Dez Loreen
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 26/05) - Sept. 15 was a day for people across the North to unite against family violence.

In different communities across the Territories, people marched the streets chanting against abuse and other forms of violence.

For the people in Rae-Edzo, family violence is something that has to stop.

"We need a safe community for the children and families," said event co-ordinator Nora Wedzin-Quitte.

The social services office in Rae organized the event, and has done so for the last three years.

Every year, during the march a banner is raised.

The same banner has been used for the three years, and participants sign it to mark their contribution.

"The banner is full of signatures, I don't know if we'll need a new one or what," said Quitte.

By the end of the Rae-Edzo march, the number of participants grew to almost 200 people. "It was a great turn-out," said Rae-Edzo chief Leon Lafferty. "It's always good to see community involvement."

Included in the event, were elder prayers and a presentation about the walk's history in the North.

After the presentations were made, a moment of silence was held as a reminder of the women who have died because of family violence.

People in Paulatuk also came out to show their support of a non-violent community.

"I was very pleased with our turn-out," said co-ordinator Jo-Anne Packham.

"We had about 90 people out on the street chanting."

Most of the crowd was made up of couples and families who wished to voice their concern over violence.

The Paulatuk event also featured presentations about abuse.

The local radio station was taken over so that the event could be broadcast.

"We had some radio skits played by some local people. There were skits about abuse, and using unnecessary violence," said Packham.

The event brought out many elders, and the family violence committee gave an encouraging message about controlling violence.

In other communities around the North, the events were either postponed, or cancelled.

In Tuktoyaktuk, the event was held off until the first week in October, for Family Violence Week.

Hay River also ran into some troubles co-ordinating the activities and didn't have enough volunteers. Its march was cancelled.

The march in Inuvik was a success, with an estimated 40 participants, according to volunteer Yoenne Ewald.

"It was a good time, and I'm happy with the number of people who came out," said Ewald.