Aboriginal - Girls Action Foundation

the ‘sixties scoop,’ along with many others.
Families were torn apart, human rights were abused, identities were stolen – but the
spirit, the spirit could not be broken.
So, where are OUR women?
We are empowered, empowered to make change, to be leaders in this globalizing world.
Our pain and our suffering makes us stronger, makes us who are. We reach out to our
sisters who have lost the spirit, we rekindle the flame, restore the woman’s place in
society.
Aboriginal women across the country joining together to fight for a common goal, this is
leadership.
It takes one person to start a revolution, but it takes many followers to make it successful.
When we, as Aboriginal women, and all women in general, stand together, there is great
potential for success. Joining as one, our voices are stronger when we speak together,
and we have much to say.
Our Aboriginal sisters are in trouble – with high rates of alcohol and drug use,
incarcerations, poverty, suicides, prostitution, family violence… these are the resulting
effects of colonialism, this is how our sisters live.
Together, we can make answers; make solutions. Together, we can help other sisters of
the world who are dealing with similar tragedies. Together, we are leadership and change.
Leadership, for me as an Aboriginal woman, is about togetherness.
If we didn’t work together, great strides in Canadian history wouldn’t have been made –
look at the feminist movement – we now have the right to vote, the right to work where
we want, the right of equality under the law, the right to marry whom we please and the
right to refuse sex. While Canada still has room for improvement, the fact is, we still have
success, which can be directly attributed to the fact of togetherness – fighting together
for our rights as women.
Hayley Moody
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