Family Violence Initiative

COMPENDIUM OF PROMISING PRACTICES TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AND INCREASE SAFETY OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN IN CANADA

HISTORICAL LEGACY

Healing and Renewal of Family Roles and Responsibilities

Program Name:

Auntie Blanche's Iskwewak Program: Strengthening the Inner Family

Organization/Community:

CHG Research & Policy Institute Inc

Location:

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Website:

www.chginstitute.ca

Goals and Objectives:

To be a personal development tool based on an inner family model. The idea is that individual Aboriginal women would be able to use those tools to examine the challenges of their lives.

Target Group Description:

Aboriginal women who are mothers, and Aboriginal women.

Program Description:

The program was intended to provide Aboriginal women with a conceptual model in understanding where and when violence happens in their lives and their reactions to that violence. One major component of the program is the inner family model. It examines how women have internalized the trauma and violence of the residential school experience. The second component is to reconnect Aboriginal women with the Cree Tipi Teachings in order to reconnect to the strengths, roles, and responsibilities of Aboriginal women in a healthy way, reducing their vulnerability to violence and abuse. The program allows different directions to be explored such as Indigenous language acquisition, artistic expression, traditional women's ceremonies, and other crafts such as powwow regalia making.

Program Successes/Impact:

The main accomplishment is the reporting that participants were using the tools for themselves and their families on a personal and daily basis that has improved their lives.

Key Lessons/Challenges:

Because clients were mothers in an urban setting, it was very difficult to have a structured time to get together.

Program in operation since:

2010.

Program:

Ceased Operation.