New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council

Lakehead University’s Reconcili-action talk

Looking Out For Each Other - Action towards Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2S+


Lakehead University’s Reconcili-action talk: Looking Out For Each Other – Action Towards Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2S+ with Dean Hughes, Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, and Michelle Perley, LOFEO Project Manager.

It is important to find ways to commemorate the women, girls and 2S+ people who have gone missing and have been murdered, and know their stories. Learning from them and from their communities will also help us learn what we need to do to end the violence against them. In this presentation, Michelle Perley and Jula Hughes will introduce the Looking Out For Each Other project that established a helpline and is supporting the families and friends of missing Indigenous people in Eastern Canada. We will discuss what families and friends need when a loved one goes missing, how we can support them, and how putting the right support systems and information access in place can improve outcomes. The time to end the violence is now. 

 

Looking Out For Each Other Project Art Expression

Local Wolastoq artist Susan Sacobie created a piece of art to represent the Looking Out For Each Other project. She says:“This painting is for the missing and murdered Wolastoqiyik & Mi’kmak women that were almost forgotten. The five women in this piece represent knowledge, faith, wisdom, justice and peace. They are wearing our traditional peaked hats decorated with the double curve motifs. The wampum belt on the bottom is our promise to each woman that their lives will be remembered, celebrated, honoured. The wampum belt is also a promise to each Native woman that we have to rebuild our matriarchal standing within each of our families & communities. We must humble ourselves and learn and teach one another about who we are, where we come from and to not be silent and share our individual stories so we can empower our sisters, stay connected and strong and in turn we keep our families and communities strong. Their connecting shields are protecting us and reminding each of us that it is an obligation and a privilege to guard one another because we are all connected.  As mothers and daughters, the living as well as the women who crossed the rainbow bridge we have to tell ourselves and each other our lives matter, we are important and we have to love and respect each other unconditionally and stand together.” These words and the voices of Indigenous women will continue to guide the project.

The Team

Barry Labillois
NBAPC President & Chief
Dr. Elizabeth Blaney
MMIWG Senior Advisor, CAP
Dr. Jula Hughes
Principal Investigator
Dr. Karen Pearlston
Co-Principal Investigator
Michelle Perley
Project Manager
Della Brown
Project Elder

The research is supported by:

Community outreach is supported by:

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