais Nation
Sept-ëles, Quebec, 19 November 1992
Many Aboriginal societies were more egalitarian before contact than they are today.
Women had important roles in the social, economic and political life of their community.
They were the wisdom-keepers. They selected chiefs. They taught their children about
the nature and qualities of a leader. They were responsible for resolving internal disputes
and healing their communities. Aboriginal women continue to feel strongly about their
place in Aboriginal society in the future.
Their responsibilities stretch all the way from cradle to grave. Our women are the
mothers, the providers, the wife, the decision maker, community leader; and these many
roles require them to keep a careful balance.
Rita Arey
President, N.w.T. Status of Women
Inuvik, Northwest Territories, 6 May 1992
In assuming these responsibilities as well as meeting the challenges of implementing selfgovernment,
contemporary Aboriginal women continue to struggle to establish a role for
themselves. The family-based consensus process once used in many First Nations
communities has been displaced by majority-based electoral systems that have altered the
roles of women, elders and other members of the community. These electoral systems
have shattered consensus, alienated the community from decision making, and bred
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