Indigenous Women Rize | Community Curriculum and Development Plan

• Main Author: Twiss, Sara
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: UNM Digital Repository 2019
• Subjects: Canada; First Nations; inuit
• Online Access: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/skc/2019/posters/47; https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1260&context=skc

The Indigenous Women Rize (IWR) project is a workshop series created for self-identified Indigenous young women from ages 17 and up, as this is an important time when they begin exploring respect they have for themselves, their relationships with their families/kinships (siblings, cousins, and peers), and their romantic relations as they leave high school and transition into college, or into the workforce. The major topics and overviews are conducted through four separate days, where main points transition kindly for the Indigenous women to grow and flourish with knowledge. They address specific actions and practices that are both contemporary and traditional knowledge pertaining to important relations. Overall, the main purpose of the IWR workshop is to address one of the leading issues for Indigenous women and girls across the United States and Canada, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) campaign is becoming more noticeable with recent Indigenous women being elected into Congress and political positions of power. Along with the #MeToo movement, young women of color are coming forward and being heard more than ever before in history, thanks to social media outlets and political platforms that give them a voice. However, mass media and other publications unintentionally are focusing these women as sex workers, runaways, substance abusers, and unsheltered individuals. This type of culture places the blame back on the women. This begs the question of how can communities refuse a damaged narrative that are placed upon them? By carrying out the practices given in this four-day series workshop, we can create and develop community-based planning actions and practices that empower women to protect themselves and their sisters through learning the importance of their lives.