Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Connecting Indigenous and Pacific Peoples

Pacific Peoples’ Partnership Featured Partner: Royal Bank of Canada

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The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has recently provided a generous environmental donation of $20,000 to Pacific Peoples’ Partnership (PPP). PPP is thrilled to partner with RBC in moving towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.

 In 2017, RBC achieved one of their most ambitious commitments ever: the RBC Blue Water Project. This is a 10-year global charitable commitment of $50 million to help provide access to drinkable, swimmable, fishable water, now and for future generations. As they look towards the future, RBC will continue to support water initiatives, and expand their focus to include climate action and support organizations like PPP.

PPP’s Climate Action Program for Indigenous Youth is being piloted in the summer of 2019 in the Victoria Capital Regional District in partnership with ECO Canada and RBC. This pilot will be delivered as a 4-day workshop with climate action curriculum for 15 Indigenous youth. If you would like to get involved and/or apply to attend, please email info@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org or Rachel Wang rachel@evoke-creatives.com. A full update about the workshop will appear in the next edition of our newsletter.   

Among other valuable legacies, this Climate Action Program for Indigenous Youth will provide a foundation and input for the 2020 RedTide: International Indigenous Climate Action Summit & Youth Conference being co-hosted by PPP on Vancouver Island.

Pasifik Current News – May 2019 Edition PPP Updates!

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Aloha, Friends!

Recently Mua (Muavae) Va’a President of PPP and I went to an inspiring talk organized by our partners at CIRCLE that featured Dr. Noenoe Silva & Dr. Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua.  Both women are highly respected Hawaiian scholars and were presenting on the efforts of several Hawaiian women, all heroes who fought to keep their languages, cultures, teachings and lands intact for the generations to come.

PPP Board President Mua Va’a, April Ingham (ED – PPP), along with Lisa Kahaleole Hall (Program Director, Indigenous Studies at UVic), Dr. Noenoe Silva, CIRCLE Director & PPP Board Member Jeff Corntassel, and Dr. Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua.

Noelani was reading from a book she edited entitled Nā Wāhine Koa: Hawaiian Women for Sovereignty and Demilitarization about four of these women.  Following the presentation, an audience member asked about the effects of tourism on the Polynesian peoples within Hawaii. This led to a spirited discussion around greed and globalization.  The question: well, what can we do about this… was beautifully addressed by a quote Noelani shared from this book:  

“We gotta fight.  Why do we have to fight every bloody day?  Every fricken day, we need to fight and fight and fight, just to keep our place in this world today.  I see this, and then I look at our children. They’re so far away from us. Their culture, their thinking, their attitudes. We got to fight.” — Maxine Kahaulelio.

This past few months have been ones of much reflection and celebration on the power of women and the importance of solidarity to hold up these courageous warriors, fierce mothers, peace makers, and all who strive to make a difference in their families and world.  Pacific Peoples Partnership (PPP) has been honoured to host several programs this spring featuring such women changemakers.   

Baby turtle works of art made from fishing net marine debris.

For International Women’s Day this past March, PPP hosted a luncheon, Artist talk and mini-workshop featuring visiting Australian Erub Arts Group Artist Florence Gutchen (Torres Strait) and Australian Arts Administrator Lynette Griffiths.  It was incredible to spend time with them both and learn about how this women’s collective transforms fishing net marine debris that litters their shorelines, into works of art that portray ocean creatures, while educating about the impacts of global consumerism, food security and our collective waste.  It was an immersive experience to learn from them as I created my very own sea turtle from fishing nets, some of which were collected off our northern Pacific coastlines.  Please visit a full background article on the art initiative of the Erub Arts Group from our March 2019 issue of Pasifik Currents.

PPP is truly fortunate to be working in support of women in Papua New Guinea who work in the informal markets within the project Vendors Collective Voice.  Our lead partner for the project implementation is HELP-Resources, they are now fully engaged in year two of the three-year Commonwealth Foundation funded program recently reported in our winter edition article titled: “HELP Resources and Pacific Peoples’ Partnership Collaborate to Strengthen Sepik Women Market and Street Vendors’ Collective Voice in Shaping Informal Economy Development.”  We are pleased that our long-time respected partner and project technical adviser Elizabeth (Sabet) Cox, has officially joined the team as an Australian-sponsored volunteer to provide capacity support for the HELP-Resources Team.  The growing team (as noted in the Peoples & Passages section) will develop training opportunities, tool kits, and resources to support the women market vendors as they advocate for more just market conditions.   In addition, we are preparing to expand the program vision as it is our hope to build upon this program to ensure its sustainability and success well into the future for the benefit of the Sepik women and their families.

