NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Annie Gordon has seen what happens to some Aklavik elders when pension day comes. Relatives not seen in weeks are suddenly on their doorsteps.

Annie Jane Modeste and Irene Kendo look over material from the It's Not Right! Neighbours, Friends and Families during a meeting in Inuvik in November, 2016. The program was translated into Gwich'in and ten women are being trained to deliver the program in their home communities. - photo courtesy of Barb Hood

"I hear it, I see it," Gordon said. "I see what's going on, not only our own Gwich'in people but other elders around us."

Gordon is one of ten Gwich'in speaking women participation in a program training older adults to support their counterparts suffering abuse.

The Gwich'in Translation Revitalization project is translating the University of Western Ontario's senior abuse prevention program, titled It's Not Right! Neighbours, Friends and Families, into Gwich'in.

The goal is to train older Gwich'in speakers to provide information in their communities in their own language, said Barb Hood, executive director of the NWT Seniors' Society.

"The idea was that older adults who knew the language would then be able to learn the presentation and would then be able to give it to other older adults, service providers and general public, including the youth," she said. "The goal was that they would be able to use their own language to teach about this topic, abuse of older adults."

The group is using the term abuse of older adults in place of the more recognizable term elder abuse, Hood said.

"We use the term abuse of older adults rather than the southern term of elder abuse because it has a connotation here that it's only aboriginal elders who are abused, which of course is not true at all," she said. "We've adopted the term abuse of older adults because we know all older adults can be impacted by abuse."

A 2014 survey conducted by the society found that 70 per cent of seniors believed abuse was a problem in their community. Fifty per cent of those said they were unsure about where to go for help.

The survey was targeted at older adults, service providers and the public in 15 communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

Financial abuse and neglect were identified as the two most prevalent forms of senior abuse in the territory.

"Financial abuse is the most common abuse in the territories and worldwide," Hood said.

But Gordon pointed out that even when they know where to go for help, many older adults choose to stay silent. Because the abuse is often committed by a family member, it can be extremely difficult for older people to report.

"They say, 'I don't want to hurt them, I don't want to say anything, just let them be'," Gordon said. "They don't want to hurt our younger generation, but our younger generation is hurting them so much."

Others are afraid of the repercussions.

"It's really hard for our elders to really talk about what's happened to them because they're too scared," Gordon said. "They're too scared to report anything."

Hood agreed. In some cases, the abuse is being carried out by children and grandchildren living with their older relatives.

"The dynamics around this, you can probably realize, are pretty significant," Hood said.

Language is power

Translating the It's Not Right program into an indigenous language is a way to empower those in abusive situations, said Ann Firth-Jones, president of the NWT Seniors' Society.

"I said you know, it would be more effective if this material was in Gwich'in, if we could find some older adults that would deliver in Gwich'in," she said. "It would be more productive, the information would be done in their language and in their own environment, in their communities."

Working with the Gwich'in Language Centre, the group translated the program and trained 10 women during a workshop in Inuvik in November, 2016.

Sarah Jerome, former languages commissioner, is the project lead.

Now that the material is available in Gwich'in, it could be adapted to any language and culture in the territory, said Hood.

"The potential is there that every language could take this material, could translate it, could adapt it in whatever way suits their culture and their community and provide the support," she said.

Support is the key word, she added. The training recognizes that in many cases, the older person will choose not to report the abuse.

"It's supporting from the heart, asking someone, 'are you okay? Can I help?' and then just waiting for the response and helping someone if they want to. Or if they don't want help, then just being there to support them," she said. "So its walking with, being with an older adult more than taking over and encouraging or forcing them to do something that they really don't want to do."

The group plans to meet in Inuvik again this spring to discuss ways to move the project forward.

The original plan involved having participants perform workshops in their home communities, but Hood said the meeting in the spring will help determine whether that's the best format for delivering information.

Ideally, Firth-Jones said the meeting will allow participants to practice what they've learned and focus on the skills they'll need to facilitate the program. In addition to practical training, the program is also teaching life skills participants can apply to other areas, such as learning how to conduct interviews.

"They can practice, then take it home," Firth-Jones said.

The federal government's New Horizons for Seniors - Community Engagement Program provided funding for the project, with support from the the Gwich'in Tribal Council, Inuvik's Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre, the NWT Seniors' Society and the community of Inuvik.

The project is scheduled to be complete in March and the group will compile a report. After that, Hood said the society will provide ongoing support to program facilitators.

Firth-Jones said she hopes the program will help older adults in abusive situations feel less isolated.

"There are people in their community that speak their language that are there for support," she said. "You're not alone."