Moving Forward is a Way of Life for Women

Women tend to be where they are needed. It is not necessarily in elected posts, but the leadership is visible wherever it is about preserving and sustaining culture and families.

When women commit to something, they hang on

It might not be so visible in formal institutional areas of governance, but in the Inuit women’s workshop, leadership was assumed by my dear friend Annie.



It has been well demonstrated that, when women commit to something, they hang on. The women learn quickly how to make things happen because they have a pioneer soul and they know what is important.

Real community empowerment and development is more about on-going transformative processes rather than about discreet “programs” with an ability to envision the future and communicate it in a manner that is understandable and motivational to others.

In other countries of the world, there are entire villages depending on the women for schooling, land ownership and culture of vegetables on the land to feed their communities. Their strong sense of responsibility which traditionally socialized children to overcome egocentric concerns in the interest of group survival must be revitalized.

Inuit women are the repository of the past linking it to the future

Virtually all the women I met at the women's workshop displayed a vivid sense of humor. Humour seems to be a deeply social attribute in the North, probably contributing to their survival. I also notice how it created harmony and pleasure in the workshop and I figured it must be an important tool in their lives. Perhaps, it contributes to group cohesion, essential in relieving social tensions and maintaining strong solidarity among the women.

My thinking is that women play an integral part in governing their communities and even our society as a whole. In the case of Inuit women, it is evident that they are the repository of the past linking it to the future. As such, they carry culture. They promote health; they teach the language. They pass on traditions by teaching, caregiving, and child rearing.





In the communities of the North, there are people who have titles and there are those who are leaders. They always seem to get things done through their leadership because they have a vision, possess the knowledge and are committed to promoting action.

Lead by example is a necessary and most fundamental ingredient required if a society is to survive.

Women continue to be motivated by the rights and responsibilities encompassed in their traditional role as females in Inuit culture. Their changing roles of women in Inuit society has been described in a historical perspective. In spite of all the changes in their society, they demonstrate a recognizable continuity of the female role of keeper of the family life from past to present.

No Child Should Have to Take the Long Way Home

Children, mothers, and communities are the object of this project No Child Should Take the Long Way Home.  After all, every child is born with the right to have a better chance at a life free from abuse and violence. Children belong to their family and their community.

When they are removed not only from their families but from their community, children lose out on being raised by their own families, in their own communities. As a result, there are increased numbers of Inuit children in child and foster care. This is not working for the people and not for the children either. There are good people taking good care of the children but if the extended family is too far, the children and the families miss out on connections.