Longhouse Dialogues pre-project site visit to Vancouver’s Harbour Green Park with Joleen Timko (Project Manager), April Ingham (PPP ED), Artist Hjalmer Wenstob, Squamish Nation Councillor Deborah Baker and Tsleil-Waututh Nation Chief Leah George-Wilson, Missing is Musqueam Councillor Wendy John-Grant.  Photo by Mana Saza

Last but certainly not least, within a week 7000+ women from around the world will be descending upon Vancouver for the Women Deliver international conference from June 3-6, 2019.  PPP is excited to announce that along with our key partner the BC Council for International Cooperation and Mobilization Canada, we have received the permission of the Squamish Nation, Musqueam Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation to install four temporary Longhouses from our 2017 award winning public program within their shared traditional territories.  

The Longhouses will be installed together once again as a village to honour women and provide community-accessible hospitality and dialogue space within Harbour Green Park, which is a short 5 minutes walk from Canada Place – the main event venue for the Conference.  Check out the Longhouse Dialogues if you are in Vancouver, as the Longhouses will be installed from May 31 – June 5.  Help us welcome the world’s women!

Hope to see you there!

April Ingham, Executive Director

Pacific Peoples’ Partnership

Longhouse facade by Hjalmer Wenstob (Nuu-chah-nulth) and graphic by Juliana Speier (Kwakwaka’wakw).

PPP needs your support!  During the month of June, we will be running a special fundraising campaign called the Great Canadian Giving Challenge.  Every single dollar donated through our Canada Helps donation portal, will qualify PPP for one entry into a draw for $10,000 towards our work.  Please consider donating this June in support of our work! 

2018 One Wave Gathering!

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Pacific Peoples’ Partnership is proud to announce our 11th annual One Wave Gathering! Beginning September 1st with the opening of MediaNet’s new Flux Gallery, we present our digital media installation: The Longhouse Legacy Exhibition.​ In tribute to The Longhouse Project and last year’s anniversary event, the impressionistic digital collage will be projected in the shape of a cedar house front. Opening night will also welcome representatives of Vaka Taumako, to premiere the Polynesian wayfinding documentary ​We, the Voyagers.​ Throughout September, the gallery will run a variety of North and South Pacific documentary screenings, interviews, as well as Indigenous scholar, artist, and youth presentations.

The exhibition and documentary showings will lead up to our signature One Wave Gathering celebration at Centennial Square on September 15th a free event from 12:00-6:00 pm. Program highlights include North and South Pacific presentations, art, food, as well as opportunities to explore social and environmental causes pertinent to the region. Join us for a day of dance, song, and celebration; You can enjoy some authentic indigenous cuisine with the Songhees Seafood and Steam food truck, and browse the village of local artisans, artists, and NGOs working on Pacific issues.

We Welcome your participation – get involved as an NGO, Vendor, or Artist! One Wave Gathering 2018 will include a showcase of NGOs and vendors whose mission aligns with our own. This includes (but is not limited to) social and environmental organizations, Indigenous and youth artists, and vendors that use recycled, eco-friendly, locally made or locally sourced materials. New and returning artists and organizations interested in taking part can fill out our Google form.

We gratefully accept sponsorship and participation from local businesses, organizations and groups, including volunteers! For more information you can check out our website or facebook page, and contact our program coordinator:                                                                       
Dana Johnson
Program Coordinator
dana@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org

 

Fill out our Volunteer Form before August 27th if you are interested in being a part of the 11th annual One Wave Gathering. All volunteers will receive training on how to hold the space in a way consistent with the values of the area.

 

We are grateful to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, One Wave Gathering is held on Lekwungen territory, and made possible with the consent and consultations by hereditary and elected leaders, elders, youth, artists and community members. We thank the dedication of our partner MediaNet, and community partners.

With honor and respect to Chief Andy Thomas

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E! UA MALILIU TOA! UA MAUMAU AUPEGA O LE TUA! Alu ia male manuia lau malaga Chief Andy! Fa’amaise atu le Atua i le tina male fanau, fa’apea lou aiga! uo ma e masani male mamalu o ou tagata nu’u!

