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IQALUIT
When she's not speaking at a National Women's Summit or at a conference on Murdered and Missing Women or travelling to Winnipeg or Ottawa or Iqaluit, Rebecca Kudloo, president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, is at home in Baker Lake with her grandchildren.

Rebecca Kudloo signs a proclamation in Winnipeg, at the beginning of the month, naming Dec. 1 to 5 National Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week. - photo courtesy of Linda Arsenault-Papatsie

Kudloo has worked in education and community-based counselling for over 25 years. In that time, she has witnessed much and lent a sympathetic ear to all types of family violence. She advocates the necessity for for counsellors to work in peoples' mother tongues, because, "when you're dealing with past hurts, it comes out in your language," and has long-championed the importance of building more women's shelters in the North.

"Women are getting killed in their homes. Sometimes they're in an abusive relationship. There's no other way of getting out because of the lack of half-way houses and shelters," she said, explaining her work is ongoing, "unfortunately," because the need is still there.

"We found out there was a need because there were no resources of this kind in the North," she said.

Kudloo sat on the Status of Women Council for nine years before beginning with Pauktuutit last March, then replacing the outgoing president later in the year.

"It's a position I really enjoy doing. It's been a great experience -- a little busy," said the grandmother of three, great-grandmother of one, who said she enjoys being out on the land fishing and hunting.

"If you have a healthy family you can have a better life," she said.

Kudloo was born on the land outside of Iglulik. When she was nine years old she was sent to residential school, then to Churchill and Ottawa to finish high school. Looking back, Kudloo says she sees many positive and encouraging changes in the North.

"Women are getting more involved in politics. We have a lot of great woman leaders," she said. "I think the challenge now is a lack of adequate, affordable daycare -- a lot of women stay at home -- and one other challenge with mining explorations, is the need to get more women in higher-paid positions."

Kudloo hopes to see more female heavy equipment operators, more shelters and more daycares, but there is one thing in particular of which she and Pauktuutit hope to see less of in the North: AIDS. Kudloo signed a proclamation on behalf of Pauktuutit naming Dec. 1 to 5 Canada Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week with the theme: "Zero new infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths."

The week coincided with Pauktuutit's release of an five-dialect Inuktitut terminology booklet for HIV/AIDS and other health issues, which Kudloo hopes will be a "living document" for doctors and patients that doesn't just sit on the shelf.

"Sometimes there are no terms in Inuktitut," she said, explaining the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancy in Nunavut. "We're trying to do more education."

As true in work as life, Kudloo says talking is the most important advice she can give to today's youth.

"I tell my grandchildren if anything is ever bothering them, don't hesitate to talk about it. They can feel more supported."

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