Conference helps women on road to wellness

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Ezhi-piitendaagwak Bmaadzawin-precious life-is the theme of this year's Native Women and Wellness Conference East, to be held Nov. 2 to 4 in Collingwood, Ont.

This is the eighth year for the annual conference, and that track record is one of the things that sets this conference apart from many of the others being held to promote healing and wellness.

"In this general area, there's been a lot of wellness or healing conferences or forums or sessions going on, due to the funding from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. But ours is again, this is our eighth year, so it's got that history. You can keep coming back. It's not a one-shot deal sort of thing," explained Lynn Fisher, logistics co-ordinator for the conference.

"We've been dealing with the residential school issues right from the very beginning. That was the reason the conference started. So the residential school issues are woven throughout the conference each year, and speakers are brought in to address those things."

Through attending the conference, Fisher explained, many of the women gain a better understanding of what their mothers or grandmothers went through within the residential schools.

"Many of them are coming away with a heightened awareness around residential schools. And many of them didn't know why their grannies or aunties didn't talk about certain things, or why they acted a certain way. It was never talked about until- many of them say this-until they come to the conference. And then they begin to realize why those relatives acted in the way they did," Fisher said.

While some small changes may be made for this year's conference-more traditional teachings and more drumming has been added-the event will have basically the same format it has had for the past seven years, Fisher said.

The conference will open with a welcome and opening prayers by Lorraine McRae of Mnjikaning First Nation. McRae will also be one of the keynote speakers, along with Billy Rogers who will speak on healthy sexuality, Bea Shawanda, who will speak on the healing powers of mentoring, and Geraldine Meness Robertson, who will speak about residential schools.

Other keynote speakers scheduled to take part include Cecelia Firethunder, who will speak about precious life, Sylvia Maracle who will speak about the clan systems, and Anne Wilson Schaef, author of Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much, and Meditations for People Who (May) Worry Too Much.

A number of workshops are also planned as part of the conference, with Isabelle Measwasigne doing a drum workshop, Leona Jacobs doing a workshop entitled Gathering the Gifts of Women, and Lorraine Liberty Whiteduck giving a workshop on moon lodge teachings, berry fast and grandmother's role. Sharla Peltier is scheduled to offer a workshop on finding your voice, Diane Richmond will run a workshop on surviving breast cancer, Anne Marie Smith will run an anger workshop, and Melanie Baldwin will offer a workshop entitled Embracing Our Children.

Susan Aglukark will also be taking part in the conference, sharing her healing story as well as performing. Shannon Thunderbird will also perform during the festival, and will facilitate a workshop.

Sweat lodges, healing circles, and individual counseling will be available to those in attendance.

The women who come to the Native Women and Wellness Conference East, Fisher said, come from across the country and across age groups. Some come because they are in a healing profession, and some because they are on their own healing journey.

About 500 women-from Ontario, Quebec and the Prairie provinces, as well as from the U.S.-took part in last year's conference.

"I think last year we had 45 First Nations represented and 47 community organizations, and seven tribes from the United States," Fisher said.

"There's a sense of community when people come. So even though they're coming from all over, it's like a small community when they get there."

Many of the women who attend the conference reurn year after year.

"And we have a lot of women coming from different communities. One community, I think there was 35 women last year. That's almost the entire community. So you get pockets of communities where they are a little further along on their healing path, and larger groups of women are coming from those communities," she said.

"Many of the women come from very, very small communities, where there may not be a healing and wellness co-ordinator, or the community is so small they feel uncomfortable talking about a lot of the things. So they come and talk to our counselors at our conference, and take that knowledge back home to their own communities, and in some cases set up their own healing and wellness initiative in their communities."

Fisher said work has begun to use the conference Web site to create a way for the people attending the conference to continue their discussions with the counselors and Elders after the conference is over, and throughout the year. Right now, that continued interaction is being done by telephone, but Fisher said in the future the discussions would likely use more modern technology, possibly even an Internet chat room.

For more information call 705-725-0790, e-mail Lynn Fisher at fisher@bconnex.net, or visit the conference Web site at www.banac.on.ca/womenandwellness/.