We wish to express our deepest respect and gratitude for the late Chief Andy Thomas, hereditary leader of Esquimalt Nation and knowledge keeper. We are forever grateful for Chief Andy’s generosity in time and wisdom, and for how he taught us to do our work in a good way — even guiding us when we made mistakes with laughter and humility. His family and nation are held close to our hearts as they navigate this deep loss.

Chief Andy was a great leader. We deeply admire his lifelong commitment to raising awareness of the injustices done to his people, and to ensuring that the mistakes of history never be repeated again.

Having worked closely with Chief Andy on youth leadership projects, we particularly remember Chief Andy’s fierce advocacy for the youth of his nation. He held an intense compassion, loyalty and pride for each and every youth, and it was clear to us that they brought him the utmost joy.

We are thankful to have worked with this great leader, and honored to have learned from him.

Thank you, Chief Andy Thomas. You will be deeply missed in our community.

New Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise: A Hopeful Sign?

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By Arthur Holbrook, PPP Board Member

Porgera Mine, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. Image courtesy of: Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada 

Recently, the federal government announced the creation of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). The ombudsperson “will be mandated to investigate allegations of human rights abuses linked to Canadian corporate activity abroad. The CORE will seek to assist wherever possible in collaboratively resolving disputes or conflicts between impacted communities and Canadian companies. It will be empowered to independently investigate, report, recommend remedy and monitor its implementation.” (Global Affairs Canada press release, Jan. 17, 2018) An initial focus of the ombudsperson will be extractive industries and the garment sector with additional sectors being added
after one year.

The new government initiative comes at least partly in response to events at the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea. In May 2017 MiningWatch Canada brought two women who had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the mine’s security personnel to Ottawa to testify about the abuses suffered by local people living near the mine. The women met with a number of parliamentarians, civil servants and media. They also spoke at the annual general meeting of Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that owns the mine.

Catherine Coumans, Asia Pacific Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, stated that Canada’s, “record of mining in Papua New Guinea is one of social and environmental degradation. It includes destruction of river habitats and fisheries and systemic failures to recognize and deal with human rights abuses. These abuses include the rape of local women by employees of Barrick Gold’s Porgera Mine. … This case highlights a pervasive problem faced by people living around the world who suffer abuses related to mining. It is well known that it is very difficult for poor, marginal and often illiterate people to access justice in many countries where Canadian mining companies operate. This case highlights that we also cannot rely on companies’ own remedy mechanisms to provide equitable compensation in such serious cases. It is high time for Canada to step into this remedy gap by creating an effective remedy mechanism in Canada.” (MiningWatch Canada, 9 May 2017)

Interviewed for this article (29 March 2018), Coumans said it was too soon to tell whether the appointment of an ombudsperson would be an effective tool. The exact mandate of the new ombudsperson has not yet been made public and the proposed budget for the office is less than MiningWatch hoped it would be. Coumans is waiting to learn more about the independence of the new office, specifically regarding its investigative powers with respect to compelling documents and witnesses, and its staffing. If the ombudsperson has an adequate budget and is mandated to operate independently, he/she can prove to be an effective tool. A notice of opportunity for the new position will soon be posted so Coumans expects the position will be filled by the end of the summer.

However, even if the ombudsperson is an effective force against human rights and environmental abuses by mining companies, it will have limited reach in areas of concern to PPP because its oversight will be limited to Canadian companies. For example, it will have little effect on some of PPP’s long-standing partners in Papua New Guinea. The Frieda gold and copper mine, in the headwaters of the Sepik River, is 90% owned by Chinese interests and 10% by Australian ones. The company’s plan to barge ore down the Sepik will bring the social and environmental threats of the mine to the doorstep of our friends and partners.

There are a number of gold and copper mines in PNG but ownership is mostly Australian, South African and, in the case of the Ok Tedi mine, the scene of a major environmental disaster, the government of PNG. PNG, after the British-Australian company BHP ended its ownership, is purportedly now using profits from the mine as part of a remediation program on the river systems affected by the release of mine waste.

Porgera Mine protest- 2017- Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo courtesy of: Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada

About 60 per cent of the world’s mining companies are based in Canada, making Canada the ideal place to pioneer ways to ensure mines respect local people’s rights when operating abroad, according to Julia Sanchez, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. Pacific Peoples’ Partnership applauds the Canadian government’s initiative, and looks forward to monitoring how it will positively affect South Pacific nations and our partners there.

