Four decades ago, there wasn’t a voice for Aboriginal women.
It wasn’t until the Ontario Native Women’s Association formed around 1971 that Dorothy Wynne said they found their voice.
The 77-year-old official joined ONWA about 31 years ago but she’s had always been involved in some capacity since the group formed in the 70s. She helped at the grassroots level in Moosonee, Ont. and tried to address issues of social justice and rights for Aboriginal women.
Often these meetings between members would be around a kitchen table but over the years, the group grew into something far larger.
Because of that growth, she said Aboriginal women now have a voice.
“A lot of issues have been resolved. We’ve come a long way. I’m really proud to be a part of Ontario Native Women’s Association,” Wynne said. “Pre-ONWA there were a lot of issues to address but where do you go? We didn’t have the officials. We didn’t have an advocate in Moosonee. A lot of things have changed now. We have doctors coming in, medical and interpretive services. They weren’t always there. We also have the child and welfare coming into our community.”
Wynne attended the ONWA general meeting and helped to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organization at the Valhalla Inn on Saturday. The three-day meeting, which started on Friday, had more than a hundred dignitaries, observers and board members in attendance.
ONWA president Dawn Harvard said the group had come a long way. From humble begins with meetings being held around kitchen tables to a new building in Thunder Bay, Harvard said it was amazing to see the progress they have made.
But there were still challenges ahead. Violence against Aboriginal women as well as sexism and racism remained a top issue that needed to be addressed and particularly a solution with missing women, she said.
“If you aren’t safe, if you aren’t protected how can you be self-sustaining and be functioning in the other areas of life – employment, education, training,” Harvard said. “All those kinds of things that you need to do to be able to provide for your family. If we don’t have that safety then we don’t have that opportunity to build in the other areas of our lives.”
She said most Aboriginal women with children are single parents and often they chose to go back to school and get a better education. There’s a much higher enrollment of Aboriginal women than there are of Aboriginal men.
Harvard said the reason for that is that women just want to make sure their children have a better life.
“Unlike non-Aboriginal women who being a single mother is often a deterrent to pursue higher education but because (Aboriginal women) realized that to provide for their families they have to have that higher education,” she said. “There isn’t the same opportunity for an Aboriginal woman that only has her high school diploma and much less for a high school dropout to be able to earn a living.
“Without a post-secondary education, the kinds of job opportunities for our women especially in the northern areas are often dangerous and there’s a lack of personal safety. They need that education to be safe and provide for their families.”
