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Women still battling for equality on reserve

Article Origin

Author

By Shari Narine Sweetgrass Writer DRIFTPILE FIRST NATION

Volume

18

Issue

4

Year

2011

The majority of First Nations people surveyed on 15 of Alberta’s 46 First Nations are not confident their band council is doing enough to include input from women when making decisions and forming policies.

“That (belief) doesn’t surprise me,” said Rose Laboucan, one of four women chiefs in Alberta. “Knowing what I’ve gone through as a chief, building that reputation, being responsible, being consistent, being reliable, I’ve been able to build up that trust so I would be consulted as a woman at the same level as male chiefs.”

Laboucan is in her fifth consecutive two-year term as leader of the Driftpile First Nation. In a survey undertaken by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in 2009-2010, 68 per cent of 216 people surveyed indicated uncertainty about whether their “band government (was) doing what it can to include input from women on reserve in decision making.” Only 19 per cent of people indicated that council was “definitely” taking women’s views into consideration while 13 per cent of respondents didn’t know.

Figures recently released by FCPP also indicated lack of confidence in band council when it came to protecting women from violence on the reserve and belief that marital property on the reserve should be divided equally between spouses when a marital breakdown  occurred.
FCPP policy analyst Joseph Quesnel said the three questions regarding women’s issues were tacked on to the fourth annual Aboriginal Governance Index survey on an experimental basis.

“These particular questions were because of the matrimonial property rights. That holds an interest for me,” said Quesnel.

Of 217 people polled, 53 per cent said “definitely” and 27 per cent said “perhaps” to the question that “in the case of marital breakdown on reserve, should there be an equal division of property between both spouses?”

Bill S-4, Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, sets out federal rules as well as provisions for the enactment of First Nation laws regarding on-reserve matrimonial real property. Quesnel holds the bill is a fair measure by the federal government to offer immediate protection for women on reserves.
“I don’t think we have the luxury to wait for all those band councils to deal with this,” said Quesnel.

The bill makes room to be replaced when individual reserves enact their own band council resolutions.
However, Laboucan noted that as property is collectively owned on reserves, “dividing something in half that doesn’t belong to you is pretty hard to do.”

Driftpile First Nation has a “common understanding,” Laboucan said, that in the case of marital breakdown, the house remains with the parent who has the children.
If the woman isn’t a band member, chances are she’ll take her children and return to her band. However, until that time, the house is hers to use.

Of 216 people asked about family violence, 19 per cent felt the “band government (was) doing all it can to protect women on the reserve from violence.”

Laboucan said in her years as chief she has seen a shift in attitude. Where women once kept silent about violence they now speak out

“I’m hoping more and more women get involved in their communities,” said Laboucan, “but the old school mentality is still there, that we’re in our communities to have a role and it’s not leadership.”