 

Pearls of the South Pacific Polynesian Luau on 26 May 2018

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Pearls of the South Pacific Polynesian Luau on 26 May 2018

Pearls of the South Pacific (PSP) dancers reflect different island heritages such as Samoa, Rotuma, New Zealand Maori, Fiji, Hawaii, and Tonga as well as Canada. Many of the young dancers are second generation islanders born in Canada with the desire to learn and pass on their culture’s stories and dances. Whether as part of the audience or as a participant, the PSP performances clearly resonate with their colorful dances, costumes and melodies represented in a variety of dances from the islands.

Based in Victoria, PSP is a Polynesian multicultural dance group started in 1997 by Muavae Va’a after he moved to British Columbia from the island of Samoa. “I have had the privilege to work and dance with many youth as they grew up within the group and also with many who have joined the group as adults.” Today Muavae and two of his children, Tua and Penina, continue to dance with the group that he started.

“Over the years we have shared our dances at many events in Vancouver Island communities and on the B.C. mainland, including Folk Fest Victoria, Greek Fest, One Wave Festival, First Nations Pow-wows and many weddings and family events. Looking forward to our next 20 years, it is our desire is to see this beautiful and unique culture shared with all who are committed to harmony and peace within the multicultural society that we live in.”

Pearls of the South Pacific Fund Raiser
Join PSP for an exciting colorful evening of dances and songs including all the flavours of an authentic Polynesian style feast with a traditional pig roast. As part of the evening, the popular South Pacific band, Tradewinds, will serenade guests with charming music from Western Samoa, New Zealand, Rotuma, Hawai`i and Fiji. Definitely an event for the WHOLE FAMILY!

Money raised on this joyful evening will go toward purchasing materials to create new authentic costumes while continuing PSP’s goal of passing on traditions to the next generations. The group also hopes to create a modest travel fund that will allow it to accept invitations for the first time to perform at some events and festivals a little farther from home.

Where: 7728 Tetayut Rd, Saanichton, BC at the Tswout First Nations Gymnasium.

Date and Time: Saturday, 26 May 2018. Doors open at 4 p.m.; Feast Served at 5 p.m.; Entertainment at 6:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Adult = $35 (18 years and up); Seniors = $25 (65+); Students = $25 (13 to 17 years)

Tickets Available: Eventbrite  or Alcheringa Gallery, 621 Fort St, Victoria. Tel: 250-383-8224.

 

Hold the dates! May 1-6, 2018 in New Zealand

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Red Tide Indigenous Climate Action Summit

Pacific Peoples’ Partnership (PPP) typically produces a major international Pacific Networking Conference (PNC) every two years or so in Canada. We have held 23 so far. The themes and content of the conferences are always timely and on point, because they were developed in collaboration with our South Pacific and Canadian Indigenous partners.

In 2018 we are excited to be co-hosting our first-ever Pacific Networking Conference in the South Pacific!

Toi Toi Manawa Trust and Pacific Peoples’ Partnership are thrilled to co-present Red Tide: International Indigenous Climate Action Summit in the Māori tribal lands of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, an iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand’s North Island.

The main convening dates are confirmed for May 1 – 6, 2018.

May 1 & 2, 2018 – Youth Conference

May 3 – 6, 2018 – Full Summit

A wonderful pre-conference protocol program is also in development with more details to come, as is an artist residency.  See additional information on our website www.redtidesummit.com

Join us in discussing and strategizing as we integrate Indigenous environmental science, activism, scientific observations and Indigenous youth involvement. The Summit will feature keynote speakers, interactive cultural sessions, open spaces and a festival of artists that will activate and rejuvenate this global movement.

Indigenous scholars, activists, allies, knowledge keepers and artists are invited to share, co-create, and connect ideas, impacts and stories related to climate change.

We are seeking donations towards the travel costs of delegates. Please donate now to help fund an Indigenous delegate to the gathering. 

We welcome your thoughts and inputs on this developing program at:  toitoimanawatrust@gmail.com or info@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org

10th Annual One Wave Gathering

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By all measures, the 2017 One Wave Gathering was a resounding success. All participants, be they local, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw or South Pacific Islanders, were extremely pleased with the participatory, inclusive and educational proceedings. A number of elders were moved to tears and speechlessness by the unprecedented and historical importance of this event.

– April Ingham, Executive Director of Pacific Peoples’ Partnership

As an annual event hosted by PPP, One Wave has celebrated international Pacific community, arts and culture in Victoria, British Columbia since 2008. In 2017, motivated by ongoing steps towards First Nations reconciliation and global Indigenous movements, PPP presented an enriched and expanded One Wave Gathering.

