Funding Provided for Violence Prevention Work
in Aboriginal Communities in Newfoundland and Labrador

Ten new projects to address violence against Aboriginal women and children will receive funding of approximately $178,000 through the Aboriginal Women’s Violence Prevention Grants Program, which is provided under the Provincial Government’s Violence Prevention Initiative. This brings the total number of projects over the last seven years to 72.

“The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador remains committed to preventing violence in our Aboriginal communities,” said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women and Lead Minister for the Violence Prevention Initiative. “Tremendous work is being done at the community level and through our annual grants program, we can continue to work together to make a difference in the lives of Aboriginal women and children.”

Grants are awarded based on criteria developed from needs identified by Aboriginal women at the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women’s Summit in 2007, along with other annual women’s conferences. These criteria include a focus on violence prevention action plans, public awareness and education materials or activities, healing programs, improved programs and services at shelters for Aboriginal women, the development of Aboriginal women’s leadership, economic or educational capacity, and the improved cultural strength of Aboriginal communities.

“These initiatives will help Aboriginal women take action to help eliminate all forms of violence against women and children in their communities,” said the Honourable Nick McGrath, Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs. “I am very pleased to see that so many Aboriginal groups will benefit from the funding provided to these 10 programs.”

The Violence Prevention Initiative is a six-year, multi-departmental, government-community partnership to find long-term solutions to violence against those most at risk. The initiative involves 11 government departments and agencies and over 30 community partners including a Community Advisory Committee and 10 Regional Coordinating Committees Against Violence. For more information about the Violence Prevention Initiative, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/vpi. 

Budget 2011 Standing Strong: For Prosperity. For Our Future. For Newfoundland and Labrador affirms the Provincial Government’s funding commitment with over $1 million new investments in women and family violence prevention programs and initiatives.

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BACKGROUNDER
Aboriginal Women’s Violence Prevention Grants 2011

St. John’s Native Friendship Centre
End the Violence, Start the Healing
This is a culturally-focused, holistic, experimental project centered on Aboriginal women contributing to female empowerment by working together using traditional practices in a positive environment. It is designed to bring women together using mother earth as the classroom, bridging the gap between modern day-to-day activities and traditional Aboriginal healings. The project will operate with four primary directives: (1) to enhance public awareness of violence against Aboriginal women; (2) to provide healing programs for Aboriginal women; (3) to develop stronger leadership, economic well-being and artistic skills amongst Aboriginal women; and (4) to support the transmission of cultural knowledge.
Grant awarded: $30,000

NunatuKavut Community Council
NunatuKavut Full Circle Youth Conference
NunatuKavut Community Council is proposing to host a three-day workshop for participants from central and southern Labrador for 20-30 youth participants during February 2012, which is Violence Prevention Month. The workshop will take place in southern Labrador and include day and evening sessions, some of which will be open to all members of the community. A facilitator, with a background in teaching and career counselling, will be contracted to lead the workshops. Sessions will focus on empowerment/self-esteem, team building, group or individual hypnotherapy, career development, and entrepreneurial strategies.
Grant awarded: $30,000

Flat Bay Mi’kmaq Band
Lunskwak Sekwa’t (Native Women Rise the Sun and Moon)
The Flat Bay Band has formed a five member Mi’kmaq Women’s Violence Prevention steering group: Lunskwak Sekwa’t. These women were trained in violence prevention facilitation through an initiative with the Newfoundland Aboriginal Women’s Network. In July 2010, the group completed Phase One under the Virtual Violence Prevention Initiative project, which was a comprehensive website to expand, exchange and provide traditional expertise and resources across the entire Flat Bay Band membership. The group will be moving forward with Phase Two by focusing on engaging youth in discussions, reflections and expressions of violence issues among Aboriginal women and children and on stimulating a no tolerance, preventative mind-set that is open to a vast Aboriginal and public audience. This will be accomplished by: (1) hosting 12 youth focus sessions; (2) initiating and monitoring discussions between youth on the web forum page to encourage Mi’kmaq youth nationally to contribute to the site; and (3) hosting a Completion Ceremony reflecting on violence and prevention issues, delivering a public launch of the website and hosting a community radio event featuring the project, achievements and stimulating more discussion on the topic.
Grant awarded: $30,000

Sheshatshiu Innu Band Council
Aboriginal Women’s Violence Workshop
This project aims to bring four young women in Sheshatshiu together for a conference held in Montreal by the Quebec/Labrador Native Women’s Organization. The women will benefit from the conference by becoming aware of issues surrounding violence against women as well as learning how to avoid violent and abusive relationships.
Grant awarded: $10,000

Innu Ishkueut Healing Journey
This is a gathering for women in Natuashish that will occur in the country or bush. Each year in the community incidents of violence against women continue to increase and women are beginning to report these to the police. The retreat enables women to learn about violence prevention issues together.
Grant awarded: $20,000

Nunatsiavut Government
Wenlido Self Defence Training
Wenlido E.A.S.T. is a program that was developed in British Columbia and stands for Empowerment, Assertiveness, and Self-defence Training. The program was created by women and designed for women of any age. Through this project, trained facilitators in Happy Valley-Goose Bay will be contracted to offer the training to Aboriginal women in the Nunatsiavut communities of Makkovik and Hopedale.
Grant awarded: $8,524

Respect Women Poster Campaign
This initiative is to create public awareness and education materials by creating posters focused on respecting women. Using the example of the “I Am a Kind Man” campaign to engage Aboriginal men and youth in understanding violence against women and joining them in ending the violence, the Status of Women coordinator will work with the Nunatsiavut Government’s Resource Centre to develop similar posters with an Inuit perspective. The aim of this project is through the poster campaign, men will acknowledge their responsibility in ending violence against women. The posters will send the message that men of all ages should respect women and may encourage men to speak out against violence against women. Young men may also see these posters and realize that respecting women is the right thing to do.
Grant awarded: $1,362

AnanauKatiget Tumingit
Traditional Craft Project
The project will provide a safe and supportive atmosphere that will allow Inuit women to continue participating in the traditional activity of craft making. As a result, participants with have the opportunity to develop their knowledge base to become major strengths in their communities. In addition, the project will build on social networks and community leadership to better address issues of violence that affect women, their families and communities as a whole. This project will provide a venue for women to feel comfortable talking about abuse from an historical and community context, which will lead to building trust in each other in order to talk about the different types of abuse, its indicators, and its impacts on the lives of Inuit women and children. Women in attendance will get to keep their finished products and be able to sell to their local craft shops.
Grant awarded: $15,240

Promotion
The goal of this project is to create a magnet for communities with emergency phone numbers and contact information. The magnet will include the AnanauKatiget Tumingit’s logo as well as uplifting messages of hope. The magnets will be based on community residents who have agreed to be part of the support system. For example, a magnet might say, “If you need a hug today, call Linda at…”. The magnets will be distributed to households in order to provide support for those in need. It is hoped that members of the local women’s group will participate in the project.
Grant awarded: $5,000

Newfoundland Aboriginal Women’s Network
Following in our Grandmothers Footprints: Realizing Our Leadership Potential
The overall goal of this multi-phase project is to build capacity in the local Aboriginal women’s associations and communities, as well as to build participant’s leadership skills. The project also aims to encourage better partnerships and understandings between Aboriginal women throughout the province and local service providers. Funding for Phase I will be used to develop a project logic model and evaluation plan, and to research and develop 16 culturally-based modules that will form a toolkit to be delivered in Phase II and III of the overall project.
Grant awarded: $27,797

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