Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 20/99) - The Status of Women Council of the NWT's five board members met in Yellowknife last week to outline the successes and challenges they're facing in their communities.

Fort Providence family life counsellor Harriet Geddes is a council board member. She said her community is getting better at addressing the root causes of social problems -- but admitted they still have a long way to go.

"When you think about building healthy lifestyles for the younger generations to come, family violence issues are one of the first things that have to be addressed," said Geddes.

"If we can reduce the incidents of family violence, our young people will be healthier and our community will be healthier."

Geddes works closely with the RCMP and nursing station attendants to make sure there are safe places for the community's women and children to go.

"In the past, social problems were hidden, but now women are reaching out for help and talking about them -- which makes it easier on the helping agencies to provide as much assistance as they can," said Geddes.

Board member Bernadette Lockhart is a Dene band counsellor in Lutsel K'e. She said protecting the environment is one of the keys to ensuring the long-term health of their community.

She said they're doing a lot of work with land, environment, and social/economic issues.

"We sew our clothes from the animals and use the local water for everything, from washing to drinking," said Lockhart.

"The women in our community recognize that our wellness as a Dene people depends on having a pristine environment around us. We are still very much a traditional people in Lutsel K'e."

Canadian Identity and Cultural Development program officer Doris Toeg spoke to the board members about how important maintaining communication between the communities is.

"We're always busy trying to ensure aboriginal women can maintain their national representative organizations while maintaining their relationships with each other," said Toeg.

"I think the greatest achievements have been in education. Aboriginal women know the issues in their communities and they have the skills to develop projects to address those issues."

Toeg's program is supported federally by Canadian Heritage. She said by making funding available to aboriginal women, they're raising awareness about social issues throughout the North.

"Native women are the backbone of every community and they're the ones tackling the tough social issues such as family violence, economic and social justice issues," said Toeg.

"This work is rewarding because I've seen many aboriginal women go on to bigger and better things -- even to the national level. That started in the NWT with them being involved at the community and territorial level in projects that Canadian Heritage sponsors."