This year’s theme, “healing through celebration,” permeated every aspect of the event creating a supportive village atmosphere while celebrating and honouring all those in attendance.

To all that have made this vision a reality: hay’sxʷqa. Read our full acknowledgement here.

The Longhouse Project saw the raising of four longhouse structures designed by youth artists on the BC Legislature lawn.

This event was unprecedented: a gathering of many communities from across the North and South Pacific. Guided by their unique customs, protocols and histories, they came together on the British Columbia Legislature lawns as a village. Through this Gathering, thousands of members of the Victoria public, including political leaders from various levels of government, had the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with one another in authentic spaces.

Thanks to the BC Legislature invitation for the Gathering to use the lawns overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour, it was the first time in many generations that four longhouses stood on this former traditional Lekwungen village site.

One of four longhouse structures raised at the BC Legislature.

This year, One Wave Gathering was marked by a unique symbolic installation: the Longhouse Project. Under the direction of Nuu-chah-nulth artist Hjalmer Wenstob, and with the active support of the BC Legislature, four First Nations and Maori youth were selected to design art for the façades of the temporary longhouses. The houses were created in the styles of the Coast Salish, Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, and South Pacific Islands respectively. Inside each longhouse, community members from each area had full rein in creating welcoming and educational interactive spaces for the public throughout the day.

Longhouse designs were created by Sarah Jim (Coast Salish), A.J. Boersen (Nuu-chah-nulth), Juliana Speier (Kwak’waka’wakw), Jazzlyn Markowsky (Maori) and a phenomenal dance curtain, later gifted to Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, was created by James Goldsmith-Brown (Esquimalt Nation). The journey of youth, participating artists and community members who produced and programmed within the longhouses was captured in a documentary to be showcased at PPP’s upcoming AGM and Holiday Feast on December 10.

What we wanted to do was bring people into our homes, truly and honestly do it. Bring people into our homes and share. Share a meal, conversation and story, and learn a little bit about each other and the history and how we can move forward together.

– Hjalmer Wenstob (Lead Artist, Nuu-chah-nulth)

Esquimalt Nation Chief Andy Thomas addressing the One Wave crowd

Hosted on Lekwungen territory, the Gathering’s organizers worked respectfully with Songhees and Esquimalt Nations to ensure the event was meaningful to both Nations. This led to a second unprecedented aspect of One Wave Gathering: all materials and signage on site were produced in both English and Lekwungen.

Chief Ron Sam of Songhees Nation, Chief Andy Thomas of Esquimalt Nation and Joan Morris of Songhees Nation opened the event by speaking to the Indigenous history of the Inner Harbour area, including customary place-names and sites of significance. They also spoke about the impact of colonization on the area.

South Pacific community delegation before conducting protocol with local First Nations

Two Lekwungen dance groups (Lekwungen Dancers & Esquimalt Singers and Dancers), two Polynesian dance groups (Pearls of the South Pacific and Tusitala Polynesian Dancers), one Kwak’waka’wakw dance group (Kwakiutl Dancers) and one Nuu-chah-nulth dance group (Ahousaht Dance Group) presented on the main stage. The dance presentations ended with a participatory dance for all the public led by the Kwakiutl Dance Group.

A big part for me was that everyone came together and that we all celebrated as one race, the human race; I hope that eventually more and more people come each year and that soon racism and stereotypes end for everyone. 

– A.J. Boersen (Nuu-chah-nulth), Longhouse Project Youth

During the day, the City of Victoria’s Indigenous artist-in-residence Lindsay Delaronde facilitated a corn-husk doll-making activity with public participation, and partnered with Tlingit artist Nahaan to produce a theatre piece called Remembering. Nuu-chah-nulth elder Moy Sutherland Sr. guided the public in games of slahal, a traditional bone game that in years past was an important fixture of the local economy.

At the end of the day, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership was pleased to partner with the Moose Hide Campaign for a public feast featuring both local and international foods.

All on-site signage was translated into Lekwungen.

One Wave 2017 was an outstanding program with a wide range of community impacts, and we are still actively consulting the community around how to move the program forward. Were you at One Wave Gathering, and do you have an idea to share? We would love to hear from you.

Feel free to email deputy@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org with your comments and feedback, or get involved next year!

View more photos in our Facebook album.

Please donate today so that we can continue to produce One Wave Gathering.

Supreme Court rules to destroy largest collection of residential school documents

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Canada’s largest collection of residential school records will be destroyed in 15 years

This spring, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership staff provided communications support to the Coalition for the Preservation of Truth. Many Pacific Peoples’ Partnership supporters helped spread the word and generously donated to the #StandForTruth campaign to fund their Supreme Court challenge.

On May 29th, 2017, the Coalition appeared as interveners in the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge the impending destruction of over 38,000 residential school records. The Coalition was a broad alliance of residential school survivors and intergenerational survivors that recognizes the ongoing impact of residential school trauma, and that formed to advocate for the preservation of these documents, while respecting individuals rights to privacy. 

On October 6th, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) had intended for the IAP process to be a confidential and private process and as such, all IAP documents will be destroyed after 15 years. This outcome has the potential to impact efforts to reconcile survivors and intergenerational survivors with Canada for years to come.

The Independent Assessment Process (‘IAP’) was created by the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement in 2007. Through the IAP, victims of serious physical and sexual abuse in the residential school system accessed a second level of compensation from the Government of Canada. Thousands of documents were generated in this process and as a result, the IAP files represent the single largest collection of residential school records.

The Coalition had argued that the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement was akin to a treaty with Indigenous peoples. This was not accepted by the Supreme Court, who narrowly interpreted the Settlement Agreement as a contract.

The Coalition is disturbed by this ruling. Although there will be a mechanism for living survivors to consent to have their records destroyed, what about the many more survivors who have already passed away? The ruling does not distinguish between different types of records. What about procedural documents? How will the IAP ever be examined and held to account if there is no record of the process?

The court ruled that disclosure of IAP records would be a greater injustice than the destruction of records, arguing that most participants in the IAP never expected the information to be shared. Privacy and archival legislation, which have many mechanisms to protect the individual privacy rights of survivors, were not given any weight.

The trauma of residential school has and will continue to ripple through communities across Canada. We share a responsibility to ensure current and future intergenerational survivors can access specific knowledge about what led to their broken communities, fragmented families and loss of language and culture. In the same way that future generations have the right to clean air and water, the Coalition continues to believe that future generations have the right to know their historical record through the content of these documents.

Neither the Supreme Court decision nor the IAP process itself was consistent with Indigenous laws, which are rich, textured, and full of space to hold differences of opinion. Indigenous teachings hold that we can just as truly dishonor our ancestors and future generations as we can our living family. The Coalition believes that this decision is a demonstration of why sensitive cultural differences of opinion cannot be resolved in a colonial arena.

To continue following this important issue, please visit Stand For Truth on Facebook.

Pacific Peoples’ Partnership has been a strong advocate for truth and reconciliation movements across the Pacific, including in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. We continue to support peace efforts amidst 30 years of ongoing genocide in West Papua.

Featured Partner: Moose Hide Campaign

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On September 16 2017, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership joined forces with the Moose Hide Campaign to deliver a feast at the Songhees Wellness Centre just outside Victoria. The evening was an opportunity to reflect as a community on a day of impactful programming, including our own One Wave Gathering and Moose Hide Campaign’s Regional Gathering. We are grateful for Moose Hide Campaign’s hospitality, and for the opportunity to deliberate on the Moose Hide message together.

The Moose Hide Campaign is a growing movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people committed to ending violence against women and girls. Supporters of the campaign demonstrate their commitment to a better future by wearing a small Moose Hide badge. In addition, Moose Hide Campaign delivers ongoing community engagement projects aimed at creating culturally informed supports and accountability mechanisms for men. To date, over 300,000 Moose Hide badges have been distributed across Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, one woman is killed every five days in a domestic homicide. 6,000 women are living in emergency shelters on any given day. Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women in Canada.

The Moose Hide Campaign was inspired by a hunting trip taken by founders Paul and Raven Lacerte just off of British Columbia’s Highway 16. The highway is popularly known as the ‘Highway of Tears’ for the high number of women and girls, mainly of Indigenous descent, who have been murdered or disappeared between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

What can you do?

We are all responsible for promoting gender equity, healthy relationships and positive ideas of masculinity. Learn about the impact of violence around you, and question how your own attitudes and behaviours may perpetuate this violence. Seek and offer support.

On February 15 2018, the Moose Hide Campaign will meet for the 8th consecutive year in Victoria, British Columbia. Thousands of men from across the province will take part in a fast to reaffirm their commitment to ending violence against women, and access a range of supports. To get involved, visit moosehidecampaign.ca.

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For 45 years, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership has supported the aspirations of South Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples for peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and community development.

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